Raised in Edgard, Louisiana, Dave Malone made his way to New Orleans and co-founded the Radiators in 1977 with keyboardist and principal songwriter Ed Volker, guitarist Camile Baudoin, bassist Reggie Scanlan, and drummer Franklin Bua. The band's two-guitar attack — Malone and Baudoin trading twin and alternating leads, Malone and Volker trading lead vocals — became the engine of what fans called 'fish head music': New Orleans bar-band rock filtered through the Grateful Dead, the Band, the Allman Brothers, and Little Feat. The group cut early vinyl on its own Croaker Records label, including the double live set Work Done On Premises recorded at Tipitina's, before Epic Records came calling.
The Radiators spent more than three decades as one of the hardest-touring bands to come out of New Orleans, then officially retired from the road in 2011. They have played yearly reunion shows in New Orleans ever since, with the same five-member lineup. WWOZ credits Malone with more than 20 albums and honors that include a Big Easy Lifetime Achievement Award, a Best of the Beat Lifetime Achievement Award, and induction into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame.
Malone stays busy around town. He plays with the offshoot bands Raw Oyster Cult, the Gatorators, and Fishhead Stew, and he is a regular part of the annual Last Waltz tours — all of which means there are steady chances to catch him on a New Orleans stage.
