# Dave Sear

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{{Short description|Folk musician}}

{{Infobox musical artist
| background        = person
| honorific_prefix  =
| name              = Dave Sear
| honorific_suffix  =
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| birth_date        = <!-- {{Birth date and age|YYYY|MM|DD}} for living people supply only the year unless the exact date is already WIDELY published, as per [WP:DOB](/source/WP%3ADOB) -->
| birth_place       = [New York City](/source/New_York_City)
| origin            =
| death_date        = <!-- {{Death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} (death date first) -->
| death_place       =
| genre             = [Folk music](/source/Folk_music)
| occupation        =
| instrument        = [Banjo](/source/Banjo)
| discography       =
| years_active      = <!-- YYYY–YYYY (or –present) -->
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| past_member_of    = American Folk Trio
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'''Dave Sear''' is an American [folk singer](/source/Folk_music) and [banjo player](/source/Banjo). He performed and recorded with musicians that included [Mary Travers](/source/Mary_Travers), [Jean Ritchie](/source/Jean_Ritchie), and [Oscar Brand](/source/Oscar_Brand). He was also part of the American Folk Trio with Sonja Savig and Lee Kahn. Sear also had a career as a radio host and producer for the national syndicated radio program ''Folk Music Almanac'' which aired on [WNYC](/source/WNYC) in [New York City](/source/New_York_City) for over 40 years from 1959 to 1996.
 
==Early life and education==

Sear learned to play banjo when he was eight years old. He attended high school in New York City where he emphasized playing folk music.<ref name="WDN">{{cite web |title=Sominico, Sear Dancer, Folk Singer at WSC |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/414336492/?match=1&terms=%22Dave%20Sear%22%20folk |website=The Winona Daily News |date=24 June 1961}}</ref> He attended [Black Mountain College](/source/Black_Mountain_College) where he studied music with composer [Lou Harrison](/source/Lou_Harrison). He went on to attend [Manhattan School of Music](/source/Manhattan_School_of_Music) and had formal music training at the Music Work Shop in New York.<ref name="WDN"/> Sear was inspired by social activist and banjo player [Pete Seeger](/source/Pete_Seeger), who performed at his school when he was younger.<ref name="NYT">{{cite news |last1=Kandell |first1=Leslie |title=Playing the Banjo With Higher Aims |work=The New York Times |date=30 April 2000 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/04/30/nyregion/playing-the-banjo-with-higher-aims.html }}</ref> He was also influenced by the [Almanac Singers](/source/Almanac_Singers), Golden Gate Singers, and [Lead Belly](/source/Lead_Belly).<ref name="WDN"/>
 
==Career==

He performed on the [Folksong Festival](/source/Folksong_Festival) radio show<ref>{{cite news |last1=Wilson |first1=John S |title=40 YEARS OF SONG BY BRAND |work=The New York Times |date=19 April 1985 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/04/19/arts/40-years-of-song-by-brand.html }}</ref> and later played banjo and sang on the 1948 Oscar Brand album ''[Absolute Nonsense](/source/Oscar_Brand_discography),'' and on the Oscar Brand ''Bawdy Songs and Backroom Ballads'' series, including ''Bawdy Sea Shanties and Bawdy Songs Go to College''.<ref name = "album1">{{cite magazine |title=Reviews of New Pop Albums |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_AoEAAAAMBAJ&dq=Dave+Sear+Oscar+Brand&pg=PA20 |magazine=Billboard |date=30 June 1958}}</ref> He also recorded the 1959 live album ''A Folk Concert in Town Hall, New York'' along with Jean Ritchie and Oscar Brand.<ref name="album2">{{cite web |title=Catalog Releases |url=https://folkways.si.edu/catalog |website=Smithsonian Folk Ways Recordings}}</ref> In the 1950s, Sear began hosting and producing the [WNYC-FM](/source/WNYC-FM) show ''Folk Music Almanac'', a nationally syndicated radio program which he ran for more than 35 years.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Nayyar |first1=Seema |title=Dave Sear Strums Songs in the Key of Life |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/711633542/?match=1&terms=%22Dave%20Sear%22%20folk |website=Newsday Nassau |date=13 July 1990}}</ref><ref name="NYT"/> He also hosted the shows ''Adventures in Folk Music'' and ''Folk and Baroque''.<ref name="UNC"/>

In the early 1960s, Sear formed his own group, the American Folk Trio, along with Sonja Savig and Lee Kahn.<ref name="folk">{{cite web |last1=Ommerman |first1=Betty |title=Folk Songs Are His Language |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/711650146/?match=1&terms=%22Dave%20Sear%22%20folk |website=Newsday Nassau |date=29 July 1990}}</ref> The three met at the Yale Folk Festival as solo artists and played as a group on television as well as toured throughout the United States.<ref>{{cite web |title=South Mountain Slates First Concerts Wednesday |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/1069591042/?match=1&terms=%22Dave%20Sear%22%20folk |website=The Morning Union |date=16 July 1962}}</ref> Sear went solo again beginning in 1965.<ref name="folk"/>

Sear is credited with teaching [Paul Newman](/source/Paul_Newman) how to play banjo for the 1967 film ''[Cool Hand Luke](/source/Cool_Hand_Luke)''.<ref name="NYT"/> He also performed with [Mary Travers](/source/Mary_Travers) prior to her joining [Peter, Paul and Mary](/source/Peter%2C_Paul_and_Mary).<ref name="NYT"/> Sear was also a faculty member of [Hofstra University](/source/Hofstra_University) where he taught courses on American folk music.<ref>{{cite web |title=Across the Country |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/166082764/?match=1&terms=%22Dave%20Sear%22%20folk |website=The Journal News |date=2 November 2002}}</ref> Audio recordings of Sear from his radio shows from 1959 to 1996 are part of the ''Dave Sear Collection'' at the [University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill](/source/University_of_North_Carolina_at_Chapel_Hill).<ref name="UNC">{{cite web |title=Collection Title: Dave Sear Collection, 1959-1996 |url=https://finding-aids.lib.unc.edu/20471/ |website=University of North Carolina}}</ref>
 
==References==
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Category:Year of birth missing (living people)
Category:Living people
Category:American folk musicians

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Dave Sear](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Sear) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Sear?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.