Dave Gregory
Encyclopedia
Dave Gregory is an English rock lead guitarist known best for his work with Swindon
-based new wave
band XTC
.
, from immediately prior to the recording
of the Drums and Wires
LP
in 1979 to his eventually leaving the band in 1999. He also contributed keyboards and backing vocals to their work.
Since leaving XTC Gregory has been much in demand as a session musician
with a number of artists, including Peter Gabriel
, Aimee Mann
, Cud
, Marc Almond
, Bingo Durango
, Johnny Hates Jazz
, Jason Donovan
, Martin Newell
, Louis Philippe
, Lulu
, Mark Owen
, R. Stevie Moore
and others. Gregory, who has been regularly involved in Steve Hogarth
's h-Band, has also contributed to works by Porcupine Tree
, including string
arrangement
s on their sixth album, Lightbulb Sun
, and for Dublin group Pugwash.
On 16 August 2009, English progressive rock
band Big Big Train
announced on their official blog that Gregory would be appearing as a guest musician on their sixth studio album, The Underfall Yard
. Gregory also appeared on Big Big Train's Far Skies Deep Time EP. Gregory is now a member of the group Tin Spirits, which feature ex Stamford Amp singer Mark Kilminster and also guitarist Daniel Steinhardt and drummer Douglas Mussard.. The band are set to release their first album, entitled 'Wired To Earth', on Friday 1 April 2011. Tin Spirits supported Marillion
during the Marillionweekend at Port Zélande on 27 March 2011 in the Netherlands.
; in 2004 retinopathy
threatened to end his career but he has since made a full recovery.
Swindon
Swindon is a large town within the borough of Swindon and ceremonial county of Wiltshire, in South West England. It is midway between Bristol, west and Reading, east. London is east...
-based new wave
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
band XTC
XTC
XTC were a New Wave band from Swindon, England, active between 1976 and 2005. The band enjoyed some chart success, including the UK and Canadian hits "Making Plans for Nigel" and "Senses Working Overtime" , but are perhaps even better known for their long-standing critical success.- Early years:...
.
Career
Gregory was the lead guitarist of XTCXTC
XTC were a New Wave band from Swindon, England, active between 1976 and 2005. The band enjoyed some chart success, including the UK and Canadian hits "Making Plans for Nigel" and "Senses Working Overtime" , but are perhaps even better known for their long-standing critical success.- Early years:...
, from immediately prior to the recording
Sound recording and reproduction
Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...
of the Drums and Wires
Drums and Wires
Drums and Wires is the third studio album by the British band XTC, released on 17 August 1979. It reached No. 34 on the UK album chart, and No. 176 on the U.S. Billboard album charts. It contained the successful single "Making Plans for Nigel", which was released on 14 September 1979, and reached...
LP
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
in 1979 to his eventually leaving the band in 1999. He also contributed keyboards and backing vocals to their work.
Since leaving XTC Gregory has been much in demand as a session musician
Session musician
Session musicians are instrumental and vocal performers, musicians, who are available to work with others at live performances or recording sessions. Usually such musicians are not permanent members of a musical ensemble and often do not achieve fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders...
with a number of artists, including Peter Gabriel
Peter Gabriel
Peter Brian Gabriel is an English singer, musician, and songwriter who rose to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock group Genesis. After leaving Genesis, Gabriel went on to a successful solo career...
, Aimee Mann
Aimee Mann
Aimee Mann is an American rock singer-songwriter, guitarist and bassist.-Early life:Aimee Mann grew up in Bon Air, Virginia, graduated from Open High School in 1978 and attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston, but dropped out to sing with her first punk rock band, the Young Snakes...
, Cud
Cud
Cud is a portion of food that returns from a ruminant's stomach in the mouth to be chewed for the second time. More accurately, it is a bolus of semi-degraded food regurgitated from the reticulorumen of a ruminant. Cud is produced during the physical digestive process of rumination, or "chewing the...
, Marc Almond
Marc Almond
Marc Almond is an English singer-songwriter and musician, who originally found fame as half of the seminal synthpop/New Wave duo Soft Cell...
, Bingo Durango
Bingo Durango
Bingo Durango was an eighties alternative pop/rock group that drew heavily on the sound of sixties psychedelia. The band’s releases were characterized by layered arrangements, dreamy melodies, and the fluid guitar of Scott Mather.- Origins :...
, Johnny Hates Jazz
Johnny Hates Jazz
Johnny Hates Jazz is an Anglo-American Pop/Rock band, formed in 1986 by Clark Datchler , Mike Nocito , and Calvin Hayes...
