Dave Sharp (born 28 January 1959) is an English guitarist who co-founded, along with Mike Peters, the Welsh punk/new wave band

The Alarm The Alarm are a Welsh rock band that formed in Rhyl, Wales, in 1981. Initially formed as a punk band, the Toilets, in 1977, under lead vocalist Mike Peters, the band soon embraced arena rock and included marked influences from Welsh languag ...

Early career

Sharp was born in Kersal,

Salford Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...

, and began playing with the band Seventeen in the 1970s; he made his recording debut on their "Don't Let Go" / "Bank Holiday Weekend" single. After Seventeen disbanded in 1980, the band reformed as The Alarm, eventually recording hit records such as "68 Guns" and "The Spirit of '76".

Hard Travelers

Towards the end of 2007 Sharp, having spent most of his recent time playing solo acoustic, was ready to form a new band again. He was put in touch with

Henry McCullough Henry Campbell Liken McCullough (21 July 1943 – 14 June 2016) was a Northern Irish guitarist, singer and songwriter. He was best known for his work as a member of Spooky Tooth, The Grease Band and Paul McCartney and Wings. He also perf ...

and, after a few days together in Ireland, the nucleus of The Hard Travelers was formed. The concept of the band's music was the intention to bring the songs of

Woody Guthrie Woodrow Wilson Guthrie (; July 14, 1912 – October 3, 1967) was an American singer-songwriter, one of the most significant figures in American folk music. His work focused on themes of American socialism and anti-fascism. He has inspired ...

to a new public. To complete the lineup, Sharp and McCullough brought in

Zoot Money George Bruno Money (born 17 July 1942) is an English vocalist, keyboardist and bandleader. He is best known for his playing of the Hammond organ and association with his Big Roll Band. Inspired by Jerry Lee Lewis and Ray Charles, he was draw ...

on keyboards; Gary Fletcher on bass; and

Colin Allen Colin Eric Allen (born 9 May 1938) is an English blues drummer and songwriter. Career Allen spent the first ten years of his adult life working in aircraft engineering. He became interested in jazz at the age of 16 and two years later starte ...

on drums. Their debut gig, following a recording session, was on 22 January 2008 in

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

at The Cellars. The following booked gigs had to be postponed for a while due to various difficulties and their next performance was at The Black Horse Festival,

Hastings Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...

where they headlined on 24 May 2008. Sharp went on to form another lineup of the band, featuring guitarist Scott Poley, Norman Cooke (Drums), Christian Madden (Hammond Organ), Paul Sudlow (Acoustic Guitar). After a short time in the studio, the lineup disbanded.

AOR - The Spirit of The Alarm

In April 2008 Sharp launched his own version of The Alarm, AOR - Spirit of The Alarm, to showcase the band's American setlists from the late 1980s. Together with

North West The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

musicians Wayne Parry, Dave Black, Tom Szakaly and Si Smith, AOR played their debut gig at Glasgow Rockers on 18 April, later supporting The Damned at Heywood Civic Centre in support of the

Sophie Lancaster Sophie is a version of the female given name Sophia, meaning "wise". People with the name Born in the Middle Ages * Sophie, Countess of Bar (c. 1004 or 1018–1093), sovereign Countess of Bar and lady of Mousson * Sophie of Thuringia, Duchess o ...

Foundation on 26 November 2008. Sharp currently tours the United Kingdom with regular visits to Scotland and Wales. Dave has also played regular support slots for The Alarm including the 2017 Viral Black tour.

Discography

;Solo albums * ''Hard Travellin (1991) * ''Downtown America'' (1996)

References

External links

Dave Sharp's website

Hard Travelers website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sharp, Dave 1959 births Living people English rock guitarists English new wave musicians The Alarm members People from Salford