Since bursting on to the midwestern music scene with the band High and Lonesome in 1992, David Zollo has had a busy career. Along with constant touring, in the U.S and Europe, with High and Lonesome (1992-1998;) and his current band, The Body Electric (1998-present) Zollo has recorded 7 releases of his own material, including the most recent, “For Hire.” The current iteration of the band is his longest running, all four members playing together for a decade or more. It consists of Brian Cooper (drums, percussion,) Ryan Bernemann (bass guitar, harmony vocals,) and Randall Davis (electric, acoustic, and pedal steel guitars,” all of whom are some of the most in-demand musicians in the state of Iowa.
In addition, he founded and operated the seminal, Iowa-based, roots music label, Trailer Records (Bo Ramsey; Joe and Vicki Price; Greg Brown; The Pines; Brother Trucker; Kelly Parkeooper; Pieta Brown, as well as his own work, and that of others, from 1994-2006;) played keyboards and sang harmonies on many records by Nashville folk singer Todd Snider; fellow Iowan William Elliot Whitmore, and Greg Brown, amongst many other artists; and worked as a producer (The Pines; Brother Trucker; Kelly Pardekooper.) In 2017, he also formed a new band with Whitmore, guitarists Stephen Howard and Steve Doyle, and Body Electric drummer Brian Cooper, called Middle Western. Their debut release, When Your Demons Are Under Ground And You’ve Got To Dig Them Up. was recorded at Lone Tree, Iowa’s Flat Black Studios, with Luke Tweedy, and was released in 2018. They are currently working on their second record, which should be available in late 2023.
In 2017, David was asked to lead a delegation lobbying Senator Charles Grassley on behalf of the Allocation for Music Producers (AMP) Act. Introduced as House Resolution 881, it required a corresponding bill in the U.S. Senate. Accompanied by Daryl Friedman, from the RIAA, and children’s songwriter Justin Roberts, Zollo invited his friend, and Des Moines-based entertainment attorney, Brandon Clark, and the group met with Senator Grassley at a town hall meeting in Bloomfield, Ia. Since the only way they could get the meeting with the Senator was to have some of his constituents from Iowa there to speak, Zollo and Clark were the main drivers in what turned out to be a very successful visit. Grassley not only supported the bill, but he ended up co-sponsoring the Senate version, and in early 2018, the joint bill was passed as the Music Modernization Act. The meeting was such a success, that David Zollo has been asked to lobby Senator Grassley again, in 2020, and US Representative Ashely Hinson, also in 2020, for consideration of various topics of interest to the RIAA.
Despite the many things Zollo has done during his career, it is as a live performer that many feel he’s at his best. Check him out at a venue near you, or visit www.davezollo.com for a list of upcoming shows.
