David Fountain

Multi-instrumentalist and singer David Fountain was born into a musically-inclined family in Conyers, Georgia in 1980. Nights were often centered around the family’s worn-out upright piano, where he fell in love with close harmonies. This love would serve him well in college, as a member of Emory University’s (Atlanta) No Strings Attached. In 2000, the Contemporary A Cappella Society named him one of the 5 best college-aged singers in America for his work with the group.

After graduating from Emory, David moved to New York City for graduate studies in Music Technology at NYU. While there, he formed the Steely Dan-influenced Willie Mays Haze and went on to share the stage with Dickey Betts, The Spin Doctors, State Radio and The Radiators at renowned venues such as Kenny’s Castaways and The Knitting Factory in New York and Toad’s Place in New Haven, CT.

The band disbanded in late 2006 and Fountain found himself roaming the country, from Connecticut to Cape Cod to Colorado. In the foothills of Boulder, inspired by the solitude and overwhelming beauty of the landscape, Fountain started writing the songs that would become his debut release, “The Happy Tastes Like the Sad”. He moved back to Georgia and began a career as a solo musician.

Wearing its influences (George Harrison, Big Star, Magnetic Fields) proudly on its sleeve, “The Happy Tastes Like the Sad” is a stunningly sincere debut that covers a wide range of musical territory, from jazz (“St. Sore Eyes”) to Tin Pan Alley (“Someone Who Loves You”) to soul (“Lost at Sea”) to country (“Damn Situation”). The album was recorded at Nickel and Dime Studio (Indigo Girls, Shawn Mullins, Sister Hazel, The Coathangers). A tour of the Northeast, including a prime show at Arlene’s Grocery in NYC, will take place in mid-November.