Playing Since: 1956
Experience Level: Expert/Professional

Interests:
[Teaching] [Jamming] [Socializing] [Helping]

Occupation: Solo Entertainer/Jazz musician; Member, American Banjo Museum Hall of Fame

Gender: Male
Age: 83

My Instruments:
1928 VEGA VOX #4 ULTRA DELUXE 4-STRING PLECTRUM BANJO;
1958 VEGA VOX #4 "DAVE MARTY SPECIAL" 4-STRING PLECTRUM BANJO;
1928 V EGAVOX 4 ULTRA DELUXE 4-STRING PLECTRUM;
1920'S VEGA SOLOIST PLECTRUM;


C.F. MARTIN CONCERT UKULELE - VINTAGE EARLY 1960's;
C.F. MARTIN ACOUSTIC TENOR GUITARS (2);
GIBSON 1957 PLECTRUM GUITAR LES PAUL SPECIAL MODEL.
CUSTOM MADE CUT-AWAY JAZZ UKULELE (ABOUT THE SIZE OF A BARI UKE).


Favorite Bands/Musicians:
Buddy Wachter (Banjo Hall of Famer),
Cynthia Sayer (Banjo Hall of Famer),
Dave Frey (Banjo Hall of Famer),
Dave Marty (Banjo Hall of Famer),
Don Van Palta (Banjo Hall of Famer),
Doug Mattocks (Banjo Hall of Famer),
Eddie Peabody (Banjo Hall of Famer),
Eddy Davis (Banjo Hall of Famer),
Freddy Morgan (Banjo Hall of Famer),
Gene Sheldon (Banjo Hall of Famer),
Georgette Twain (Banjo Hall of Famer),
Harry Higgins (Banjo Hall of Famer),
Harry Reser (Banjo Hall of Famer),
Jack Dupen (Banjo Hall of Famer),
Jad Paul, (Banjo Hall of Famer),
Jim Reiley (Banjo Hall of Famer),
John Cali (Banjo Hall of Famer),
Lee Floyd (Banjo Hall of Famer),
Mike Gentry (Banjo Hall of Famer),
Perry Bechtel (Banjo Hall of Famer),
Scotty Plummer (Banjo Hall of Famer),
Steve Caddick (Banjo Hall of Famer),
Tim Allen (Banjo Hall of Famer),

Rob Wright, Steve Hanson, Bob ‘Moshe’ Lasley, Kurt Abell, Athens Abell, Sean Moyses, Peter Mezoian, Tom Stuip, Paul Martin, Gary Neuman, Abe van der Meulen, Andrew Otto, Dan Goodrich, , Ken "Pee Wee" Hillman, John Stafford, Marty Grosz, Paul Miller, Jonathan and Darlene Edwards, Mrs. Miller, The Roto Rooter Good time Christmas Band, Vidya Speck; The San Francisco Marching - Trotting - & Walking Band; The McGuire Sisters; Perry Bechtel

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Profile Info:
Visible to: Public
Created 4/18/2008
Last Visit 12/20/2022

