Dave Evans

Recording Artist · Active 1980–2017 · Portsmouth · Also a musician
Classic Bluegrass Contemporary Bluegrass

Dave Evans was one of the great Stanley-tradition lead voices of his generation — a powerful tenor singer and Scruggs-style banjoist who moved from sideman work with Larry Sparks and the Goins Brothers to fronting his own band, Dave Evans and River Bend, across nearly four decades on the road.

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  • Born William "Dave" Evans on July 24, 1950 in Portsmouth, Ohio; settled in Olive Hill in eastern Kentucky's Carter County for most of his career.
  • Took his first professional gig in 1968 with Earl Taylor and the Stoney Mountain Boys; spent 1972–1975 with Larry Sparks and the Lonesome Ramblers.
  • Played in the Goins Brothers, Red Allen and the Kentuckians, and the Boys from Indiana before forming Dave Evans and River Bend in 1978.
  • Recorded for Vetco, Rebel, and Neon Records over a long catalog including Highway 52 (1979), Call Me Long Gone (1980), Just Look at Me Now (1997), and Bad Moon Shining (2000).
  • Wrote the bluegrass-standard staples "One Loaf of Bread," "Highway 52," "99 Years is Almost for Life," and "Be Proud of the Grey in Your Hair."
  • His vocal style, with the sensitivity of Carter Stanley and the power of Ralph, made him a touchstone for traditional bluegrass singers; Bluegrass Unlimited profiled him as "The Voice of Traditional Bluegrass."
  • Career was interrupted from 1989 to 1995 by an assault conviction and incarceration; resumed touring in 1997 and continued until diabetes and arthritis forced retirement in 2010, followed by quintuple bypass surgery in 2011.
  • Died June 25, 2017 in Morehead, Kentucky at age 66; subject of the documentary Last of a Breed: The Dave Evans Story.

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