Through his childhood, Dave was influenced by some of the great varied rock, R&B and jazz artists of the `60s and `70s such as Jimi Hendrix, James Brown, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Led Zeppelin, The Allman Brothers, Stanley Turentine, Benson, B.B. King, Albert King, John Coltrance, etc. Dave`s love for many types of musical expression is one of his great strengths and is evident in his soulful approach to playing and singing.

At 16, Dave was entranced by the guitar mastery of Jimi Hendrix, which inspired him to pick up the guitar and he never looked back. Even though he started playing guitar late by most standards (age 16), Dave`s fire and passion for music allowed him to learn at an accelerated pace. Self taught, Dave quickly developed his unique style and found himself in a national recording band, developing a guitar hero fan base - all within only a few short years of picking up a guitar.

After being so impressed with Dave`s playing at a live performance, Bay Area manager Herbie Herbert (Journey), a guitar player fanatic himself, signed Dave and his band (Bay Area band "Y&T") to a management contract in 1974. Dave released his first record with Y&T on London Records in 1976 and started on his way to a long career of making records and touring the world. Early on, Dave`s bluesy style of guitar playing came to the forefront. When at a show in a Hollywood club in 1979, John Mayall was so impressed with Dave`s performance in Y&T that he grabbed the club owner and demanded to go backstage to meet Dave and ask him to collaborate on a record.

By 1983, as Y&T had achieved worldwide respect and was continuing to gain popularity, Dave won a Bammy for "Best Bay Area Guitarist", beating out other great players such as Neal Schon (Journey, also a Dave Meniketti fan), Craig Chaquico (Starship), and others. Many popular guitarists and recording artists have been fans and have expressed being influenced by Dave`s playing; over the years, some have asked him to join their bands, including Peter Frampton. Dave has been listed in Guitar Player Magazine`s "Best Of" polls for many years.

In 1985, Y&T performed on American Bandstand, and in 1986 had a huge hit on radio and MTV with "Summertime Girls", which tipped into the 40`s on the Billboard charts, for the second time in Y&T`s career. Y&T still has a rabid worldwide fan base to this day, most of which have also followed his solo career.

When Y&T decided to break from recording and performing, Dave knew it was time to move on to other musical avenues. Though he`d been primarily a rock guitarist for most of his career, Dave felt his passion for "blues" drawing him toward recording an album of blues/rock material, knowing in his gut that it was a natural thing to do. After assembling some great players, such as Bay Area bassist Myron Dove (Santana, Robben Ford, etc.), Dave proceeded to record his latest CD, "On The Blue Side". This CD has already outsold previous Y&T records in Japan and Europe and has been met with worldwide critical acclaim.

"On The Blue Side" has expressed some of the most passionate and intense playing and singing that Dave has ever committed to tape or live performance; this new direction has opened up a floodgate of inspiration and focus on Dave`s blues chops, which continue to mature and grow at a rapid pace.