The Dave Rowe Trio

Admission:: $18 - Seniors/Military $15 - TFFM Members $14

Hairy-chested nautical songs, rollicking bluegrass and Appalachian tunes, old-timey instrumental masterpieces, broad-shouldered Celtic classics, captivating originals, and Downeast wit pepper every show by the Maine-based Dave Rowe Trio. This group of seasoned musicians seamlessly blend traditional and contemporary music with themes of northern New England, its interesting culture and rich heritage, effectively transporting the listener to the great state of Maine—from mountains to foothills to coast, from factory worker to farmer to fisherman. Dave’s own sturdy songcraft is uniquely suited to express these traditional themes and imagery of hard work, community, and family together with stunning clarity. The trio’s inventive use of instrumentation on guitar, mandolin, electric bass, and tin whistles along with their strong three-part vocal harmonies which hearken back to the great folk bands of the 1960s create an unique musical tapestry rarely heard in the contemporary folk landscape.

Dave Rowe has a strong heritage to draw on, having grown up immersed in music. His father was Tom Rowe, Schooner Fare's bass player, whose driving rhythms laid the foundation for that group's robust sound. Tom's abiding joy in the music infected his son. At 12, Dave took up the tuba(!) and got formal training on piano before having his dad teach him the electric bass. By 15, he was making money making music as the bass player with the Makem Brothers, Tommy Makem's sons. At 19, he picked up a guitar for the first time, then moved on to learning banjo and mandolin. In 1993, the Rowe men did the most natural thing in the world and formed Rowe by Rowe. When they added Denny Breau (younger brother of legendary guitarist, Lenny Breau) in 1998, they became Turkey Hollow. This configuration toured extensively until Dave lost his dad to cancer early in 2004.

Dave scoured Maine to find musicians to breathe new life into a different configuration. He first found Kevin O'Reilly, an electric bass player with a background in rock music. Kevin provides a strong underpinning to the DRT sound while hanging on to his rock sensibilities. In addition to trio work, he explores the boundaries of bass guitar with his solo music. FACE magazine says, "O'Reilly is to be commended for pushing the bass guitar beyond where whoever created it in the first place imagined it might go."

The trio was originally rounded out with Edward Howe, Dave’s fiddle-toting friend, but after over 4 years in the band, Edward decided family time was suffering too much while he was on the road. He introduced Dave and Kevin to Eric McDonald, a Boston-based mandolin player and Berklee student, who quickly fell in with the band’s arrangements and made a seamless transition into the lineup.

The all-new Dave Rowe Trio is race-ready and road-tested. They have been astonishing audiences for over five years with their boundless energy, enthusiasm, and obvious love for what they do.