Dave Specter

GUITARIST, singer/songwriter, Bandleader, Recording Artist, PRODUCER & Podcast Host

Dave Specter has earned an international reputation as one of the premier talents on the Chicago music scene. Since 1985 Specter has performed regularly at top venues and festivals throughout the USA and has toured internationally in 19 countries.

Before forming his own band in 1989, Specter toured extensively throughout the U.S. and Europe behind such blues greats as Son Seals, The Legendary Blues Band, Hubert Sumlin, Sam Lay and Steve Freund. Specter has also performed and/or recorded with such artists as Buddy Guy, Junior Wells, Otis Rush, Jimmy Rogers, Robert Jr. Lockwood, Jimmy Johnson, Jack McDuff, Johnny Adams, Snooky Pryor, Kim Wilson, Tad Robinson, John Primer, Johnny Littlejohn, B.B. Odom, Mighty Joe Young, Magic Slim, Lonnie Brooks, Ronnie Earl, Otis Clay, Floyd McDaniel, Pinetop Perkins and Jorma Kaukonen from Hot Tuna and Jefferson Airplane.

Dave has performed for the President of the United States, the Governor of Illinois and the Mayor of Chicago.

Dave appears on over 50 albums and DVDs as a guitarist, bandleader and/or producer, with 13 albums as a leader or co-leader on Delmark Records. His double album, Six String Soul 30 Years on Delmark was released in 2021 on CD and vinyl. He’s currently working on mixes for a live album recorded at Evanston SPACE in March of 2024.

Specter’s guitar playing is featured on the 2023 Grammy nominated “Into The Little Blue House” by Wendy and DB, nominated for Best Children’s Music Album.

Specter appears on compilation albums with artists such as B.B. King, Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy, Junior Wells, T-Bone Walker, Eric Clapton, Carlos Santana and Mike Bloomfield.

Dave was inducted into The Chicago Blues Hall of Fame in 2018.

Recently featured in Rolling Stone, Dave’s handwritten song lyrics are on display at The Woody Guthrie Center’s Songs of Conscience, Sounds of Freedom exhibit in Tulsa alongside Bruce Springsteen’s lyrics.

Dave is also partner at one of the Chicago area’s most acclaimed music venues, Evanston SPACE and hosts the podcast, Blues From The Inside Out.

Gear

Dave endorses Victoria Amplifiers, GHS Strings and Souldier Straps

Dave Specter: Spectified

by Nic Jones
January 3, 2011

Guitarist Dave Specter knows his blues and he has a track record to prove it. This set is, however, more reflective of the extent of his musical knowledge and appreciation for different forms. It's also a rare example of an instrumental set which loses nothing with repeated listens--and its ability to put a smile on the face only seems to grow with each successive spin. “Rumba & Tonic" provides ample evidence--and also how Specter's guitar and Los ...

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Film Review

Dave Specter: Live In Chicago

by Nic Jones
June 8, 2008

Dave Specter Live In Chicago Delmark 2007

Specter is now a cornerstone of the Chicago blues scene and also the Delmark catalog. The label's faith in him is more than justified on this showing as he and his band know that the blues has never been about showy virtuosity. Instead what they bring to the music is taut energy and economy and a collective mode of expression that's right in the pocket. ...

167

Album Review

Dave Specter: Speculatin'

by Ed Kopp
September 1, 2000

Dave Specter is a blues guitarist whose music crosses over seamlessly into the jazz realm. Speculatin' is an all-instrumental album featuring a hot guitar-organ combo playing tunes derivative of Grant Green, the Meters, and various heavyweight blues guitarists.Like his one-time collaborator Ronnie Earl, Dave Specter's playing embraces jazz, gospel, New Orleans funk, Texas blues and Chicago blues. Specter isn't as tone-conscious as Earl, but his style is very similar. Speculatin' is the work of an experienced musician who ...

Recording

Blues: Buddy Guy - Living Proof; Dave Specter - Spectified

Source: Music and More by Tim Niland
December 1, 2010

Buddy Guy—Living Proof (Jive, 2010)Legendary blues guitarist and singer Buddy Guy may proclaim that he is “74 Years Young" on the opening track of this album, but he plays and sings with the energy and verve of a man half his age. Guy can occasionally go overboard with the guitar pyrotechnics, but he harnesses all of the energy very well here, moving between slash and burn guitar blowouts like the coming of age tale “You'll Thank Me Someday" to the ...
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Recording

Delmark Records New Spring Releases: Dave Specter, Mississippi Heat, Jason Ajemian, Wally Rose

Source: All About Jazz
March 3, 2008

Delmark New Releases Street Date: April 22, 2008

DAVE SPECTER Live In Chicago (Delmark DVD 1794 / CD DE 794)

Blues guitarist Dave Specter is never prone to grandstanding. He communicates an inherent sense of style and form, subtlety and swing, keeping his magnetic needle always fixed on a steady, unalterable course. Recorded live at Buddy Guy's Legends and Rosa's Blues Lounge, Live In Chicago features special guests Jimmy Johnson, Tad Robinson ...
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