David Jacobs-Strain is a fierce slide guitar player, and a song poet from Oregon. He's known for both his virtuosity and spirit of emotional abandon; his live show moves from humorous, subversive blues, to delicate balladry, and then swings back to swampy rock & roll.

For this virtual show, David has invited his long-time collaborator, veteran harmonica virtuoso Bob Beach, to be his special guest!

David began playing on street corners and at farmers markets as a teenager, and bought his first steel guitar with the quarters he saved up. Before he dropped out of Stanford to play full time, he had already appeared at festivals across the country, often billed as a blues prodigy, but he had to fight to avoid being a novelty act: “I wanted to tell new stories, it just wasn’t enough to relive the feelings in other people’s music.”

“I’m fascinated by the way that rural blues inscribes movement and transience. The music that frees a singer keeps them on the run; there’s a crossroads where a thing can be enchanting but dangerous; damaging but beautiful.”

...with special guest Bob Beach

Bob Beach has been a working professional musician for more than 40 years, adding harmonica, flute and vocals to a broad scope of genres. He's a vital part of the Philadelphia music scene as performer, collaborator, organizer and volunteer. He's active in the Philadelphia Folk Fest, a sound engineer at The World Café Live music venue, and books artists for several events and venues... in addition to being an outrageously good player.