Dave always had a way with words and a knack for music, and he started playing in country and rock bands as a teenager. He was born in Kansas and raised in Arizona, but he perfected his musical craft through immersion in the Austin music scene for the last couple of decades. But back when he was a still a kid he loved writing and singing songs, and his parents let him play at local honky tonks at a tender age when he couldn’t get into the bar without them. Later, when Dave was an art major at ASU, he debuted his cowpunk band “Chaingang” at the Mason Jar in Phoenix, and his music career was off to its unseemly start. The years that followed featured a steady progression of glory-seeking, semi-roadworthy Arizona bands “Politics or Pontiacs,” “Nitpickers,” and “Trophy Husbands.”

 

In 2005 Dave produced his first solo record, Call Me Lonesome and the Arizona Republic named Dave “Arizona’s Best Songwriter.” Meanwhile, out in Texas, Third Coast Music included Call Me Lonesome in its Top 10 Debuts of the year. Dave relocated to Austin and released Here with You Tonight, debuting at #1 on the FAR radio chart. Former Downbeat editor Nat Hentoff noted in his review of Here with You Tonight that Dave “immediately held [his] attention not by showboating, but through naturally flowing rhythms, and stories of everyday life and loss, told in a warm, unhurried, and sometimes wry voice of experience.”

 

Dave’s next disc West Texas Wine was co-produced by Dave with Dale X. Allen, and features the single “Beatin’ Ya Down.” Writing for Good Sound, David Cantor called Insley’s music “Zen Country,” and credited him with “leaving melodramatic self-indulgence out of the picture.” West Texas Wine was followed by Just the Way That I Am, Dave’s first vinyl album release. A new Dave Insley album is due in 2026.

 

Don’t miss Dave on your next trip to Austin or when he comes to your town!