Porter's
son, David McDowell, born June 11.1952...
Dave
2012
was surrounded
by the musical influence of his father
as he grew up. In 1960
at 9 years
old his dad handed him his old Gibson Arch top
guitar and showed him three chords in the key of "C".
They were “C” . “F” and “G”. Then he started taking
lessons from Shorty Cook who was from the Music Manor in
Fort Wayne, Indiana. He was the founder of The "Down
Homers" which was the group Bill Haley performed in
before he formed Bill Haley & The Comets which was a
nationally popular rock and roll band that toured with
Elvis Presley and Buddy Holly.
In
1964 Dave's life was changed forever with the appearance
of "The Beatles" on The Ed Sullivan
Show. He was 11 years old and absolutely enthralled with
this new cultural music. He sat down with his record
player and played along with the "fab four" until he knew every note they were playing. He was sure
his parents were upset with this new direction he was heading and he was also sure that they wished they had
missed the Ed Sullivan Show that night. One indicator of
this was that his Mom decided it was time for him to
take lessons on keyboard and even sat down to teach him
the lap steel guitar. The truth was that he excelled at
both of these instruments, but his first love was
still
the guitar.
About
this same time Dave's dad and he were going to his Uncle
Tom’s house faithfully every Saturday night and playing
together until sunrise each Sunday morning. Dave would
stand in on the guitar along with his Uncle Tom, any
guest singers or musicians, and his Dad who played bass
guitar. This went on for several years and Dave
attributes his learning guitar to Shorty Cook and those
wild nights of family music.
The year 1969 was a turnaround year for Dave, at 17 years old, he was a product of the 1960's revolution mentality, and you might say at that point not too easy on his parents or any other authority figure for that matter. In 1969, He had left home early and while in downtown Ft Wayne Indiana met a touring hippy rock group called "Count Five" as they were unloading their gear. This Rock group released a hit single titled "Psychotic Reaction" peaking at number four in the U.S. charts in late 1966. In 1969 one of the guitar players left the group, and Dave, being in the right place at the right time, overheard them saying they needed a guitar player. When he asked about it, they told Dave the guitar player had become seriously ill and had to leave the group to recuperate (although during the tour he later heard rumors that he had actually left because he fell in love and wanted off the road)... long story made short, Dave stepped right in. The guys being in their early 20's, all acted like Dave's older brothers and tried to keep him safe and out of trouble. Over the following several months, Dave toured and played with them. As their only hit "Psychotic Reaction" from 1966 had fallen from public memory, the rest of the group decided to finish out the nine months of bookings left and retire. Some decided to pursue college degrees. During those final touring months, they opened for many other rock groups so he had the privilege to have backstage access to such acts as Bob Seger, Grand Funk Railroad, Steppenwolf, Alice Cooper and a few more. When the nine months were over and the group finished, so was David. Although it was an exciting adventure for him, the constant travel and lifestyle had left him at a very low 145 lbs. and was suffering from ulcers. Now 18, and the very day they dropped him off, he stumbled on yet another adventure for the next 15 months, but that's another story for another time. He did seek medical attention and stopped playing music for several years.
Moving forward and now in his early 20s, he met the well-established Nashville songwriter, Billy Nix. Billy had a group called Billy Nix & the Ideals. Dave became an Ideal playing bass for Billy until the mid-'70s. This opened up many opportunities to learn the business as he worked in concert, club, & studio environments. It was also during the mid-'70s when David met & married his present wife, SherryJo.
In late 1979 Dave started his own
country / southern rock band called “Sweet Water Junction”. This band proved to be a popular, high energy
country band in that tri-state area. David played lead
guitar, sang bass and shared lead vocals with Sam
Moffett Jr, the bass player, and Scott Page, the
drummer. His wife, Sherry ran the lights and sound. The Sweet Water Junction Band has a past career that
included working with many other Country artist, some as
well known as; Dave Dudley,
Del Reeves,
Sonny Wright and
Peggy Sue Webb, sister
of Loretta
Lynn. In 1987, Dave,
while continuing in his music, moved
his family from Indiana to
the Sunny state of Florida, where he spent the next 25
years before moving on to the border hills of the Carolinas
in 2012.
Through-out
the musical journey and moves, David and SherryJo kept
busy raising eight beautiful children. Although
continuing in music after their move to Florida, a lot of their time
was spent raising the children. With the older
children being musically inclined, in 1995 the Sweet
Water Junction Band continued to evolve. This time
the entire
family started off on a faith journey that lasted seven
years as they traveled throughout the nation. During
this time, The band which consisted of and named "The McDowell Family"
were singing and playing their own brand of, mostly
original, along with some old favorite, Southern Gospel
numbers. They performed in hundreds of churches,
festivals, and concert halls through-out the United
States. During this time they recorded seven musical
projects and influenced the lives of countless people
during their musical journey. During those travels they
appeared with some well known National Gospel Groups
such as; The Hoppers, The McKiethens, John Rowsey with
New Journey, The Freemans, Phiefers, The Wisnauts, The
Primitive Quartet, Kirk Talley, and countless regional
groups. As the children grew and married, they once
again settled in Florida in late 2001.
In 2002 the family changed the format of the performances by going back to Dave's original roots and started performing Country music together as Sweet Water Junction Band. In July 2019 due to careers and most raising families now, Dave made the decision to retire the family group. As with some of the family members, Reshana Marie carry's on with the family tradition...
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