Dave Pomeroy (born April 26, 1956) is an American musician, known as a

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

vocalist, songwriter, and producer (Earwave Productions), but is best known as a bassist. He has played electric and

acoustic bass The acoustic bass guitar (sometimes shortened to acoustic bass or initialized ABG) is a bass instrument with a hollow wooden body similar to, though usually larger than a steel-string acoustic guitar. Like the traditional electric bass guitar a ...

for many world renowned artists, both in the studio and in concert. As a solo artist and producer, he has released 12 albums and 2 DVDs on his own label, Earwave Music. He has written numerous articles and columns for Bass Player magazine and other music publications and has contributed as a writer to a number of books about the music business. In December 2008, Pomeroy was elected as president of the Nashville Musicians Association, AFM Local 257 of the

American Federation of Musicians The American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada (AFM/AFofM) is a 501(c)(5) labor union representing professional instrumental musicians in the United States and Canada. The AFM, which has its headquarters in New York City, ...

(AFM) and in June 2010, he was also elected to the AFM's International Executive Board and was re-elected in 2013, 2016, and 2019. Pomeroy has been re-elected without opposition to four more 3-year terms as Local 257 president in November 2011, 2014, 2017 and 2020.

Biography

Pomeroy was born in Italy, the son of an American soldier, and spent his childhood and youth in various places. He credits a four-year-long stay in England in the early 1960s as an early musical influence and returned to the country in the mid-70s, when he moved to London to play in numerous local bands. In 1977, Pomeroy settled in Nashville. He was hired by

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the Southern United States, South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western music ...

musician

Sleepy LaBeef Thomas Paulsley LaBeff (July 20, 1935 – December 26, 2019), known professionally as Sleepy LaBeef, was an American singer and musician. Early life LaBeef was born in Smackover, Arkansas, the youngest of 10 children. The family name was origin ...

within a couple of weeks and went on tour with him for a year. In 1980 he joined

Don Williams Donald Ray Williams (May 27, 1939 – September 8, 2017) was an American country singer, songwriter, and 2010 inductee into the Country Music Hall of Fame. He began his solo career in 1971, singing popular ballads and amassing seventeen number ...

' touring band and stayed with him until 1994, when he stopped touring to concentrate on studio work, writing, and producing in Nashville. He founded his own record label Earwave Music in 1989 and has released 12 CDs and 2 DVDs, available at www.davepomeroy.com. He returned to Williams' band for his comeback tour in September/October 2010 and occasionally filled in with Williams through the end of 2014 . As a session musician Pomeroy contributed to albums not only by Williams and LaBeef, but also by such diverse artists as

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, and

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. He is a featured artist on the "Nashville Acoustic Sessions" CD project, with

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, and Pat Flynn, released by CMH Records in 2004. In addition to his long tenure with Don Williams, Pomeroy has performed in concert with artists such as Steve Winwood, Willie Nelson, Garth Brooks, John Hiatt, Ricky Skaggs, Adrian Belew, Peter Frampton, Lee Ann Womack, Patty Loveless, Reeves Gabrels, Duane Eddy, and many more. Pomeroy's record label, Earwave Music, has released 12 albums and 2 DVDs of his various projects as solo artist, bandleader, and producer. In the 1990s, he created The All-Bass Orchestra, with personnel ranging from 12 to 22 bassists playing the roles of an entire ensemble. The concert video "The Day The Bass Players Took Over The World", (originally released in 1996 on VHS on Earwave, and re-released on DVD in 2014 with bonus material) featuring special guests Victor Wooten, Steve Bailey, Oteil Burbridge, and Bill Dickens. This unique multi-bass player live project brought attention to Pomeroy's concept of "all-bass music" as demonstrated on his three all-bass and vocal solo projects "Basses Loaded" (1997) "Tomorrow Never Knows" (2003) and "Angel in the Ashes" (2017). He has written more than 50 articles for Bass Player magazine and has contributed to a number of books about music, including writing the forward for Jim Robert's book "American Basses". Among his most recent projects are Three Ring Circle, an "acoustic jam band powergrass trio" with

and

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, and ''The Taproom Tapes'', a live recording of collective improvisations featuring 14 of Nashville's musicians, including

