Meet Dave Tamkin

Today we’d like to introduce you to Dave Tamkin.

Dave, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I’ve been writing songs and playing music since I was in the 4th grade. I started my first band with friends in the 6th grade and have never really looked back. While I played guitar in the Jazz band and studied classical guitar at DePaul University in Chicago, my focus never left writing and performing songs with my friends.

After college, I toured the country for eight years as a full-time musician. I was relentless on how many shows I could fit in a week. We would spend our afternoons alternating as the house band at the House of Blues in Chicago and then race to our evening gigs where ever we could go in the city. Any downtime from those gigs was spent on the road touring as a songwriter.

Over the last few years, my songwriting has taken a sidecar to some other creative endeavors. That quickly changed after my Dad passed away last year. I was blessed to have a very supportive father and there was no question of how he felt about me playing music. When someone that close to you leaves your life in such a finite way, you are left standing with a very clear view of what choices you have to make to live the life you want. The songs have been flowing out once I started to heal a little from losing him. I don’t have any plans to stop writing or healing. Doing both makes me feel a little more closer to him.

Since we’ve been in Shelter in Place, my friend Brad Huffman and I have released a tune called “Shoes” with the help of Denver drummer Chadzilla Johnson. We spent all of April playing live streams and pushing the song to donate a percentage of our earnings to The Boulder Shelter for the Homeless. This month we are partnering with companies like Upslope Brewing, Odell Brewing, Bitto Bistro, Stone Cottage Studios and HopeKids to raise money for The Boulder County Musician’s Relief Fund. We’ve been busy and it feels good to give back to our community. We are currently working on a music video for “Shoes” while recording the rest of the album due out by the end of the year. 

Has it been a smooth road?
It’s all about perspective. If you take on the challenges in front of you as opportunities, the road just bends and curves regardless of the bumps. You learn at what angle to take them and how fast or slow to go. I try to keep my head up, a smile on my face, treat others like you would like to be treated and practice my instruments more.

Can you give our readers some background on your music?
The band Toad the Wet Sprocket, changed music for me in high school. I was listening to a lot of Rush, Primus, and Pearl Jam before that. The songs were so different on that Fear album. It opened me up to different perspectives on what an Album could be. I hope that my songwriting shows that kind of inspiration from song to song. I’ve been told that I’m all over the place as far as a genre is concerned and that I need to find a niche to be successful. I hope that each song finds its own home in the ears of the people that enjoy it. I can’t really control that part of it. I can only control how to convey what I feel through that song. The rest is thrown out there to the universe.

After that, I heard Ani Difranco for the first time and wanted to play my guitar as percussive as she did. I believe I’ve found my own style in trying to emulate Ani, Peter Mulvey, Willy Porter and other percussive guitar players that have influenced me. I’m most proud that I get to share a stage with the musicians that I do. Over the years, I’ve stood next to some pretty amazing people and I have learned a lot. The mutual respect that is earned from your bandmates is something pretty unique. I hope that is what sets us apart from others when we are at our best.

Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
Moving from the Chicagoland area before Boulder in 2008 was a huge change for me. I knew everyone around Chicago from when I was a kid. Making friends as an adult always has its challenges no matter where you live. Boulder seemed to have a way of negating those challenges with an overall sense of community and well-being for each other. The music community takes you in and shares their resources with you. They want to see you succeed and raise you up. I find that to be true in the e-commerce and marketing community as well. I love living in Boulder and grateful for the creative, kind people that come together to make this community what it is.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.davetamkin.com
• Email: dave@davetamkin.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davetamkin/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/davetamkinmusic
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/davetamkin
• Other: https://soundcloud.com/davetamkin

Image Credit:
Jon Allegretto and Kit Chalberg

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