Born and raised in St. Louis, Mo., a city with a great Blues legacy, as a youngster, David Lipkind roamed around the Loop, a funky section of town crawling with Blues joints and record shops. At one of his favorite haunts, a huge ramshackle barn of a record store named Vintage Vinyl, David would dig through the large 99 cent record bins, scoring such treasures as Muddy Waters, The Band, Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention, and Chet Atkins.

A friend, Mo, turned David on to Taj Mahal and other Blues harpists such as Sonny Boy Williamson I and II and he was soon "hooked on the Blues." At an early age, David could play several tunes on the harp by ear, but he didn’t start bending notes until much later.

Growing up, harmonicas were always around the house. His grandfather, Sid Jourman, was one of the area’s better harp players, and his uncle and his mother also played, as did several cousins. Every couple of years, his grandpa would buy him a new Spirit of St. Louis Harmonica, but David’s first formal music training was with the piano, flute, and guitar.

One of Lipkind’s earliest memories of music is listening to his grandpa and uncle blowing outrageous harp solos in the back of an old Cadillac. "They both blew a ferocious harp."

When David was 17, he visited his sister who was studying at the University of Kansas in Lawrence. He walked into The Crossing, a raunchy college punk bar and saw Ernie Locke, all 300 pounds of him, covered with tattoos and naked to the waist, wailing on a harmonica with the legendary, Sin City Disciples, a group which later featured Rev. Horton Heat’s rhythm section, and became known as Tenderloin.

"He almost set the amp on fire he was blowing his harp so hard," Lipkind recalls. "It was raw punk Blues. Dirty, sexy, and mean, all at the same time. It grabbed me so hard I knew I had to move to Lawrence."

As soon as he finished high school, he packed his bags and settled into the more rural and collegiate setting where Lipkind was exposed to different types of music: Bluegrass, old-time Country and Folk-oriented tunes, as well as the Rock and Roll sounds one would expect on a college campus.

"There was not much to do in Lawrence except to play music, and there were hundreds of bands, something for every taste," David recalls. "I started sitting in with all different types of bands, Rock and Blues bands, and whoever was jamming."

Soon Lipkind was touring the USA and Europe with Monterey Jack. The young, eager, and admittedly "green" musician also took a crash course in how to survive in the music business. "At first I stepped on people’s toes all the time, but I caught on real fast not to do that."

He began to learn the nuances: how to fit his harmonica playing into different musical settings, how to work with horn players, and how to back up singers.

"I decided to pour everything into my music and to just go for it, however long it took or wherever it led me." In Lawrence, David began tending bar and helping out at the Hockenberry Tavern. He learned that the owner enjoyed Blues music but didn’t know much about it. So checking the Polstar book–which lists the appearances of many national acts–David saw when Junior Wells, James Cotton, or John Hammond and other Blues artists were playing in Kansas City.

David met many of his idols including, Gary Primich, Sam Meyers, Anson Funderberg, as well as dozens of other top acts. Lipkind took his turn on stage as well, playing regularly with Monterey Jack, a "jam" band featuring two lead guitars, a bass, drums, sax and David on harmonica.

"They had a really hot saxophone player and that really pushed me to get my act together in a hurry," David recalls. The band played at biker dives, frat parties, uptown bars, and wherever they could get a foot in the door. David also began sitting in with the Salty Iguanas, a popular Rock-Blues band that was making waves throughout the Midwest.

"When I began jamming with the Iguanas, they were already great musicians and I wasn’t even in their league. But, they kept asking me back, and eventually I started playing with them and with other bands because of their kindness."

David expanded his range and skills by taking harp lessons from Tulsa Reed and he made friends with Kurt Crandal, another highly skilled harpist who played Chicago-style Blues. "They’re both terrific guys. Kurt got me into more modern stuff, like Kim Wilson, William Clark, and Rod Piazza, and he also encouraged me to listen to and study the old masters such as Little Walter and Big Walter."

