Press
Live at SPACE reviews:
Chicago Blues Guide: “On his most recent Delmark release, his 13th for the label, Specter and his crack band (Brother John Kattke, Marty Binder and Rodrigo Mantovani) offer a set of tunes recorded at SPACE in Evanston IL which demonstrate why Dave Specter is among the pantheon of great modern blues musicians. Live At SPACE is a recording which captures Chicago’s finest blues musicians at one of Chicago’s best sounding venues”
Americana Highways: “There are 13 generous portions to this blue plate special Live At Space…it’s a showcase of sophisticated blues…The sound of the band & its live audience is pristine. “Alley Walk” smokes from the opening notes with its heavy, noirish style. Wet midnight sidewalks & low lamps, couples embracing in brick-walled alleys… Henry Mancini would’ve liked Dave Specter’s direction.”
Historia del Blues: “When the Guitar Speaks: The Elegance of Dave Specter Live…For over thirty years, Dave Specter has been much more than a guitarist: he's been a guide, alchemist, and storyteller of Chicago blues. His playing conveys more than just technique; it speaks of history, character, and an encyclopedic devotion to a genre that exudes freedom and soul. In "Live at Space," released in 2025 by Delmark Records, Specter gives us a work that feels like a homecoming, with the intensity of a rainy night and the warmth of a conversation between friends.”
Rock & Roll Globe: Six String Soul: 30 Years of the Chicago Blues with Dave Specter
New York Music Daily: Saluting a brilliant, individualistic Chicago blues guitar legend
Rolling Stone article/interview on Dave’s handwritten lyrics from The Ballad of George Floyd featured at the Woody Guthrie Center’s new exhibit: Songs of Conscience, Sounds of Freedom
Dave Specter has been featured in publications such as Rolling Stone, Downbeat, Living Blues, American Songwriter, Guitar Player, Guitar World and Vintage Guitar magazines. Reviews and interviews in the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun Times, Boston Globe, Chicago Magazine, Blues Revue and multitudes of national and international publications. TV appearances include: Good Morning America, Wild Chicago, Chicago Tonight and WGN . Radio appearances and airplay worldwide include BBC, NPR and airplay throughout the US, Europe and South America.. Specter has been a 5-time Chicago Reader Critics Choice and in 2018 was inducted into the Chicago Blues Hall of Fame.
“Dave Specter is a global ambassador of Chicago Blues” - Chicago Sun-Times
“One of the few top-tier guitarists” - Downbeat
“Quintessentially hip and swinging.” – Chicago Tribune
“His funky lines echo the jazz masters, but his grinding single-note work is greasy enough for any Windy City after-hours club.” –Guitar Player
“This is easily the best-recorded showcase yet for Specter’s classy guitar stylings.” – Living Blues (Speculatin’)
"Deeply satisfying, incendiary guitar playing, dramatically charged singing." -Chicago Tribune (Message In Blue)
"Specter's guitar playing swings, bites and slides throughout, singing it's heart out." 4 Stars -All Music Guide
"Guitarist Dave Specter is playing gutsy Magic Sam and Otis Rush Chicago blues with undercurrents of T-Bone Walker and Kenny Burrell. He is phenomenal here (on Message in Blue) cutting the figure of someone who is in complete control of his craft." 4 Stars -Downbeat
REVIEWS & INTERVIEWS
THE BALLAD OF GEORGE FLOYD
BLUES FROM THE INSIDE OUT
MESSAGE IN BLUE
4 star review from Downbeat Magazine (2014)
4 star review from All Music Guide (2014)
Best Albums of 2014 (Downbeat Magazine)
WXRT Chicago’s Best Blues Album of 2014
2013 COVER & FEATURE - BLUES BLASTER MAGAZINE
2011 FEATURE - VINTAGE GUITAR MAGAZINE
SPECTIFIED
LIVE IN CHICAGO
Named to Downbeat Magazine's Best Recordings of 2008
IS WHAT IT IS - Dave Specter & Steve Freund
Downbeat Magazine 4 Star review (May 2005)
SPECULATIN’
“His funky lines echo the jazz masters, but his grinding single-note work is greasy enough for any Windy City after-hours club.” –Guitar Player
“This is easily the best-recorded showcase yet for Specter’s classy guitar stylings.” – Living Blues