By Kate Bartlett
Local band Darkwater Duo has been playing area stages for almost 10 years. Hailing from Bradford, PA, cousins Dave McGary and Dick Griesbaum have been creating music together since they were 8 and 10 years old. Darkwater Duo has an acoustic vibe playing a variety of cover songs, with a few originals. They frequent the Ellicottville area, and will be playing at Ellicottville’s Winter Music Jam on Saturday the 22nd.
show will full sound featuring bass, keyboards and drums. The name pays
homage to their hometown of Bradford, which is an oil town, with a creative
edge
Dave and Dick grew up together in Bradford and always enjoyed making music together. “We’ve been creating music since we were eight-years old,” recalls Dave. “We’d put on Superbowl shows for our parents. We didn’t have real instruments at first, so we used whatever we could find for drums and were masters on the air guitar.”
Eventually, the cousins acquired instruments: Dave on drums and Dick on guitar and vocals. The pair grew up on grunge, influenced by Nirvana and Bush and watching MTV. “We were intrigued and influenced by the grunge movement and style,” recalls Dave. They played in various bands throughout middle and high school, creating original music. “We dabbled in nu metal, but played mostly grunge and rock. We were very much influenced by area bands at that time. We were fortunate to get together and collaborate on shows, giving us inspiration and helping us explore our style moving forward as a young band.”
Dave moved to North Carolina for a few years, but upon returning, the pair created Darkwater Duo in 2015. Their full five-piece band, Darkwater Duo & Company, puts on a more electric show will full sound featuring bass, keyboards and drums. The name pays homage to their hometown of Bradford, which is an oil town, with a creative edge. As a duo, Darkwater played various stages in the area with an acoustic feel with guitars and vocals, but they also craved a fuller sound. They added a drummer, bassist and keyboardist for a big dynamic sound, forming Darkwater Duo & Company.
Darkwater Duo and Darkwater & Co play various venues across Western New York and Northern Pennsylvania. The band recently played the Groundhogs Day festival in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania on February 2. “It was quite the scene,” laughs Dave. “Over 1,000 people gathered for the pre party event. It was a great time.”
Both Dave and Dick play in other bands, giving them various creative outlets. Dave plays guitar in The Violent formerly known as Red Sun Rising, a rock band based in Nashville, TN. They’ve had several #1 singles on the active rock radio charts and were billboards top 10 mainstream artist of the year in 2016. Dave also plays drums in a local nu metal, cover band called Turbo and an original metal band called STRANGERS out of Pittsburgh, PA. Dick plays in The Anxiety Effect, a metal core band out of Bradford, PA.
Darkwater Duo has frequented Ellicottville stages and enjoys performing in the area. “Ellicottville is great,” says Dave. “It has that small “big city” feel and everyone is just out having a good time. It’s a smaller, more intimate setting when we perform at Balloons, and we love that.”
Dave’s favorite thing about performing is getting the crowd involved “There’s something special when there’s music in the air. It’s a different vibe. When the crowd is singing along, you know you’ve done your job. It’s an incredible feeling.”
Dave and Dick are in the process of writing more original songs for the band, and are looking forward to their busy performing schedule in the coming months. They are incredibly grateful for the continued support in area communities. “We’re so fortunate to have such a buzz right now. We love doing what we do, and we couldn’t do it without this following. Thank you to everyone who supports us.”
For more information, follow on social media @darkwaterduo and see them live at their free performance in Ellicottville at the Winter Music Jam on Saturday, February 22nd at 6:30pm at Balloons.