Lipkind recently returned from a 14-city tour with I Can Lick Any Sonofabitch In The House and one of the highlights was playing at The Bottleneck in Lawrence, a premier Rock and Roll club, and opening for his old buddies, the Salty Iguanas.

While visiting Portland with a friend in 1997 Lipkind fell in love with the rugged beauty of Oregon and was impressed with the local music scene. Although he’d considered moving to New Orleans, Nashville, or Austin, he and his wife, Deirdre, moved up to Portland in July that same year, a decision he is happy with.

"I wasn’t ready for studio work in Nashville. Up here, I’ve had time to woodshed, to grow, to get out and stretch with lots of different people and hone my skills. I’m still working on it, but I feel I am a much more diverse player now." Before moving to Portland, David married a woman who loves music as much as he does. "Deirdre’s been totally supportive of me from day one. She realized I was growing more and more into music, as opposed to growing away from it."

One of David’s first contacts in Portland was Jonah Howard, an old style country musician who was playing solo acts. The two hit it off and played hundreds of duo gigs together. Howard added a guitarist, pedal steel player, and rhythm section and put out a CD entitled, "Jonah Howard and the American Dream," which was well received. He has since moved on to Nashville.

"Howard also played some harp and he gave me lots of music to listen to and helped my country playing a great deal," Lipkind says.

David met Kate Power and Steve Einhorn, the owners of Artichoke Music, and taught harp at their store on Hawthorne Boulevard and made contacts through them. He began branching out, playing with Jackstraw, Mad Hattie, bluesman Dave Mullany, and other artists.

In Oregon, Lipkind met harp players who were helpful in many different ways. "One guy was not too nice at all," he recalls, "but I got his point and it motivated me to keep studying the old Chicago-style Blues guys. You can forge your own style, but without studying the masters, you can go in circles and miss out on a lot."

David’s influences include contemporary artists such as Carlos del Junco, Jim Fitting, and Paul Butterfield, and the great old timers such as Doc Watson, Deford Bailey, Robert Lee McCoy, and the classic Blues masters, especially Big Walter Horton, Sonny Boy Williamson, Sonny Terry, and Little Walter. He also acknowledges that he’s learned from countless singers, fiddle players, guitarists and horn players. "I’ve worked long and hard to get out of my old habits by listening to the phrasing of other instruments," Lipkind explains.

He’s studied harmonica under Sandy Weltman, a St. Louis-based Jazz and Klezmer harmonica player, for nearly 15 years and still takes at least one lesson a year from him. "Sandy’s an amazing virtuoso who’s taking the diatonic harmonica into a different direction, which I respect," Lipkind says.

In recent years, David has immersed himself in many kinds of music, including Roots Rock/Country, Mountain and Hill Stomp music, playing with musicians such as acoustic Blues guitarist, Joe McMurrian, Darrin Craig of Jackstraw and Caleb Klauder, a vocalist and mandolin player with the band Foghorn.

He credits Craig and Klauder with teaching him many great old songs over the years. "The old time mountain music doesn’t really play solos, it is more melody driven and rhythmic, Lipkind says. "Half the battle is figuring out which position to play in."

He currently plays his harp regularly with two hot and raucous bands, Spigot and I Can Lick Any SOB In The House, and he often performs with the more country flavored Blues artists, Dylan Thomas Vance, the lap-slide player, and Mark Lemhouse, a guitarist who recently returned to Portland after establishing a career in Memphis. Lipkind plays a distinctly different style of harp with each band.

Learning so many new musical styles wasn’t easy, but the versatility has increased David’s demand. For example, Lisa Miller And The Trailer Park Honeys were set to go on a tour when their fiddle player had to back out. Miller persuaded David to step in, but he had to learn nearly 30 songs in just a few weeks.

Mark Lemhouse, who recently signed a contract with Yellow Dog Records, plays an unusual fusion of Delta Blues and Appalachian music. With 20 years in the business, he’s played with dozens of harp players.

"David is so unique he really stands out," Lemhouse says. "He goes way beyond the straight Blues harp. I don’t know anyone who can play as many styles as he does, yet he’s also a fine singer and arranger."