, Jason Donovan
Jason Donovan
Jason Donovan is an Australian actor and singer. He initially achieved fame in the Australian soap opera Neighbours, before beginning a career in music in 1988. In the UK he has sold over 3 million records, and his début album Ten Good Reasons was one of the highest-selling albums of 1989...
, Martin Newell
Martin Newell
Martin Newell may refer to:*Martin Newell , British computer scientist, creator of the Utah teapot*Martin Newell , British rock musician, poet and author, known as "the Wild Man of Wivenhoe"...
, Louis Philippe
Louis Philippe (musician)
Louis Philippe is a London-based French singer, songwriter, arranger and producer who has been active from the mid-1980s onwards...
, Lulu
Lulu (singer)
Lulu Kennedy-Cairns, OBE , best known by her stage name Lulu, is a Scottish singer, actress, and television personality who has been successful in the entertainment business from the 1960s through to the present day...
, Mark Owen
Mark Owen
Mark Anthony Patrick Owen , is an English singer-songwriter. He is a member of pop band Take That. The band were hugely successful during the 1990s and have enjoyed even more success since their reunion in 2005...
, R. Stevie Moore
R. Stevie Moore
Robert Steven Moore is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. In addition to having numerous albums released on labels around the world, the prolific Moore has self-released over 400 cassette and CD-R albums since 1968, as well as dozens of home videos, mostly through the R. Stevie Moore...
and others. Gregory, who has been regularly involved in Steve Hogarth
Steve Hogarth
Steve Hogarth also known as "h", is the lead vocalist and occasional keyboardist/guitarist with the British rock band Marillion. Hogarth was formerly a keyboard player and co-lead vocalist with The Europeans and vocalist with How We Live...
's h-Band, has also contributed to works by Porcupine Tree
Porcupine Tree
Porcupine Tree is a progressive rock band formed by Steven Wilson in 1987 in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, England. Their music is difficult to categorise, being associated with both psychedelic rock and progressive rock, yet having been influenced by trance, krautrock and ambient due to Steven...
, including string
String instrument
A string instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. In the Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification, used in organology, they are called chordophones...
arrangement
Arrangement
The American Federation of Musicians defines arranging as "the art of preparing and adapting an already written composition for presentation in other than its original form. An arrangement may include reharmonization, paraphrasing, and/or development of a composition, so that it fully represents...
s on their sixth album, Lightbulb Sun
Lightbulb Sun
-2008 Reissues:A reissue of Lightbulb Sun was released on April 21, 2008 through Kscope as 2 disc set; or a 3 disc set for the first 5,000 pre-ordered copies. Disc one is a CD containing a remastered version of the original album album, while disc two is a DVD-A containing the album remixed into...
, and for Dublin group Pugwash.
On 16 August 2009, English progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
band Big Big Train
Big Big Train
Big Big Train is an English progressive rock band that was founded in 1990. Based in Bournemouth, England, the band members are Nick D'Virgilio, Dave Gregory, David Longdon, Andy Poole and Gregory Spawton....
announced on their official blog that Gregory would be appearing as a guest musician on their sixth studio album, The Underfall Yard
The Underfall Yard
The Underfall Yard is the sixth studio album by the English progressive rock band Big Big Train. It was released on 15 December 2009, by English Electric Recordings.http://www.bigbigtrain.com/-Background:...
. Gregory also appeared on Big Big Train's Far Skies Deep Time EP. Gregory is now a member of the group Tin Spirits, which feature ex Stamford Amp singer Mark Kilminster and also guitarist Daniel Steinhardt and drummer Douglas Mussard.. The band are set to release their first album, entitled 'Wired To Earth', on Friday 1 April 2011. Tin Spirits supported Marillion
Marillion
Marillion are a British rock band, formed in Aylesbury, England in 1979. Their recorded studio output comprises sixteen albums generally regarded in two distinct eras, delineated by the departure of original vocalist & frontman Fish in late 1988, and the subsequent arrival of replacement Steve...
during the Marillionweekend at Port Zélande on 27 March 2011 in the Netherlands.
Personal life
Gregory suffers from diabetesDiabetes mellitus
Diabetes mellitus, often simply referred to as diabetes, is a group of metabolic diseases in which a person has high blood sugar, either because the body does not produce enough insulin, or because cells do not respond to the insulin that is produced...
; in 2004 retinopathy
Diabetic retinopathy
Diabetic retinopathy is retinopathy caused by complications of diabetes mellitus, which can eventually lead to blindness....
threatened to end his career but he has since made a full recovery.