David Olney

A native of Lincoln, RI, David Olney picked up a guitar for the first time at 14 and was led down the folk music slope by his older brother. He moved to Chapel Hill to attend the University of North Carolina, but discovered life as a musician instead, performing traditional folk songs by the Carter Family and others. Olney moved to New York to play guitar in a band founded by former UNC classmate, Bland Simpson, and then onto Nashville where he established himself as a talented songwriter and built a following for his band, Dave Olney & The X-Rays. His solo career has focused more on writing songs that are careful portraits of people and sometimes even objects that tell touching stories”he doesn’t find his own life that compelling. Olney’s 2003 release The Wheel was his first collection of thematically linked songs. His most recent CD from LoudHouse Records, Migration, continues the trend, bringing together tales of a migrating bird, a lovelorn magician, and an assortment of other memorable characters. David Olney’s most recent release, Migration is on Loud House Records.