The Jazz Organ Scene

USA

Dave Busacker Dave 'Pilgrim' (* 1963) first started playing piano and cello. As he grew up, Dave founded several bands with his schoolmates and friends. He played bass guitar in his first band, Matisse Video. From there, he went on to play lead guitar in the soul-laced trio named the Soulmongers and later as Dial Memphis. Dave graduated from Wilson High School and attended Portland State University and University of Oregon in Eugene and received a B.A. from U of O.   In 1992, Dave would go onto become an internationally acclaimed guitarist and keyboardist in the surf band, Satan’s Pilgrims, and would record eleven full length albums and dozens of singles with them, writing and co-writing much of their repertoire. The band has always had a loyal Portland following and played many Portland venues through their thirty-year history, including the re-opening of the Crystal Ballroom, La Luna, The Wonder Ballroom, Satyricon, Berbati’s, Kenton Club and The X-Ray Café.   Satan’s Pilgrims did two tours of Europe, including headlining the Surfer Joe Festival (the largest surf music festival in the world) in Livorno, Italy in 2015. In 2017 they played the Wild o’Fest festival in Mexico City, along with Northwest garage rock heroes, The Sonics. Dave was really looking forward to Satan’s Pilgrims headlining the Surf-O-Rama Festival in Valencia, Spain in May of 2020, but along with a return to Mexico, both events were cancelled because of the pandemic. The influence of Dave’s guitar playing, and Satan’s Pilgrims music has reached fans and musicians all over the world. Their songs have been covered by bands from all over the US, Argentina, Mexico, Italy, and other countries.   In the 1990s, Dave was also a founding member of other bands while still in Satan’s Pilgrims, including playing organ in The Chimps (a Northwest garage band with the members of Satan’s Pilgrims), guitar for The Brothers E. double Elvis tribute band, and the hard rock band Baller. In the 2010s, Dave helped to start The Pynnacles, a psychedelic garage band with Scott and John from the Pilgrims, and Sean Croghan along with Thom Sullivan and Tamar Berk. The Pynnacles became another local Portland favorite and Nuggets Night stalwarts. More recently, he played in The Guildsmen with Scott Fox from the Pilgrims and Dave Berkham of The Reverberations.   Dave passed away in 2021.

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