Dave Bourne comes by his musical talents naturally. His father Ted Bourne was the instrumental music instructor for 27 years for the Anaheim City School District which at that time included Fremont Junior High and five elementary schools. Dave started piano lessons at 6 years of age and his father taught him trumpet, trombone, baritone, and string bass.
Dave was in the last freshman class at AUHS and while there he encountered former vaudevillian Red Hamilton who introduced him to ragtime. Red worked for the school district as a piano tuner, stage manager, and maintenance man. Red was a great ragtime piano player who also played the banjo, drums, and cornet. Red’s great granddaughter is Gwen Stefani of the group No Doubt.
Dave graduated from USC in 1961 with a degree in Music Education. While attending USC, he worked at Knott’s Berry Farm first as a piano player in the Calico Saloon and later played string bass with the Wagonmasters, the cowboy group who entertained in the Wagon Camp from 1955 until 1968. The Wagonmasters recently received the Pioneer Trails Award from the Western Music Association.
His love of Knott’s Berry Farm led him to publish a book titled “Knott’s Berry Farm’s Ghost Town” (a pictorial retrospective 1940-1968). In 1967 he formed the Maple Leaf Club, an organization dedicated to the preservation of classic ragtime piano.
For many years he led the Resurrection Brass Band, a 20 piece New Orleans marching band. He also led his own western singing group The Lobo Rangers from 1989 until 2005.
He is currently featured at cowboy poetry gatherings throughout the western states performing his show “Saloon Piano of the 19th Century”. Dave can be seen on the first season of HBO’s hit series “Deadwood” where he is the piano player in the Gem Saloon. His saloon piano recordings were used extensively throughout all three seasons.
He can also be seen in several episodes of the History Channel’s “Wild West Tech” and was also in “The Hunt for John Wilkes Booth” and “The Revenge of Wyatt Earp.” Dave’s daughter Rachel is a piano teacher and his son Jason has his own reggae band Urban Dread. For more information on this outstanding Colonist, who passed away Jan. 30, 2015, visit www.saloonpiano.com.
