Artist Spotlight - Dave Haas

The first time I met Dave was several years ago at the Ohio Valley Gathering. He was smiling and friendly - which is something you get a lot of from Dave - as he was escorting his nephew around the festival. At the time, Dave's nephew was a young aspiring musician, but is now a very talented teen-aged musician. I think a lot of that is because of Dave's tutelage. Dave is an amazing teacher - whether it is teaching chemistry like he does for the University of Charleston, or teaching mountain dulcimer like he does at festivals across the country.

Dave with his newest dulcimers!

Here is Dave's official biography from his website:

Dave Haas lives in Charleston, WV, and loves to perform and teach others how to play the mountain dulcimer! He has been playing the dulcimer since 1990, and loves to share the mountain dulcimer and its history with schools, churches, and civic organizations. He has even brought dulcimer music to those in prison! Dave is a popular dulcimer instructor, and has performed in 16 states. Dave also plays the guitar, sings, and leads music on Christian retreat experiences such as Kairos Prison Ministry, The Walk To Emmaus, Cursillo, and Teens Encounter Christ. Dave has released four dulcimer CDs, seven dulcimer instruction/CD workbooks, and a popular dulcimer chord chart.

Dave also enjoys teaching science as a Chemistry Professor at the University of Charleston. One of his favorite activities is to sing chemistry songs (some on dulcimer) with his students!

Dave performs solo and with Bob Webb as a dulcimer/guitar duo. They have released two CDs; “Here Comes The Sun” and “Starry, Starry Night”. Dave recently released “What a Wonderful World”, featuring Bob Webb and Dave’s son, Mark Haas. All three CDs contain dulcimer instrumentals with mostly guitar accompaniment, providing an easy-listening mix of Old Time, Celtic, Christian, and Contemporary music.

This is Dave with his nephew at OVG back in 2011. This was my first time meeting him - since then I've seen him a lot of times, and even built a couple of dulcimers for him!