Your family-friendly neighborhood public house & listening room

Zero-waste Taproom and Bottle Shop:  Over 150 beverages, alcoholic & non-alcoholic.  Live music every day.

We are an employee-owned cooperative & living wage certified.

Looking for events?  Click here to visit our calendar.

Events are held rain or shine.  In event of rain, events are held indoors.

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We have had a change in performers this evening.  Dave Desmelick will be joining us.  We look forward to welcoming him to the Canteen!

Join us for a community potluck from 6 – 8 pm. Please bring a dish to share and your own non-disposable place setting. If you cannot bring food, for any reason, we are happy to feed you. We look forward to sharing a meal together.

 

Dave’s bio:

More Real Bio

My name is Dave Desmelik and I am a singer/songwriter and instrumentalist. If you are a friend, fan, music listener, blogger, reviewer, promoter, booking contact, or just someone who happens to be reading this right now, then thank you for taking the time to be here. My intent with this bio is to stray from the standard artist bio and be a bit more real and open.

I consider myself a journeyman musician. In my musical path there have been many twists and turns in the road that have led me to where I am today. I have self-released 17 albums to date of all original material. I am very proud of this and a question I often am asked is “Which album is my favorite?” My reply is always, “I would hang my hat on any of them.” I write songs that are sometimes based on true stories, sometimes made up stories, or sometimes just observations. Whether lyrical or instrumental I assure you my heart is buried in all of them. Many of my albums and songs have been noticed and not noticed. This is ok either way, I have found it much to easier write, record, and perform for myself and the ones I love rather than doing it for other reasons. In my experience, validation from the heart is much truer and satisfying than searching for validation through other people’s opinions. That being said, I do also try to get and keep my music out in the world for anyone to listen. It is a good thing to share one’s passion and be proactive about it. I have played numerous gigs all around the United States as well as a few in the United Kingdom. “In the trenches” is a common expression I use when thinking of the many venues I have played through the years. There have been loads of “out of the trenches” gigs as well. No matter, I am grateful for every opportunity given to me to share my songs. I have been fortunate enough to open for and/or share the stage with various professionals in the music industry… a few famous, some almost famous, some not so famous, but all with the love of music in their heart and soul. I love writing music and lyrics, recording, and performing and do not have any plans to stop anytime soon. It is my therapy and if there is a god, then he or she or whatever it is knows I need this therapy. The power of music grabbed me early in life and I am so glad it has not let go of me.

Currently, I live just outside of small town Brevard, North Carolina USA. I am married. It is a wonder my wife still puts up with me. I am nowhere near a perfect husband, yet she hasn’t gotten rid of me yet. I have written many songs about her, some direct and some not so direct. She has always been the brightest of lights anywhere she goes. I am the father of two boys. They are young and I hope I can be a good dad for them through the years. They help me to see the world through eyes that are not weathered, jaded, bitter or indifferent. They live in the moment and inspire me to try to do the same. My youngest son is a firecracker. He does not tame easy and I love him even more for that. My oldest son is sensitive, smart, funny, and has a certain zest for life…. and he has an inoperable brain tumor. It is a grade 2 fibrillary astrocytoma to be specific. Every moment of everyday it seems I think of this. We have a long road ahead, but will take it one step at a time……

There is much more to my story than this brief bio suggests and if you have read this far then I thank you again for taking time from your day to learn a bit about my musical career and me. Through music we can all connect.