Reviewed by: Elizabeth Hobbs
New public petition aims to rename Mars Music Hall after the late great Microwave Dave
Reading time: 2 minutes
Over the weekend, Huntsville received the unfortunate news that the legendary blues musician Dave “Microwave Dave” Gallaher had passed away. Since then, his loving and supportive fans from all over have banded together in an incredible show of solidarity to create a petition to change the name of the “Mars Music Hall” to the “Microwave Dave Music Hall”.
This petition by his fans is aiming to keep his name, spirit and contributions to Huntsville + blues music as a whole alive within the community. So far, it has 256 signatures with an overall goal of 300.
The Mars Music Hall is a relatively new venue within the Von Braun Center. It first opened in early 2020 and its name was inspired by Huntsville’s deep association with space exploration, rocketry and aerospace engineering. A name change seems like a great way to honor Microwave Dave, if you ask me!
Remembering Microwave Dave
Dave Gallaher was born in Chicago and raised in Texas. As an adolecent, he played the ukulele, guitar, trumpet and French horn. His family then moved to Atlanta where he attended Georgia State College and founded a band known as the Majestics.
Gallaher was also a United States Air Force veteran, having been drafted during the Vietnam War. Post-war, he found himself in school again at the Berklee School of Music in Boston. Here, he joined a band called Cameron where he played the guitar.
In the mid-80s he found himself in Huntsville following his love of the blues. In Huntsville, the alias of “Microwave Dave” was born after he started a local blues radio program. He continued to play for our community all the way until his tragic passing last weekend.
Microwave Dave followed his dreams, served his country and gave back to his community; what more could you ask of a man? Huntsville mourns the loss of this legend.
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