Dave Marty was inducted into the American Banjo Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City on April 22, 2010 in the category of PERFORMANCE / CONTEMPORARY. At the age of 12, I began teaching myself the ukulele. Shortly before I turned 16, I asked my Dad to get me something bigger (I had envisioned a guitar). So, for my 16th birthday he got me a banjo. I had so much trouble adjusting to the size of the neck that I put it away for the next three years and kept on with my ukulele. When I was 19 years old, I was in a pizza parlor enjoying my dinner when two guys appeared –one with a banjo who climbed up on top of the upright piano and the other who sat down at the piano. After hearing a couple of tunes, I decided I was as good as or better than the banjo player, and he was making money doing that. Then and there I knew what I wanted to do with my life. Shortly thereafter I took my banjo out of the closet, where I had put it three years earlier, and started practicing. Several months later I joined the musician’s union in late 1959. One month later I got my first professional job playing with a pianist in a pizza parlor! Although I have worked in other fields during my musical career, my occupation for the last 60 years has always been that of a dedicated professional banjoist. I am completely self-taught, never having a single lesson, and learned everything I know by ear and from working with other top-notch (& a lot of not-so-top-notch) musicians. Some of my early experiences with the banjo were playing in high school rallies and sports games with the band. After I turned professional, I played the beer hall/pizza parlor circuit, followed by banjo night clubs in San Francisco, Chicago, New Orleans, New York World’s Fair, Greenwich Village, Dallas, Fort Worth, Corpus Christi, Atlanta, Kansas City, Florida, and Florence, Italy. My first banjo idol was Eddie Peabody. As I heard him play was on the radio in the late 1950’s, I wondered why my banjo didn’t sound like his. I later found out he played a different tuning, (I used guitar tuning) and that he tuned each of his strings one note higher than normal. So, I bought all of his LP’s and studied his technique for a number of years. It was Georgette Twain who arranged my first meeting with Eddie in 1961. He and I remained close friends and kept in touch with letters for the last ten years of his life. Perry Bechtel was another one of my idols. I was fortunate to have met him in Atlanta eight years after I bought his first and only album, “The Man with 10,000 Fingers”; it was the first time I had heard classical music performed on the banjo. Perry and I were close friends and corresponded for over twenty years. What a difference in playing styles between Perry and Eddie. Other banjo inspirations and recordings that I studied and admired very much were those of John Cali, Jad Paul, Paul Martin, Clay Landrum (Henry Clay), The Big Ben Banjo Band, Paul Miller (The San Francisco Marching, Trotting, and Walking Band), and Freddy Morgan (of Spike Jones fame.) Musical genres that supply my motivation are from the 1800’s up thru early Dixieland and Traditional jazz, along with the big band music from the early part of the 20th century. I find this type of music exciting because of its musical perfection in substance and inventiveness along with the chord changes used in that era of music. Classical music excites me because of its exactness in structure and beauty. Musically, the banjo ‘tugs’ at the American heart because of the ‘sound’ derived from the instrument; it is unlike any other American musical instrument and can be a happy one. Culturally, the banjo is a big part of very early American popular music and Dixieland jazz and country & western music. Furthermore, music played on the banjo stirs up many memories, particularly for senior citizens. Some major accomplishments during my career have been: ? Band leader and lead banjoist for the Red Garter nightclub chain nationally and in Europe for thirteen years (1963 to 1976). ? Along with David Sturdevant on guitar and Abe van der Meulen on side banjo, the three of us became the San Francisco Medicine Ball Band in 1970 and recorded our first LP, On a Slow Boat to China in 1976. ? Performed at Earthquake McGoon’s in San Francisco with Turk Murphy and his band as featured solo intermission banjoist, sitting-in with his band six nights a week for a decade (1970 to 1980); ? Featured Star Attraction aboard cruise ships world-wide for 19 years; (1980 to 1999); ? Toured with the late, great Morey Amsterdam as his opening act; Performed with Big Tiny Little & his group aboard the S.S. Independence 1986. Recordings: ? The Banjo Artistry of Dave Marty, Vol. 1 with Janey Smith, vocals (Compact Disc) Available now. ? Dave Marty “On The Job – Vol. 1 (Compact Disc) Available now. ? On A Slow Boat To China with the San Francisco Medicine Ball Band (LP); (out of print) ? Banjo Artistry of Dave Marty, Vol. 1 (cassette) The Banjo Artistry of Dave Marty - Live, Vol. 2, (out of print) ? Dave Marty in Italy, Vol. 3, (cassette) (out of print) ? Banjo Artistry of Dave Marty, Vol. 4, (cassette) (out of print) ? Banjo Artistry of Dave Marty, Vol. 5. (cassette) (out of print) (Soon to be available on CD).