(Modern Electric Blues | Harmonica Blues) Dave Nevling (and The Blues Kats) - 4 albums - 2000 - 2012, MP3, 320 kbps

You might say Dave Nevling got an early start to his music career because, according to his sister, he learned to sing before he learned to talk. Many Nevling family members were musically inclined, so Dave was inspired by both exposure and natural talent. The Nevling family moved to White Plains, New York when Dave was 15, and his first experience as a lead singer came when he was asked by some classmates to join their band, "The Boys." Nevling commented, "I was the only one with a basement to practice in. That may have been the deciding factor for my being hired at the time."
Dave Nevling was first introduced to the blues while attending a junior college in Connecticut, but it wasn't until a couple years later at Georgetown University, in D.C., that he started studying the harmonica. Besides a few book basics, he realized playing the harmonica is pretty much a self-taught experience and requires many hours of experimentation and practice. While living in south Florida with his sister, Dave found the ultimate makeshift sound studio-empty sewer pipes at a construction site near their apartment. Nevling added, "Of course, it wasn't until evening, after the work crew left, that I headed out to the pipes, no mic or amp, with just a flashlight and my bag of harps. The acoustics were fantastic!"
Nevling moved to Houston, Texas and played with various bands from the mid 70's through the 80's. In 1991 he got his first steady job as a musician with Gulf Coast guitar legend, Bert Wills, and played with Bert for almost two years. Soon after leaving Wills, Mark May, another Houston guitar legend, asked Dave to join his band "Mark May and the Agitators." Dave played harmonica and sang with May for three years, and during that period performed on Mark's first CD, "Call on the Blues."
After getting some good local band experience under his belt, Dave decided to go out on his own and formed "Dave Nevling and the Blues Kats" in 1997. This was his opportunity to concentrate on true blues music and satisfy his need for self-expression by writing his own songs.
Nevling said, "My early harmonica influences were Paul Butterfield and Charlie Musslewhite. Ray Charles was one of my favorite vocalists, as was Delbert McClinton." Dave's musical subjects range from the spiritual enlightenment expressed in "You The One" to the dark, moody minor key blues song, "Nightshade," about a man who poisons his wife. He says he draws his inspirations from current events, movies, billboards, and relationships. Scott Colvin, an English teacher who has a website devoted to literature teaching tools, has used Dave's song "Haunting Me" as a musical theme example for Arthur Miller's play "The Crucible." Of course, Nevling's sense of humor can't be ignored either, as expressed in the fun songs, "Short and Stout" and "Dip My Wick."
Dave Nevling has arranged and produced (Katastic Records) three CDs. His first release, "That Look" in the spring of 2000, followed by "Nightshade" in 2002, and the latest, "Heady Brew," out in May 2004, were met with rave reviews (see quote sheet). All three albums showcase Nevling's command of vocals, mastery of harmonica, and versatility as a songwriter.