Dave Pomeroy has been on the cutting edge of Nashville's music scene for more than 45 years as a bassist, bandleader, and producer. Born in Naples, Italy into a U.S. military family, he lived in Colorado, England, Virginia, and Pennsylvania before moving to Nashville from London in 1977.

From 1980 to 1994, Pomeroy toured and recorded with country music legend Don Williams, and has also performed live with Steve Winwood, John Fogerty, Willie Nelson, Peter Frampton, Mose Allison, and many others. He has played the Telluride Bluegrass Festival, MerleFest, Carnegie Hall, Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium, Grand Ole Opry House, and London’s Royal Albert Hall.

As a studio musician, Pomeroy has played bass on more than 500 albums, including six Grammy-winning recordings, with a diverse range of artists including Keith Whitley, Emmylou Harris, The Chieftains, Alan Jackson, Earl Scruggs, Sting, Elton John, Alison Krauss, and Trisha Yearwood. His television appearances include work with Chet Atkins, Vince Gill, Eric Johnson, Sheryl Crow, and Earl Klugh.

A multiple Nashville Music Awards winner, his instrumental band Tone Patrol was voted “Jazz Band of the Year” in 1991. Pomeroy was voted “Studio Musician of the Year” in 1992 and “Bassist of the Year” in 1997.

Through his label, Earwave Records, Pomeroy has released more than a dozen projects over the years. These include the all-bass and vocal solo albums Basses Loaded and Tomorrow Never Knows; The Taproom Tapes, a live improvisational album featuring 14 of Nashville’s finest players; albums by harmonica virtuoso Paco Shipp and bluegrass vocalist Lorianna Matera; and the jazz-grass trio Three Ring Circle with Rob Ickes and Andy Leftwich. Their most recent release, Brothership, came out in 2011.

His latest all-bass and vocal solo album, Angel in the Ashes (2017), received strong reviews, including an in-depth article in Bass Player magazine and high praise from Music Row’s Robert Oermann, who called it “wildly inventive” and “a fascinating listening experience.”

In 2012, he produced Restless by The Sweethearts of the Rodeo. In 2013, he made a documentary about rockabilly legend Sleepy LaBeef, selected for the Nashville Film Festival and now sold worldwide.

Earwave’s releases also include the DVD The Day the Bass Players Took Over the World — a remastered version of the 1996 concert video featuring Dave and the All-Bass Orchestra with special guests Victor Wooten and friends. Bonus content includes five extra cuts and the mini-documentary Building the Bass Orchestra.

These projects are available at www.earwavemusic.com.

Over the past 25 years, Pomeroy has raised over $520,000 for Nashville’s Room In the Inn homeless program through his annual Nashville Unlimited Christmas benefit concerts and CDs.

He is a longtime columnist and Advisory Board member for Bass Player magazine, and has contributed to numerous books on the music business. He is profiled in Studio Bass Masters (Backbeat Books) and Michael Visceglia’s A View from the Side.

A committed advocate for working musicians, Pomeroy was elected President of the Nashville Musicians Association (AFM Local 257) in 2008 and unanimously re-elected in 2011, 2014, 2017, and 2020. Under his leadership, the local has become a proactive organization, developing new agreements for home recording, live performance use of studio tracks, and collaborative efforts with publishers, labels, and indie artists.

He was elected to the International Executive Board of the American Federation of Musicians in 2010, and re-elected in 2013, 2016, and 2019. In 2023, he was elected AFM International Vice President.

With the release of Angel in the Ashes, the follow-up singles “World Peace” and “Thinking 'Bout Willie,” and his ongoing leadership roles in the AFM, Dave Pomeroy continues to balance his commitment to advocating for musicians with his first love — playing the bass.