PHOTO: RICK MOORE | Pedal steel guitar player Dave Easley has been a fixture on the New Orleans music scene for decades. For three Wednesdays in September, he will be joined by some of the best musicians in New Orleans at Chickie Wah Wah. On September 7, Guitarist Steve Masakowski and bassist James Singleton will be the featured artists. On September 14, drummer Johnny Vidacovich and bassist James Singleton will be featured. The performance on September 21 will honor the Grateful Dead and will feature guitarist and vocalist Papa Mali and multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Aaron Wilkerson of the Honey Island Swamp Band.
Dave Easley plays mostly pedal steel guitar, but has been known to pick up an electric guitar and rock out. He says, “I like to play all kinds of music—folk, blues, rock and jazz.” That quote is the understatement of the year. Easley enhances every band he plays with regardless of genre. His playing evokes everything from pastoral landscapes to Grateful Dead-inspired pyrotechnics. He is a master improviser adept at coaxing a wide variety of sounds from his instrument. He also has what musicians call, “big ears.” He hears and responds musically to everything happening on stage.
Easley has appeared on numerous recordings including work with Brian Blade, Joni Mitchell, Brian Stoltz, Peter Rowan, Ruthie Foster, Big Chief Monk Boudreaux, Tom McDermott, Mem Shannon, Lynn Drury, Shannon McNally, Papa Mali, Doug Belote, Cliff Hines, and more. He released Boatmen Waiting on the Wind in 2000 and Icicle Man Minus Two in 2007 with his band, Heartifacts. He released A Time of the Signs under his own name in 2011.
Dave Easley won the Offbeat magazine award for “best other” instrument (pedal steel guitar) in 1997 and was chosen by New Orleans magazine as a New Orleans Jazz All Star in 2003. He has also won awards as a member of 3 Now 3.
Early on in his career, Easley was inspired by Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead. He led his own band, the Heartifacts and collaborated on other Dead-inspired projects. In the 1990s, he could be seen supporting acts numerous acts including playing blues-rock with Chris Mule and the Untouchables and psychedelic blues with Rickie Castrillo and Dreamland. He played many a blues gig with Coco Robicheaux and supported jazz vocalist John Boutte. He also spent considerable time working with singer/songwriter Shannon McNally.
Easley is a master of improvisational jazz. He was a founding member of the group 3 Now 4, appeared with saxophonist Rob Wagner and is a regular player in various improvisational combos. He has shared stages with Dr. John, Cyril Neville, Col. Bruce Hampton, George Porter, Jr., Ike Stubblefield, Dave Liebman, Kenny Garrett, Bill Kreutzmann, Howard Levy, Charlie Byrd, Seamus Blake, world-renowned sarod player Ashish Khan, the Campbell Brothers, members of the String Cheese Incident, the Grey Boy Allstars, Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe, jazz violin virtuoso George Mason, the Quickening, Dave Malone, the Kid Carsons, Mike Darby and many others. He has a regular gig playing Cajun music on Bourbon St.