Lemhouse says Lipkind knows all the fiddle and mandolin lines to the old-time songs. "David’s adventurous and he’s always looking to push the envelope so he’s very much in demand with musicians that are doing new or different things. His harp playing style is always fresh because he’s so creative, yet he never forces anything or overplays. Me and Joe (Joe McMurrian) and Dylan (Dylan Thomas Vance) have to share him with a lot of other guys," he says with a laugh.

Lipkind often performs with Dylan Thomas Vance’s band Powerhouse Revival, which performed at the July CBA Membership Meeting.

Dylan Thomas Vance says Lipkind’s musical sensibilities are amazing.

"David’s studied lots of old-time music and he understands the subtleties of phrasing. He builds excitement with his harp solos without going overboard. He’s been able to fit in perfectly with our band," Vance says.

In recent times, Lipkind has been on a roll, but there were lean days as well. Through rough stretches, David worked as a carpenter, laborer, counselor at a youth shelter, grill cook, social worker and even as a taxicab driver.

Thankfully, now he barely finds time to meet his playing engagements and to teach his harmonica classes. In the last few years, Lipkind has appeared on some 20 albums, including many Country, Folk and Acoustic albums. He constantly teaches himself old-time songs and spends much of his time practicing his guitar and accordion playing, as well as his chromatic harmonica playing.

He is also working on his website, www.davidlipkind.com (which should be completed this fall) which lists his upcoming gigs with different bands and features sound clips and information about his harmonica classes.

While his tastes are still evolving, Lipkind is partial to gritty, unpolished music. "I bet if Muddy Waters was signed by a major label today, the producer would mute out the sound of his slide slapping the neck of his guitar, and make everything sound sterile," he says. "I prefer natural sounding music with its flaws and imperfections and with its soul intact."

In Portland, a town stacked with talented harp players– Paul deLay, Curtis Salgado, G.J. "Hammerhead Rose," Bill Rhoades, Jim Wallace, and LynnAnn Hyde, to name a few, Lipkind stands out because of his versatility, and the fact that he is not a Blues purist.

Local music promoter Lisa Lepine kept noticing David Lipkind’s name popping up in different bands so she checked out several of his performances, finding him organized, dependable, and fully committed to the music of each band he played in.

She decided to promote two shows at the White Eagle featuring Lipkind playing with different musicians. "He elevated the music of each band and packed the house at both shows," Lepine recalls.

"You rarely meet someone as talented as David who also combines brains and heart. He’s a remarkable harp player and a great person."

Blues aficionado and Oregon Public Broadcasting’s Oregon Art Beat producer, Tom D’Antoni, is another Lipkind fan. "I’ve seen him play Blues, Jazz, Country, Swing, just about everything except Baroque, and I’m convinced he could play that too," he told BluesNotes.

Mike Dameron is the lead guitar and front man for I Can Lick Any Sonofabitch In The House–arguably the hottest band in Oregon after the group’s two albums, "Creepy Little Noises" and "Put Here To Bleed", both drew raves from critics across the nation. Dameron credits Lipkind with changing the way he thought about the harmonica. "David opened my eyes to what a harpist can do. He’s such a masterful player, yet his ego never takes over like it does with so many other guys. The songs always come first with him." Dameron says the group’s CD’s received tons of great press with much of the praise lavished on the songwriting and on Lipkind’s innovative harp playing.

"David’s got such a great feeling for music. He knows how to play, when to play, and also when not to play. He’s also a fun guy to hang with. I feel like I’ve known him forever but actually it’s just been a couple of years."

Nann Alleman, vocalist and bandleader of Spigot, has performed with Lipkind off and on for six years and has toured Europe with him. The two share a deep love and respect for old and traditional music.

"I heard him playing at the old Biddy McGraw’s and I tracked him down because I knew right away he wasn’t just another harp player. David is so unique and versatile and he puts his whole crazy energy and all of his soul into those old songs and makes them his own."