SongVault Artist Profile

Guitar driven...blues inspired..."Fade to Blue", a 16 track, full-length CD by Dave Sadler, is now available from BluezArt Records. On "Fade to Blue" you will find a variety of guitar driven, blues inspired tracks ranging from Chicago, Texas, and traditional Delta influenced tunes, to blues/rock/jazz fusion, and reggae numbers.

Working with accomplished studio musicians from across the U.S. and the U.K., Dave Sadler has compiled a collection of music that draws from the blues/rock heritage of the nation’s mid-section. From the farmland Delta of South Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana to the streets of Chicago and the plains of Texas, the early Blues greats paved the way for modern rock, and paid their dues. The music on "Fade to Blue" is intended to be an acknowledgment of their struggles and contributions, with a few messages for our times.

Collaborating with Dave on several tracks for the Fade to Blue CD is Dan Cipriano, the busiest saxophone player in New York. Dan has performed, or recorded with Wilson Pickett, Bruce Springsteen, The Allman Brothers, Gary U.S. Bonds, Michael Bolton, Southside Johnny, George Thorogood, Paul Shaffer, and a host of others. You will love his contribution on Fade to Blue.

In March 2008, Fade to Blue entered the Roots Music Report Blues Chart at No. 33. Tracks from Fade to Blue have been featured on Sounds of Blue with Bob Putignano, Mark Kerr’s Blues Nation Show, numerous other broadcast outlets, and have been named among the top songs for 2007 on Midnight Special Blues Radio, originating in Paris, France. Dave was recently named "Featured Guitarist of the Month" on IndieGuitarist.com.

Fade to Blue has been listed in iTunes Europe's Top 100 Albums List in the Blues category in 2008. The Top 100 List is based on sales and is compiled weekly. Fade to Blue is currently listed at No. 53 on the chart and is one of the featured releases in the Blues genre.

Born in Pine Bluff, Arkansas (home to blues legends Big Bill Broonzy and Cedell Davis), Dave Sadler began playing guitar at the age of twelve, because his piano teacher failed to make any headway with him at all. The choice of learning to play a musical instrument having 88 keys versus 6 strings was no contest. “Have you ever tried to tune a piano?” Dave remarks.

Raised in a musical household, which includes a distant relation to Johnny Cash, a grandfather who was an amateur minstrel singer, and a mother who was a piano teacher - it is no small surprise that Dave has continued his musical journey to this point. Growing up on the edge of the Delta, blues inspired music surrounded Dave. Where a typical teenager might have been found listening to the latest top 40 rock hit, Dave, a self taught musician who plays by ear, would often be found locked away in his room listening to the likes of B.B. King and Elmore James, trying to emulate their playing styles. “I have always had a passion for blues and blues/rock music. The idea to make this particular CD sort of evolved out of numerous late night experimental recording sessions that began to become connected in a way.” Fade to Blue was the first track to be recorded. “It pretty much was the catalyst”, Dave says. Influences such as Eric Clapton, Robert Cray, Buddy Guy, Jeff Beck and Eric Johnson can be found in the music of the Fade to Blue collection.

One of the more interesting moments in his early guitar career came when, as a teenager, he was given the opportunity to play Jimmy Driftwood's first guitar, made from a bed headboard and a fence post, upon a visit to Driftwood's home in Mountain View, Arkansas. "It was an awful playing guitar, but it was an honor to be invited to play Tennessee Stud on the guitar of the man who wrote it".

Even with a career as an architect, and being a father to four children ranging from the ages of 18 to 24, Dave has still managed to devote much time to his music. For the past seven years Dave has played with a group of musicians that have performed at many venues from prisons to major fundraising events.

Dave is affiliated with BMI as a songwriter/composer.