Dave was born and raised in Belfast, where he attended Queen's University. He graduated with a first in history and history of music. Following his graduation he taught at a Quaker school in Lisburn (Friends School).

His main instruments were piano and guitar and he was interested in all styles of music, including classical, jazz, blues, old-timey and bluegrass. He was especially keen on guitar pickers such as Doc Watson.

One of Dave's first forays into performing was with his brother John's group, The Black Mountain Boys, who played a mix of bluegrass and old-timey music. John was a fine guitar and five string banjo player and he was supplemented by John Boomer (guitar and vocals) and Colin Wilkinson (mandolin and vocals).

Following the demise of the 'Boys', Dave, John (Boomer) and Colin recruited Gillian McPherson (an excellent singer and guitarist) to broaden their sound. They were called Folk Union and covered a wide range of material from bluegrass to contemporary folk music and singer/songwriters. It was here that Dave's talent for arrangements came to the fore. For example, an acoustic treatment of the Jimi Hendrix hit 'Hey Joe', an unlikely song for a folk group but, thanks to Dave's arrangement, it worked. They were extremely successful before disbanding during the late 1960's.

It was around this time that I heard through the grapevine of Dave's talent and virtuosity as a guitar picker. I therefore went to watch Dave play tunes at a gig at the Imperial Hotel in Belfast.   The tunes included Doc Watson's 'Windy and Warm' and Davy Graham's 'Angie'.   I made myself known to Dave and asked him for advice on how to improve my playing, little realising that this meeting would be life changing for both of us.

Dave invited me to his house to play with local guitar hero Mike Adamson. Mike (known on the scene as 'Sez') was an amazing guitarist who played with local electric R&B bands.

Apart from the sheer enjoyment of these sessions, my abiding memory is one of sore fingers. This would recur throughout our musical association, as Dave was a relentless rehearser and an excellent arranger.

We then decided to get a few sets together and play on the local folk scene where we featured a mixture of blues and ragtime, including a multi key arrangement of 12th Street Rag.

It was around this time that Dave met his wife to be, Linda Wright. He always used to say that he had met "Miss Right".

We had the opportunity of playing at all the major clubs in the north of Ireland and appeared on local BBC TV and radio, as well as the commercial station UTV.

Dave then suggested that we try our luck on the British folk scene. We therefore came over to England in October 1969. The love of his life, Linda, came to England to join Dave and soon after they married and settled in the Greater Manchester area.   

There were literally hundreds of folk clubs throughout Britain during the 60's and 70's, so a basic living could be made. We toured extensively before recruiting Fiona Simpson, at which time Therapy came into existence. Therapy was one of the most popular acts on the scene and appeared at the 1971 Cambridge Folk Festival.   We also released an LP 'Almanac' on the CBS label that same year. All the songs on the LP were written and arranged by Dave.

I left Therapy in the autumn of 1971 to concentrate on solo gigs and Dave and Fiona carried on as an extremely successful duo for a number of years, before Dave gave up the rigours of the travelling musician to join the BBC where he produced the Paul Jones R & B Show and also Bob Harris Country, amongst others. During this time he made several trips to the USA to record international country artistes.

After a long and successful career at the 'Beeb', Dave retired at the beginning of the millennium and started to play again with local musicians in his adopted home town of Sale.

The Belfast Reunion Concert held at The Waterfront Hall in 2006 gave Dave the opportunity to play with his old mates from Folk Union. Furthermore, it gave Dave and I an excuse to relive some of our old numbers and enlist my wife, Elaine, in the closing number.

We got such a buzz from the concert that on our return to England, we decided to get together and rehearse material and try for gigs on the northwest folk scene. All we needed was a name and, as a result, 'Alternative Therapy' came into being.

After a few years playing at most of the best folk clubs in the north, Dave had to quit performing due to problems with his health.

Fortunately, Dave was well enough to play duets with his son Davy, an accomplished guitar player, on the occasion of Davy's marriage to Jo in the autumn of 2012.

Musician, arranger, guitarist, pianist, mentor, teacher, composer, singer and most of all, a good friend.   He will be sorely missed by all that knew him. He is survived by his wife Linda and son Davy.

Dave Shannon
Born 7 February 1946 Belfast
Died 28 February 2013 Manchester