David's Bio

David Doss, Spartanburg, SC

Rhythm and Lead Guitar

I began playing guitar at the age of 15. My dad had an old no-name acoustic that caught my interest so I began trying to strum a few chords with the help of a Mel Bay chord book. I played it until I got my first electric, a Hondo Les Paul copy. Every day after school, I would play and practice the guitar for hours. I would listen to records and would somehow figure out how to play it myself. I have since studied with several fine guitar teachers, but in the early days I was completely self taught. My early influences were Jimmy Hendrix and Eric Clapton. I eventually started playing clubs with some friends in a rock band called Steel. A Marshall amp turned to 10 and a Gibson Les Paul were the order of the day back then. My hearing would never be the same. While in college, I formed a country group with current Tobacco Road keyboardist, Chris Bryant. Later, drummer Tim Blackwell joined the group. At that time, country music venues were the more plentiful and better paying gigs. The name of this band was called Shine. We were the house band at a very large country venue called the Honky-Tonk Saloon. We played every Thursday, Friday and Saturday night from 9:00pm until 2:00am for as many as 600 people each night. During this time period I really improved my playing skills.

Country guitar was a totally different animal. I began trying to copy the licks of Albert Lee, Ray Flack, etc. and soon figured out this genre of music was not as easy as it first seemed. Years later, Tobacco Road was formed as an avenue to showcase song writing. It has been invaluable to have played with a group doing so much original music. Its one thing to cover someone else’s material and quite another to create something out of nothing.

My current rig is a telecaster made from a Warmoth ash body and a Stewart-McDonald maple neck. My amp is 1968 Fender Twin Reverb that I totally gutted and rebuilt with my own custom circuit. The only original parts are the chassis and cabinet. We would play a weekend gig and I’d go back and change something in the amp. This got to be an obsession for a period of time but I think I finally have something I can live with. Maybe I’ll start selling these someday. Most of all, I hope you enjoy the music.