Dave Williamson

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Dave 'Ming' Williamson (born 28th October 1966, Aberdeen, Scotland) is a bass player who began his professional career in his teens playing in bar and lounge covers bands, followed by a period on the Mecca and Working Men's Club circuit. He then moved to London, following in the footsteps of other Aberdonian musicians such as Graham Edwards, Steve Harvey, and Steve Everitt, who took Williamson under his wing and introduced him to a number of musical contacts, resulting in auditions for tours with Joan Armatrading, and Mick Ralphs of Bad Company.

Williamson subsequently formed the band One Nation with guitarist/songwriter Kipper and drummer Robbie France before leaving for a stint in Berlin with American singer/songwriter Tom Cunningham. Returning to the UK, he joined rock band Diamond Head with France, and keyboard player Josh Philips (Big Country, Procul Harum), touring in the UK and Europe and recording tracks for the unreleased album "Flight East" until the band were dropped by their label MCA Records. He then joined soul/funk band Heatwave with Philips for a string of European and Far Eastern tour dates, and went on to record the album "The Fire" from which the single "Straight From The Heart" was taken, neither of which met with any notable chart success.

Somewhat disillusioned with the music industry, a period of inactivity followed, with Williamson returning to active work in the late 90's to tour and record with The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, with whom Philips was co-producing a new album. A single, "Vampire Love" followed.

A recommendation from Philips resulted in a European tour with Midge Ure to promote the album "Breathe". This association continues to the present day, with Williamson featuring on Ure's 2001 album "Move Me" and subsequent singles, as well as several live albums and DVD releases over recent years.

Since his return to music, Williamson has also added to his list of live and TV credits Beverley Knight, Ronan Keating, Emma Bunton, Lisa Stansfield and Dina Carroll amongst others.