Dave Land Music

Dave "Ouzo" Land is a singer/songwriter, performing and recording artist who is clearly more comfortable on stage than anywhere else in the world.  After learning to play guitar (in an 8th grade guitar class) at the age of 13, he was hooked and by the time he got through high school, Dave was playing rhythm guitar and singing for a variety of projects with styles ranging from rock to country to rhythm and blues. 

After high school, Dave settled into the role of lead singer/rhythm guitarist for a rock and roll oldies band called Johnny Ouzo and the Spartans.  When the group disbanded 3 years later, he continued performing under the stage name Johnny Ouzo. 

A few years later, Dave changed his stage name to Dave Ouzo and started an acoustic duo, called The Ouzo Brothers, with former TRAK lead guitarist Todd Derita, which lasted approximately 2 ½ years. After the "brothers" parted company Dave was once again performing solo until 1993 when he would release his first EP, a 6 song, full band project called Outlaws and Outsiders, under the Ouzo Brothers name.  After the release of Outlaws and Outsiders Dave returned to the solo circuit under his real name, Dave Land, but the nickname "Ouzo" took on a life of it's own and follows him to this day. 

In 2001, Dave opened a music store called Downtown Music in Martinez, CA. Through the store he would meet a number of other musicians he would unite to form his band, The Downtowners, in the summer of 2003. Dave Land and the Downtowners would hit the ground running as they would make history as the first band ever to perform at The John Muir Amphitheater in Martinez, CA in October of that year. Dave recorded 2 albums with the Downtowners, Pirate Eyes in 2005 and America Rocks in 2006. During the same time period, he started a spinoff project called Big Wave Dave and the Breakers, a party band specializing in rock and roll oldies for "hours of mindless fun". Thanks to the popularity of both bands, Dave was able to shift his professional focus entirely to music. 

In 2008, Dave decided to leave the music retail business to concentrate completely on performing, songwriting and recording. He recorded and released his live album, Just Another Bad Guy, in 2014 and the follow up studio album, Here We Go Again, in 2015 on the Tays International Music label. 3 years later, Dave was back in the studio, this time recording on the Blue Tree Records label. He released his 6 song EP, My Friends Call Me Ouzo, in 2018 and his current album, Don't Take Candy From A Cowboy, in 2021. Along the way, Dave (with the Downtowners) filmed and released 3 music videos, "Pirate Eyes", "(San Francisco Giants) San Francisco Style" and "Rock and Roll Cowboy".  Dave is currently unsigned and in the studio working on his new project, The Next Adventure, which is expected to be released in the spring of 2024.