David Raven… drummer, singer, composer, has worked primarily as a studio drummer in Los Angeles since 1979. and has worked on more than 2,500 records, as well as music for movies and television.

David Raven was born Dave McSparran, in Odessa, Texas in 1953. Odessa is an oil boom (and bust) town in “the God forsaken middle of nowhere” west Texas. He finished high school in Littleton, Colorado, and then off to College in St. Paul, Minnesota, where he studied visual art. While in College, he married his high school sweetheart, Rebecca. In addition to playing in bands in the Minneapolis area, he began working as a studio drummer, playing on “jingle sessions” for television commercials, and records for Minnesota based record labels. In 1979, after graduating, he and Rebecca packed their belongings in a rented trailer and an old Saab, and headed west to Los Angeles. They barely got settled in, when David got a call to go to Europe to join a band, “Deliverance,” signed to a German record label. While there, he began to do session work in Munich, Germany, and Basel, Switzerland, near where they lived. In 1981, David and Rebecca, their 2 year old son, and another baby on the way, returned to Los Angeles. There, Raven started over from scratch, eventually playing in countless bands, and on countless record projects, and the occasional tour. Currently, Rebecca is a published author, with a PHD in film and theology. David works most days in his studio “Honky Abbey,” in a former Catholic rectory, a beautiful “Hollywood Gothic” home in the Miracle Mile area of Los Angeles. He plays on records and soundtracks, and he produces, records and mixes bands and singer/songwriters. He writes, plays, and records with his two favorite bands, jackiO, and mojo monkeys.

Raven has recorded or performed with  Shelby Lynne, Keith Richards, Mike Ness, John Doe, Steve Earle, Norah Jones, Lacy J Dalton, Richard Swift, Creed Bratton, Vaud & the Villians, Greg Ginn (of Black Flag), Meat Puppets, Slash, Dave Alvin, Nellie McKay, Tonio K, The  Mutaytor, Carlene Carter, Marvin Etzione, Jim Lauderdale, Matt Redman, East Mountain South, Jay Farrar, Jim James (of My Morning Jacket), David J (of Bauhaus & Love & Rockets, Crystal Lewis, Fernando Ortega, Michelle Shocked, Anne McCue, Tom McRae, Peter Case, Don Was, Steve Taylor, Gerry Beckley (of America), Mark Heard, Kim Wilson (of Fabulous Thunderbirds), The Surfaris, Vonda Shepherd, Robben Ford, Ricky Martin, Dillon O’Brian, Leah Andreone, Bobby Womack, Michael Des Barres, Steve Jones (of the Sex Pistols), Dread Zeppelin, Jewel, Paula Cole, Delaney Bramlett, Hank Thompson, James Intveld, Sun 60, Sass Jordan, Nancy Sinatra, Lowen and Navarro, Jimmy Z, Amy Grant, T Bone Burnett, Barry Goldberg, Jude, Grey Delisle, Beth Hart, Carole King, Lucinda Williams, Mojo Monkeys, Anna Nalick,  Robyn Hitchcock, Slaughter & the Dogs , etc. 

Raven has had his songs placed in the television shows “Sons of Anarchy, Mayans, Parks and Recreation, One Tree Hill, Bluebloods, Desire, Angel, Felicity, Alias, Chronicle, and Senior Year”. He has composed music for “The Style Channel”, “Tyra”, “The Ellen Degeneres Show”, “Extra”, and “Celebrity Justice”, and co-composed a drum ensemble piece for the burning of the man ceremony at the Burning Man art festival, 2003.

He has performed on the soundtracks of the feature films: “Pirates of the Caribbean, Curse of the Black Pearl, Brokeback Mountain, Hurly Burly, Everlasting Piece, Tryst, Hard Luck Love Song, and Never Been Thawed.”