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, and others. Three Ring Circle's second CD, ''Brothership'', was released on ResoRevolution Records in April 2011. He produced ''Restless'', the first album of new material by Sweethearts of the Rodeo in over ten years, released in 2012. His third solo album, ''Angel in the Ashes'', was released in 2017 to positive reviews. Pomeroy has been active in the Nashville community, raising over $495,000 for Nashville's Room in the Inn Homeless program with his annual "Nashville Unlimited Christmas" concerts over the past 22 years. Over the years, Pomeroy has become more and more involved in the musicians union as an advocate for working musicians. In December 2008, he was elected president of the Nashville-based Local 257 of the American Federation of Musicians, succeeding longtime president

Harold Bradley Harold Ray Bradley (January 2, 1926 – January 31, 2019) was an American guitarist and entrepreneur, who played on many country, rock and pop recordings and produced numerous TV variety shows and movie soundtracks. Having started as a session ...

. In June 2010, he was also elected to the International Executive Board of the AFM for a three-year term and re-elected in 2013 and 2016. In November 2011, Pomeroy was re-elected without opposition to a second three-year term as President of Local 257 and again in 2014, 2017, and 2020. He was one of the AFM leaders in the forefront of the effort to reform airline carry on policies for musical instruments, a process completed in December 2014. In addition to his AFM responsibilities, Pomeroy continues to record, write and perform in a variety of musical settings, and his latest release is the single "World Peace" co-written and performed with Regina McCrary.

Discography

Recordings under his own name or as part of a group: *Dave Pomeroy "Angel in the Ashes" released May 2017 *Dave Pomeroy and the All-Bass Orchestra: "The Day The Bass Players Took Over The World" concert DVD with guests Victor Wooten, Steve Bailey, Oteil Burbridge, Bill Dickens, Duane Eddy, Bob Babbitt (Earwave) *Tone Patrol: ''Thin Air'' (Earwave), with guests

Sam Bush Charles Samuel Bush (born April 13, 1952) is an American mandolinist who is considered an originator of progressive bluegrass music. In 2020, he was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame as a member of New Grass Revival. ...

, Bill Miller and Wayne Roland Brown *Dave Pomeroy: ''Basses Loaded'' (Earwave) *Dave Pomeroy: ''Tomorrow Never Knows'' (Earwave) *Three Ring Circle: ''Three Ring Circle'' (Earwave), with Rob Ickes and Andy Leftwich (Earwave) *Dave Pomeroy And Friends: ''The Taproom Tapes'' (Earwave) *Three Ring Circle: "Brothership" with Rob Ickes and Andy Leftwich (ResoRevolution) Pomeroy's producer credits include: *Don Williams – Best of Live (co-producer) *Sleepy LaBeef – "Rides Again" DVD and CD (Earwave) *Sweethearts of The Rodeo – "Restless" *Jamie Hartford Band - "Stuff That Works" (Earwave) *Supercool – "Greatest Hits, Vol. 1" (Earwave) For a comprehensive list of session contributions see Pomeroy's credits at Allmusic

References

External links

*
Three Ring Circle

AFM Local 257
*

Dave Pomeroy Dave Pomeroy (born April 26, 1956) is an American musician, known as a Nashville vocalist, songwriter, and producer (Earwave Productions), but is best known as a bassist. He has played electric and acoustic bass for many world renowned artists ...

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

Dave Pomeroy
NAMM Oral History Program Interview (2015) {{DEFAULTSORT:Pomeroy, Dave Living people American country bass guitarists American country songwriters American male songwriters 1956 births Musicians from Nashville, Tennessee Songwriters from Tennessee Guitarists from Tennessee American male bass guitarists 20th-century American bass guitarists Country musicians from Tennessee 20th-century American male musicians