“Bead avoids introspective singer-songwriter hell and ploughs a furrow that keeps him on the right side of the commercial track.”
– Jackie Hayden, HOTPRESS
Bead is the moniker used by Irish musician and songwriter Dave Dwyer.
Born in North County Dublin, I was fascinated with making music from early on and acquired my first guitar from a shop on Capel Street.
Growing up in Dublin, I drew inspiration from listening to bands on the Dave Fanning radio show. I started writing songs for my own amusement and later for a short-lived band in the early 90’s before all four members went their separate ways.
I began recording demos of original songs in 1993 with local producer Dave McCune who I met through a mutual musician friend. Soon after, I received national airplay for songs including ‘Superman’ and ‘Heaven’ on the Dave Fanning Rock Show (Irelands National Radio Station 2FM) which garnered interest from two Major record labels at the time.
I played Whelans IMRO showcase gigs throughout the mid Nineties and received favourable reviews from Hotpress magazine. I headlined my own gigs in the DA Club and played open mic sessions in Sin é, the Mez Bar and the Ruby Sessions.
In 2003, I collaborated with producer Dave McCune to record my first full length album. Recordings complete, I travelled to Enniskillen to work on mastering with Robyn Robbins at Mid Atlantic Digital. The following year I formed my own label (Núa Records) and released a short run of CD’s of the 10 track album entitled ‘High Time’.
After seeing a poster in the window of Tower Records, I got the idea to work with Morrissey‘s guitarist and musical director Boz Boorer. I tracked Boz down and met in Portugal in 2010 to record my eight song guitar driven LP ‘Battle Stations’.
In 2017, I reunited with Boz again and The Ruts drummer Dave Ruffy in Portugal to record a five song EP featuring songs ‘Just Like The Beatles’, ‘No One Ever Told Me’, ’The Highway’, ‘Black Irish Dogs’ and the title track ‘Country Mountain’.
Recorded in Portugal and mastered for iTunes by Grammy award winning engineer Tim Young in Metropolis Studios London, the new EP ‘Country Mountain’ was released on September 10th, 2018.
