Blues Artist of the Month: Dave Specter

Howdy folks. I decided to start the Blues Artist of the Month with one of the best, Dave Specter of Chicago. Dave has been a Chicago blues fixture for the past 22 years. Since 1985 Dave could be seen playing at all of the best Chicago blues hot-spots ranging from Buddy Guys Legends club to Nicks Pub. In addition, Dave regularly tours Europe playing in France, Germany and more.

I first met Dave back in 1994 when I was in Chicago on a business trip with a colleague. We chanced upon Buddy Guys Legends club, mostly because my friend thought he could smoke a cigar there. I had never really heard blues music before being a die-hard head-banger at the time but I figured what the hell, let’s see what this was all about. The amiable chap at the door made a big deal out of the fact that Dave Specter was playing. Since neither of us had ever heard of him (or any “real” blues artist) before, we shrugged, paid the cover charge and had a few beers waiting for the show to start.

Well, I had a bit of an epiphany that night. Dave came onstage and played for several hours and I was absolutely transfixed. Every tune he played I had never heard of before and yet they were all eerily familiar. As I was to later learn, most of the music that is popular today in some way owes it’s soul to the blues. Country, rock, soul, all of it comes from the blues in one way or the other. That is why a country music lover can hear things in the blues that sound familiar, rock fans hear the blues in their music and so on. However when you hear elements of the blues in modern music, it is like hearing an echo whereas when you experience live blues, it is pure, like getting it straight from the source and the experience in a powerful one indeed.

And thus is was when hearing Dave Specter for the first time. It awakened an appetite for this kind of music in me, an appetite that has remained insatiated to this day. However, it was more than just the music; Dave himself has an incredible stage presence. If “the Fonz” were to be a real person it would be like that, only without the implied arrogance. He simply exudes a sense of “cool” that is hard to describe until you experience it yourself. And if Dave were to be like this in real life I really would not have any real connection with him, being a mere mortal myself. Alas, that is not the case. In person and off stage, Dave Specter is one of the nicest and most amiable individuals you could ever hope to meet. As it turned out, over the years I have gotten to know Dave and his bandmates on successive trips to Chicago and eventually became friends after a fashion. Here is Dave and his lady-friend Kelli along with Beth and myself on our 10th anniversary trip to Chicago at a fun show at Nicks Pub:

But back to Dave Specter. His style of blues walks the line between blues and jazz with an occasional tweak of rock and roll thrown in for good measure. Perhaps that is how his music and playing can seem sensual, smooth, yet upbeat and lively at the same time. Much of the time Dave plays to the crowd and in that way is quite chameleon-like in nature. For example on a recent trip we caught Dave playing at Shaw’s Crab House early in the evening where he played mellow tunes to a dinner crowd:

And just a few hours later he was gettin’ down in style at Nicks while elder Chicago bluesman Lurrie Bell (subject of a future column) looks on:

You can learn more about Dave Specter on his web page here along with current tour dates and show-times. If you get a chance to see and hear Dave play, by all means make it a priority to do so. You will be catching one of Chicago’s best kept blues secrets!

Until next time,

JeffC