Dave Clayton was born into a home where music lived fifties Pop (Elvis, Sinatra, Marty Robbins, Brenda Lee, Little Richard), doo-wap, Country, Crossovers, Ballads, Show Tunes (his mom belonged to a record club which issued a Broadway Show LP record each month) it all wafted daily out of the family radio and record player. And Dave’s father was a self-taught piano player who coaxed young Dave to sit by his side, teaching him to plink out duets of piano standards to entertain the family. Dave got his first guitar, a Sears Silverstone, at thirteen, and like many other kids in the early 60’s, he fumbled along, trying to master the chord fingerings. Progress was painfully slow until his high school put on a Variety Show in which he was cast as Peter in an imitation of the popular Peter Paul & Mary folk trio. Not wanting to embarrass himself in front of his classmates, Dave began seriously studying the guitar, aided by a classmate who had classical training. The Peter, Paul & Mary act was a hit, and soon after they began playing local prom parties and events for pay. They changed their name to ‘The Waywinds Three,’ dropped the Peter, Paul & Mary persona, and added a standup bass player. They won a City of Philadelphia-sponsored ‘Battle of the ‘folk bands’ competition and then sang live on a Philly radio station. Sadly however, as graduation approached, ‘life happened,’ as the saying goes and the other group members quit, each going their separate way. But Dave never did give up on his music. He did four years in the Marines, playing tunes for his fellow troops, moved to Los Angeles to pitch his songs to the big record companies, got married, studied music theory at LACC for a year and a half, became a father, formed another band called ‘The Clayton Gang,’ got divorced, moved to Nashville to write and pitch his tunes there, met the love of his life and remarried, finally retiring to Florida where he continues his lifelong quest to write and perform his music.