At 35, Tweed father of four Dave Murray didn’t expect to be representing his country but that’s just what the talented musician is doing this week in Hollywood.
Dave is one of more than 20 musicians representing Australia at the World Championships of Performing Arts (WCOPA).
He’s searching for gold in four categories, Blues, Rock, Gospel and Original and will have just one minute to showcase just what he can do in each category.
“It’s a long way to go for four minutes,” he laughed.
But it’s more than that, it’s a chance to meet with talent scouts and record company representatives. It’s a chance to work in the US (a dream of his, with a lot of his influences coming from the US – particularly White Stripes musician Jack White who he credits with inspiring his late blooming music career).
It is maybe even a chance to follow in the footsteps of talented young guitarist and former Australia’s Got Talent winner Smokin Joe – who won the event last year.
And that’s not bad for a guy who turned to his career love – music – when he lost his job in the economic down-turn.
“I use to work from home full-time in Real Estate investment,” he said.
“But I lost my business in the 2008 crash and I only got into music (as a career not a hobby) because I couldn’t get a job anywhere else.
“In desperation, I took a job as a bass player.”
The rest, as they say, is history, with Dave steadily building up a following for his unique performing style — another thing that has shocked the prolific song-writer who always thought that his future in music was writing songs for other people to perform.
He believes the secret to his success as a live performer is lead guitar and looping pedals with bass and drum sounds.
“I’m getting heaps of work because of my style – I’m one guy who sounds like a trio,” he laughed.
And while Dave is off chasing his dream, he said he couldn’t have done it without the love and support of his wife, children aged 3, 5, 7 and 10, family, friends and the community who held raffles and donated prizes so he could raise the money for the trip.
