Slide guitarist & songwriter Dave Arcari’s alt.blues sounds owe as much to trash country, punk and rockabilly as they do pre-war Delta blues and have been showcased via five internationally-acclaimed solo CD releases.
In 2008 Arcari was invited to showcase at the North by North East (NxNE) music festival in Toronto, Canada and he was a finalist the UK Indy Music Awards 2008 reaching the top four in his category (best male solo artist).
With more than 150 UK dates a year plus shows in Finland, Estonia, France, Germany and Canada, Arcari is one of the hardest gigging live artists on the circuit.
A series of shows with the mighty Alabama 3 (by personal request from the band), Seasick Steve, Son of Dave and Jon Spencer along with his relentless UK and European tour schedule have established Arcari as a formidable international solo performer who is fast building a media reputation as a ‘hell-raising National guitar madman’.
Arcari’s growing reputation in the UK was endorsed in Spring 2007 when he was asked to put music to Robert Burns’ (Scotland’s national poet) poem Parcel of Rogues for a BBC Scotland special to mark 30 years of the Act of Union between Scotland and England. He also presented the entire programme, interviewing many high-profile political figures, musicians and historians along the way.
In 2008 he made the final shortlist (one of just four acts) in the Indy Music Awards’ ‘best solo artist’ category.
In 1996 he quit his first proper band role as guitarist with Summerfield Blues (which won the Alexis Korner memorial trophy for ‘Scottish Blues Band of the Year’ at Edinburgh International Blues fest in 2003 - the same year the band released it’s debut, and only, CD album Devil & the Freightman) to concentrate on his new found National steel guitar.
It wasn’t long, though, before he was joined by harmonica player Jim Harcus and the intended solo career went by the wayside as Radiotones started to form and evolved into the force it is today.
With overseas engagements and opportunities calling from all directions, Dave is now in a position to fill obligations that are either unsuitable for a full electric line-up or are, for whatever reason, impractical for Radiotones.
So while the electric Nationals and Marshall stack are on the back burner for Dave’s solo appearances, his hard-hitting gravel-laden vocals and slashing bottleneck steel guitar make for an aggressive, dynamic blues-based sound that owes as much to punk, rockabilly and trash country as pre-war Delta blues.
“... a pertinent reminder that British people do backwoods hoedowns as well as anyone. By some bizarre accident, Dave Arcari’s bluesy growl owes as much to Long John Silver as it does to Big Bill Broonzy.” BANG Magazine
“There’s no fleet-finger twiddlage here, just blasting bottleneck riddims and Arcari’s scary Captain Beefheart vocal. It’s the original blues message - drink, be merry, fall over. Hurrah!” GUITAR Magazine
“Dave Arcari’s gravel ‘n’ whiskey delivery falling midway between Tom Waits and Alabama 3’s Larry Love, relayed over a backdrop that variously recalls Slim Harpo, Leadbelly and Vincent Gallo.” LOGO Magazine
“Dave plays like he got his skin turned inside out and pretty soon my skin was inside out too listening and it was all good. That boy bleeds for you… he a real down deep player and a soul man.” Seasick Steve
http://www.myspace.com/davearcari
