David Rawlings

David Todd Rawlings is an American guitarist, singer, and record producer. He is known for his partnership with singer and songwriter Gillian Welch. Rawlings attended the Berklee College of Music and studied with Lauren Passarelli. He produced albums by Gillian Welch and Old Crow Medicine Show. He leads the Dave Rawlings Machine with Gillian Welch, Willie Watson, Paul Kowert, and Brittany Haas. He contributed to the albums Cassadaga by Bright Eyes, Spooked by Robyn Hitchcock, and Heartbreaker by Ryan Adams, with whom he wrote two songs, "To Be Young (Is to Be Sad, Is to Be High)" and "Touch, Feel and Lose".

The Dave Rawlings Machine album A Friend of a Friend was released on November 17, 2009. Rawlings recorded the album in Nashville, and produced it himself. Co-writers and musicians on the album include Welch as well as members of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Old Crow Medicine Show, and Bright Eyes. Rawlings is also best friends with movie producer Douglas Wick. In 2015 Dave Rawlings Machine released a second album, Nashville Obsolete. Rawlings achieves his signature guitar sound flatpicking a small archtop guitar. The 1935 Epiphone Olympic that has been his primary instrument was a mid-priced guitar for its time, with a carved arched solid sprucewood top, carved arched solid mahogany back and mahogany sides. It sold for about $35 in 1935. The guitar's lower bout measures 13 5/8 inches wide, and it has three piece f-holes.