David L Whitehurst was born into a musical family in Virginia Beach, Virginia USA.
At the age of 4 he began learning to play the guitar with his maternal grandfather, that played and sang country music. Both of his maternal grandparents had played music in Virginia in a country music band. David’s paternal grandfather was also a musician that played in the home and sang.
When David was 6 years old, his immediate family moved to Gloucester, Virginia. His parents searched for a teacher to give him formal training. They visited several places with group lessons and was told that he was too young to join. His playing was already beyond that of the groups. They finally found Stuart Conner, the Gloucester Intermediate School band director and he agreed to take David through the MelBay plectrum series of the Complete Method for Modern Guitar. Stuart Conner’s instrument of choice was the trumpet (also treble clef).
David learned to play and read guitar music. They did one MelBay book a year in this method for a total of 7 years. David can also read and play easy piano music. The family had a piano for some years.
When David had learned what he could with Stuart Conner, he took Jazz lessons for 2 years with John Griggs, Griggs School of Music in Norfolk, Virginia. Mr. Griggs had transcribed, arranged and composed works for the guitar. His works were published by Warner Brothers, CPP Belwin, Mel Bay Publications, Alfred Publications, Hal Leonard and Columbia Music as a member of BMI.
A personal friend also introduced him to Frederick Noad and Classical Guitar music just before he started to form a rock-n-roll garage band just in Jr. High School. David’s interests and influences for guitar were varied. He listened to Jimmy Rogers with his grandfather, Chet Atkins with his parents, Andres Segovia in his bedroom, and all forms of rock-n-roll under headphones. His parents just wanted to hear him practicing his MelBay.
Known only to his little town in Virginia, he did win the talent show at Gloucester High School in 1977, his freshman year. The band Nightfall performed Your Momma Don’t Dance by Kenny Loggins and Jim Messina. First place ahead of Sandra Brooks, singing Barbara Streisand wearing a rubber nose.
David prepared for college and played in various bands in Richmond, Jamestown, Williamsburg, Yorktown, Hampton, Newport News, Suffolk, Portsmouth, Norfolk Virginia. He played in country, pop, top-40, and rock bands. He even filled in for another guitarist in a large funk band called Slapwater for 6 months.
David applied to engineering, art, and music colleges. He was accepted to music, art, and engineering school and a decision had to be made. His weekend band was playing regularly but the pay would not support him and they were only doing maybe 2 original songs. He regrets the choice of electrical engineering at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia even though it was the right choice at the time. David’s guitar dream is still alive!
In 2012, David released his first guitar album Legacy on iTunes, Spotify, Pandora, Rhapsody, and other streaming channels. This album featured his playing of guitar, bass, keyboards, violin, flute, and sequenced drums. The entire process from recording to production was all David. The album was a focused effort on his music just after his wife and mother of his children had passed away in 2010.
David has always played classical guitar music and his favorite composer is J.S. Bach. He has owned various violins and in 2013 he took lessons with Courtney Combs Baker, PHD Music Instruction in Cary, North Carolina. David’s focus was J.S. Bach and he did recitals at a large Methodist church monthly. He also performed a Paganini Cantabile in D Major at the Cary School of Music during that timeframe.
In 2024, David has been playing the guitar for 58 years. And, as he nears retirement, his music is going to sense a renewal. Stand ready at the volume knob, stay tuned. He’s cranking it up!