WBF : Performer Bio

ARTIST AUDIO ::
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David Vest

"One of the finest on the barrelhouse piano, with a ferocity few possess." -The Oregonian

"Entertains to the max with his amusing lyrics and bouncy piano playing." -Sierra Blues Society

"People ask me if there's anybody I've heard lately that I like. I always say David Vest, David Vest, David Vest because what he's doing is really unique and the real deal." -Terry Robb

David Vest is an authentic, Southern-bred, boogie-woogie piano player, and he's been rockin' and shoutin' the blues since 1957. As a young man, he had the opportunity to play with Big Joe Turner in his prime, and his style clearly owes something to pianists such as Pete Johnson and Van "Piano Man" Walls, both of whom figured largely in Turner's career.

While living in Texas, David worked extensively with Jimmy T99 Nelson (another blues shouter like Big Joe) and Miss Lavelle White. He also earned the friendship and respect of Texas piano legends Floyd Dixon, Big Walter the Thunderbird, and Katie Webster (a big fan of David's music).

Although he's a bluesman to the bone, Vest figures prominently in a popular new biography of country legend Tammy Wynette and occupies "a significant place in her story," according to the book's author. Vest wrote the first songs ever recorded by Wynette, who sang in his band before achieving stardom.

Vest, who still talks and sings with a thick Southern accent, is promoting a new CD, Rock a While, his first in five years. It will be available at the festival. He's also currently in the Living Blues charts as a guest performer on Big Rockin' Boogie, a new CD by Becki Sue and her Big Rockin' Daddies.

Later this summer, David will be among the headliners at the Calgary International Blues Festival, in Alberta. He says he'll keep on rockin' and shoutin' the blues "as long as the flavor lasts."

This is how Jimmy Mak's, a Portland jazz club, described a recent David Vest show:

"Last month, we saw the first performance from David Vest at Jimmy Mak's. We knew very little of him, except that he was an old-school boogie-woogie pianist. Well folks, that was a massive understatement. David Vest is the Original Boogie-Woogie Starchild, and has been lifting people up for half a century, bringing audiences to their feet with his unique blend of blues, boogie, gospel, jazz and old-time country — the real stuff."