Dave Thurman is Kevin Sharp's Road Manager! Many thanks to Dave's mom, Kathy, for sharing his story with us:
Birthday: August 28, 1970
Hometown: Morgan Hill, CA (Home is now in Nashville)
Marital status: Single
Children: None
Instrument: Acoustic guitar, mandolin, bass guitar, backup vocals
Favorite Kevin song: I'm Already Loving You Too Much
Past gigs: Mystic Highway, High Country Rhythm
Time-off activity: Bowling, four-wheeling, skiing, jammin' with bands
Goals: To stay with Kevin through his career and eventually start my own management company
Favorite road story: One time, the whole band had to get out and push this forty-foot bus (with a trailer attached) over a hill in the Colorado Mountains.
Mom Kathy says:
Dave got his first guitar when he was about 12 and at that time he told us he was going to Nashville someday. Well, we just kind of encouraged him to play and dream. (Little did we know that when he did get to Nashville it would be with an artist with a number 1 hit!)
His favorite group was The Oak Ridge Boys, so we sent him to their concert in the San Francisco Bay Area on his 16th birthday. He caught one of the drumsticks when it was thrown to the audience and still has it to this day.
When he moved to Sacramento, he joined a band called Mystic Highway where he met Kevin for the first time. He and Kevin did a few things together at some church functions and got to know each other quite well. Then Dave moved to Utah where he joined a band playing acoustical guitar and mandolin. Eventually he became band manager and named the band High Country Rhythm. The band won the battle of the bands in Utah and soon became one of the most popular country-western bands in the state. He eventually took over as bass player when the bassist left the band. He had the opportunity to do backup vocals on Kevin's first album, "You Can Count On Me."
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Michael McCanless, Dan Barnes, and Dave Roberts jam with one of Dave Thurman's favorite bands!
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In April two years ago, Kevin called Dave to see if High Country could play for Kevin's concert at the Crest Theater. So, High Country came to California and opened for Kevin with their lead singer, Artie Hemphill, then they played all the music for the whole concert. Then in October of that same year, Kevin asked Dave if High Country could play for him at the Reno Hilton, which they did. It was at that point that Kevin's management team hired High Country as Kevin's road band. The band all went to Nashville except for the keyboard player. Dave continued to play bass for about four more months for Kevin, then he took over as full-time road manager. Since then, several of the band members have been replaced and now there is just Dave T. and Dan Barnes from the original group. (Dave Roberts played his last gig with Kevin on New Years Eve.)
One of the most important things Dave does is to always make sure Kevin looks good, no matter what the circumstance. He loves his job and is VERY good at it. I get lots of compliments from people who have worked with him.
I can't think of what else you might say about him except maybe his favorite food is Round Table Pizza and homemade chocolate pie!
-- February, 1998
Please note: All photos on this page Copyright ©1997-2004 TK Tobin / TK 2100. Used by kind permission. Said photographs cannot be reproduced in whole or in part without the photographer's written permission.
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