David Haller Tribute Page

This page is a tribute to David Haller, who died on November 27, 2020 of COVID-19. Links to his obituary, and to listen to and download some of his recordings, or watch videos of his performances, can be found above.

This is a story from David's brother Ben, and is part of a piece Ben wrote for David's memorial service. The photos are also Ben's; click on them for high resolution versions.

David flew to Los Angeles. We were going to work the Telluride Bluegrass Festival. Sitting in a sunny café, we chatted with Paul Oscher, harmonica player for Muddy Waters. In the middle of his telling us a story about Solomon Burke wanting a throne on stage, my phone rang. It was Skip the stage manager "We have a problem with Solomon Burke...." I laughed, grasping the magic, I said "Yeah, we've got it covered.... he wants a throne!" Skip's still shaking his head! A week later, standing in a puddle of melting snow on the edge of a road made of gravel from abandoned gold mines, David did his magic. With borrowed tools and a dimestore hammer, he built a handsome throne out of scrounged local rough sawn cedar. Solomon loved it and did a great show.

David did his magic for us. It's now up to us to magic on...