Dave Hlubek

Dave Hlubek
Background information
Born	August 28, 1951 (1951-08-28) (age 60) Jacksonville, Florida
Genres	Southern rock, hard rock
Occupations	Guitarist, Songwriter
Instruments	Guitar, vocals
Years active	1975–present
Associated acts	Molly Hatchet, Southern Rock Allstars
Notable instruments
Custom Hamer solidbodies, custom "Flying P"[1]

David Lawrence Hlubek [pronounced "LOO'-bek"] was born on August 28, 1951. He is the lead guitarist and founding member of the Southern Rock band Molly Hatchet.

Biography

Dave was born a "Southern Boy" in Jacksonville, Florida.^[1] At the age of 5 or 6, Dave and his family moved to the Naval base in Oahu, Hawaii where he attended Waikiki Elementary School. From there, Hlubek's father was transferred and the family moved to Sunnyvale, California, then to Mountain View, and finally settling in San Jose. There he attended the same Junior High School as Wayne Newton. It was the South Bay that Dave called home during the next few years, before moving back to Jacksonville, Florida around 1965. There he attended and graduated from Forrest High School along with other legends of Southern Rock.

Hlubek, along with Steve Holland, founded the band Molly Hatchet.^[2] Vocalist Danny Joe Brown joined in 1974, Duane Roland, Banner Thomas, and Bruce Crump in 1975. Hlubek was the original vocalist when they started, as well as becoming the band's most prolific songwriter - writing or co-writing the majority of the group's songs, including their most famous, "Flirtin' with Disaster". When at last they got their recording contract with Epic Records they got some help and advice from Lynyrd Skynyrd vocalist Ronnie Van Zant, who was originally supposed to produce their first album, but was unable to, because of his demise in the tragic plane crash in '77. While most people tagged Molly Hatchet as "Southern Rock," Hlubek admits it was only because of the location. He considered Molly Hatchet, along with Blackfoot, to actually be metal bands from the South. In fact, he has also said that, although hard to talk about, it was the demise of Lynyrd Skynyrd - who were on top of the world at that time - that opened the door for Molly Hatchet.

In 1986, Hlubek left the band, to be replaced by lead guitarist Bobby Ingram.^[2] After some years of self introspection and dedication to his own music Hlubek was back on top and focused. Along with Jackson Spires, former drummer of Blackfoot and Jay Johnson they created the supergroup Southern Rock Allstars. After many years of performing and recording with SRA Hlubek resigned and rejoined Molly Hatchet led by Bobby Ingram in January 2005. He is to this date a solid rotund performing and recording guitarist in Molly Hatchet on their world tours and the only original member of the band.

Dave was one of the founding members of the band Skinny Molly together with former Lynyrd Skynyrd guitarist Mike Estes.

In addition to writing the early hits Molly Hatchet is known for, such as "Flirtin' with Disaster", "Gator Country", Whiskey Man" and "Fall of the Peacemakers" among others, Dave Hlubek is credited with major motion picture sound tracks, including the feature films such as Monster starring Charlize Theron, The Dukes of Hazzard starring Jessica Simpson and Burt Reynolds, Suspect Zero and Delta Farce. His music also appears on television commercials, on Hulk Hogan's Celebrity Wrestling TV show, and on the soundtracks of the video games Rock Band, NASCAR 98 and others. As recent as January 2011, Flirtin With Disaster was the opening music on the pilot Super Natural.

Dave Hlubek has seven gold and platinum selling album awards with sales totaling approximately 24 million in album sales.

A little known fact is that Dean Markley Magnum guitar strings featured Dave Hlubek's face, in cameo, on the packaging for years and can still be found to this day. Recently he has teamed with, and is sponsored by Dean Guitars which he highly endorses.

On July 3, 2010, Hlubek was honored by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He was invited to showcase one of his guitars in the exhibits. During the ceremony, the original Molly Hatchet music could be heard throughout the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He currently lives in Port St. Lucie, Florida and is engaged to Christy Vaughan, his lost love from the 1980s.

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Brown, Pete & Newquist, H.P. (1997) Legends of Rock Guitar, Hal Leonard Corporation, ISBN 978-0793540426, p. 136
2. ^ ^{a b} Larkin, Colin (1999) The Encyclopedia of Heavy Rock, Virgin Books, ISBN 0-7535-0257-7, p. 299

External links

• Interview with Dave Hlubek on KAOS2000 Magazine (1999)

Persondata
Name	Hlubek, Dave
Alternative names
Short description	guitarist
Date of birth	August 28, 1951
Place of birth	Jacksonville, Florida
Date of death
Place of death