David Bromberg


David Bromberg is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter. An eclectic artist, Bromberg plays bluegrass, blues, folk, jazz, country and western, and rock and roll. He is known for his quirky, humorous lyrics, and the ability to play rhythm and lead guitar at the same time.
Bromberg has played with many famous musicians, including Jerry Jeff Walker, Willie Nelson, Jorma Kaukonen, Jerry Garcia, Rusty Evans and Bob Dylan. He co-wrote the song "The Holdup" with former Beatle George Harrison, who played on Bromberg's self-titled 1972 album.
In 2008, he was nominated for a Grammy Award. Bromberg is known for his fingerpicking style that he learned from Reverend Gary Davis.

Musical career

Bromberg was born to a Jewish family in Philadelphia and raised in Tarrytown, New York. He attended Columbia College of Columbia University in the 1960s, studying guitar with Reverend Gary Davis during that period.
Proficient on fiddle, many styles of acoustic and electric guitar, pedal steel guitar and dobro, Bromberg began releasing albums of his own in the early 1970s on Columbia Records. His seven-minute rendition of "Mr. Bojangles" from 1972's Demon in Disguise, interspersed with tales about traveling with song author Jerry Jeff Walker, earned Bromberg progressive rock radio airplay. In 1973, he played mandolin, dobro, and electric guitar on Jonathan Edwards' album Have a Good Time for Me.
Bromberg released Try Me One More Time in 2007, his first studio recording since 1990. It included Dylan's "It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry" and Elizabeth Cotten's "Shake Sugaree." The album was nominated for a Grammy Award in the category of Best Traditional Folk Album at the 50th annual Grammy Awards in 2008. His 2011 album Use Me features guests Levon Helm, John Hiatt, Tim O'Brien, Dr. John, Keb' Mo', Los Lobos, Widespread Panic, Linda Ronstadt, and Vince Gill.
Bromberg currently lives in Wilmington, Delaware, where he and his wife, artist Nancy Josephson, own an extensive violin sales and repair shop, which receives a partial subsidy from the City of Wilmington, Delaware. He occasionally performs at Wilmington's Grand Opera House, where he and his wife are major donors. For six years, ending in May 2017, he sometimes performed at the new World Cafe Live Wilmington, in "The Queen" theater.

Discography

As a solo artist or band leader

LPs and CDs:
DVDs:
MP3s:
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With other artists

David Bromberg has contributed musically to many albums by other musicians and bands. This is a partial list of those recordings.