Dave Cousins

For the senior Royal Air Force commander, see David Cousins.

Dave Cousins
Dave Cousins onstage with the Strawbs at BB Kings, NYC on June 11, 2008.
Background information
Birth name	David Joseph Cousins
Born	7 January 1945 (1945-01-07)
Origin	Hounslow, Middlesex, England
Genres	Bluegrass, progressive folk, progressive rock
Occupations	Singer-songwriter
Instruments	Guitar, banjo, appalachian dulcimer
Years active	1960s–present
Labels	A&M
Associated acts	Strawbs

Dave Cousins (born David Joseph Cousins, 7 January 1945, Hounslow, Middlesex) has been the leader, singer and most active songwriter of Strawbs since 1967.

Career

Cousins was a founding member of the band originally known as the Strawberry Hill Boys, which started out as a bluegrass band, but eventually moved onto to other styles (folk, folk rock, progressive rock). He has also performed as an acoustic duo with Strawbs guitarist Brian Willoughby, and as Acoustic Strawbs with Willoughby (until August 2004), Dave Lambert and Chas Cronk (since September 2004).

Cousins holds an academic degree in statistics and pure mathematics from the University of Leicester, and has also followed a career in radio. He was a producer for Denmark Radio 1969–1979, and has been Programme Controller for Radio Tees (1980–1982), and the Managing Director of Devon Air in Devon (1982–1990).

Since 1991 Cousins has been in charge of St. David's Research, and has been instrumental in many successful franchise applications business ventures involving local radio stations in the UK. Stations such as Thames Radio (Kingston-upon-Thames), Radio Victory (Portsmouth) and XFM in London. He also runs Witchwood Records, an independent record label.

Cousins is still active, and is touring North America and Europe with Acoustic Strawbs, several months every year.

Special appearances

In 1980, Cousins made a guest appearance on a heavy metal album for British soon-to-be supergroup Def Leppard. On the band's debut album, On Through The Night, Cousins' voice can be heard at the beginning of the album's sixth track titled "When the Walls Came Tumblin' Down". Cousins does not lend any vocal harmonies, but simply reads a melancholy tale that serves as the track's intro. His voice lends itself well to the mood of the verse. Reportedly, Def Leppard later admitted that they were not happy with this album, as it was their first real studio album from their teenage years. The band has never alluded to any unhappiness with Cousins' performance.

Albums

• Two Weeks Last Summer (1972)
• Old School Songs (1979) (with Brian Willoughby)
• The Bridge (1994) (with Brian Willoughby)
• Hummingbird (2002) (with Rick Wakeman)
• Wakeman and Cousins "Live 1988" (2005) (with Rick Wakeman)
• High Seas (2005) (with Conny Conrad)
• The Boy in the Sailor Suit (2007)
• Secret Paths (2008)
• Duochrome (2008) (with Ian Cutler) live recordings from the U.S. tour in March 2008

External links

• Dave Cousins at the official Strawbs website
• Official Strawbs website
• Witchwood Records website