Dave tearing it up at Sierra Ridge Winery Adam during a sunset performance at Sierra Ridge Winery

Over the Edge is the dynamic trio of Dave Holob on electric violin / vocals, Adam Gottstein, guitar / vocals and Joe Bellamy on bass.

Dave recalls…“I met Adam at The Volcano Union Inn in the Gold Rush town of Volcano in 2002. I was playing with another band and during our break, this dude walks in, takes his acoustic guitar out of the case and proceeded to totally captivate the audience. I wondered -- who's this guy? afterwards, I introduced myself and said point blank, “we’re going to play music together…nice to meetcha!” Seven years later, the ‘run’ that the Edge boys are enjoying is going strong.

The result is a combination of original and some cover tunes…music that combines and compliments their unique artistic sensibilities. They play a wide range of musical styles from jazz and blues, to rockabilly and ballads. Simultaneously performing cover tunes true to the original arrangement in some cases, they also like to put their spin on traditional songs like Summertime, Stormy Monday and Don’t Go To Strangers.

While Gottstein and Bellamy hold down the rhythm and bass lines, Holob lays out his considerable talent on the electric violin and frankly defies any pre-conceived notion of violin players. At one moment Dave will rip a searing solo on one of their up-tempo numbers and then softly play an understated line you might expect to hear in a foreign movie score. Dave often adds his vocal harmony on number of their songs.

Dave Holob was classically trained while growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area. He was a member of the San Jose Youth Symphony for seven years and All California Symphony for two years during high school. Dave now turns his interests to blues, jazz, and rockabilly. He has opened for "The Sons of Chaplin" and has played with members of the "Marshall Tucker Band", "Montrose", "John Lee Hooker", and Tim Barnes, lead guitar player for "The Beau Brummel's" back in the 1970's. Tim Barnes currently plays lead guitar for the "Mick Martin Blues Rockers".

Gottstein started playing on a nylon-string guitar when he was eight, developing his style during what he deemed “the end of folk music.” He later became involved with a close friend in performing and co-producing children’s entertainment in the Bay Area. The Buddy Club, headed up by Scott Gelfand, is still going strong today.

Having moved from San Francisco to the Sierra foothills was a major shift in lifestyles and Gottstein essentially hung up the guitar…that is until Dave introduced himself and Over the Edge was born.

“Working with Dave is completely different,” Gottstein continued. “We’re blending vocal renditions of our original songs with some standards. One of our signature original tunes is “You Say Crazy (Like it’s a Bad Thing)” as well as “Shenandoah Suite”…a fitting tribute to the award-winning wine producing region of Amador County.

Joe Bellamy, electric bass and recording engineer comes from an erudite musical family. His mother, a conservatory trained pianist and organist going back to the silent movie era and his father was a singer and cellist.

After earning a B.A. in music from the U. of Iowa, Joe toured the Midwest with various dance bands and worked 2 winter seasons in the house band at the Red Onion in Aspen, CO opening for artists such as Cal Tjader, Chuck Berry and more. After a stint entertaining our troops with the U.S.O. in Viet Nam, Joe found work in Los Angeles where he played with the Johnny Mathis Orchestra, in a backup band for B.B. King, in the Dave Pike Trio, played in dozens of other clubs and venues, also as studio musician in countless movie orchestras and jazz and pop recordings. This led to sound engineering work and eventually he founded his own studio, “Peace in the Valley” where he was fortunate enough to engineer, play on, or co-produce hundreds of records.

Joe has earned several gold record for his engineering work (but refused them as the production companies wouldn’t pay for them). Over the years he worked on recording projects with Steely Dan, Andy Williams, Thelma Houston, Joan Baez, John Michael Talbot, Chuck Girard, The Desert Rose Band -and dozens more and is a member in good standing of the TFPPA, the Ten-fingered Piano Players of America.

Locally, Joe manages rental property, continues his recording studio work, has played with and/or recorded Mimosa, Darcel Hunter, Barry Duncan and the ‘Tritone Subs’ Brenda Grimaldi, Over the Edge, the Mother Lode Youth Symphony, The Mother Lode Friends of Music, Adam Gottstein, various school plays and soloists, and plays weekly at Calvary Chapel, Amador.

In his spare time, Joe enjoys the western facing view from his new deck and chuteless skydiving.

Dave’s original composition “Hot Rod Special”, with his signature 'shredding' style of play, always has audiences roaring with approval at the end. It’s the kind of song you might expect when you see guitar and fiddle.

“We had a blast performing at The Sutter Creek Theater back in April of 2005,” Gottstein said. The result was their first CD -- “Live at The Sutter Creek Theater”.

The new CD, To The Edge & Back was recorded at Joe Bellamy’s Peace in the Valley recording in 2009. You can order it online on our Music page or by contacting us. Bulk discounts are available. The Edge boys are also available for all types of gigs. Please don’t hesitate to contact us.

So there you have it. Probably more than you’d ever want to know about the band. Now, just get yourself to a show or buy a CD (or both) and let OTE become a part of your life. Music is a good thing, eh? Glad that you agree!