Twin CitiesLive acoustic guitarFree, always

Long before David Olson picked up a guitar, music was carrying his family through the unthinkable. Five generations on, he turns those stories into soulful acoustic music: familiar songs and originals rooted in real lives. Come listen, and meet the unsung heroes behind the songs.

Hear David play → Invite David to play →

Performances are free and every dollar raised goes directly to charity. It's where music becomes hope. Explore the causes →

Album cover: a red flame-top acoustic guitar lying on dark stage floorboards under a single warm spotlight
David Olson

Six Strings.One Remarkable Story.

Free shows100% to charity
To charity100%
Performance fee$0
GenerationsFive
MissionOne
Five generations of musicOrdinary people. Extraordinary storiesSongs for the stories that deserve to be heardTurning hard chapters into hopeThe music is free. The mission is bigger.
Side A · The Story · 1866 to now

From Immigrant Girl to Family Legacy.

Five generations, told from David's side of the table. In Swedish, the line that runs through a story and holds it together has a name: den röda tråden, the red thread. In this family, the thread is the music. Follow it down the page.

Emma playing the accordion, seated with her family
A1 My great-great-grandma

Emma

1866 – 1947

A girl from Sweden who came to America, built a life from almost nothing, and kept the music alive through all of it.

Voice Read Emma's story →
Joe playing the fiddle at home
A2 My great-grandpa

Joe

1902 – 1981

A farm boy in the truest sense, who played fiddle and guitar after the work was done and never let the music disappear.

Fiddle, guitar Read Joe's story →
Milton as a young man with his guitar, signed Milt Olson
A3 My grandpa

Milton

1930 – 2010

Quiet, steady, and gifted with anything electrical. He never needed many words; the guitar said them.

Guitar, mandolin Read Milton's story →
Warren in a white cowboy hat and western shirt, playing electric bass at a microphone
A4 My dad

Warren

1954 –

A blue-collar electrician who traded his father's country songs for rock 'n' roll as a teenager, and never left the old ones behind.

Guitar, harmonica, songwriting Read Warren's story →
David singing on stage under spotlights, playing his red Taylor
A5 Me

David

1981 –

Violin at three and a half, a guitar from a garage sale, and the fifth generation to carry the music.

Violin, trumpet, guitar Read David's story →

Emma to Joe, Joe to Milton, Milton to Warren, Warren to David. The music never died.

The thread doesn't stop with David. On Side B it runs through a summer night in 1985, a helicopter crew, and the reason every show he plays is free. Turn the record over →

A large number 5 pressed into the page, outlined by one red thread
Interlude

Five generations. Five instruments. One song that never stopped.

  1. A1 Voice · Emma 1866
  2. A2 Fiddle, guitar · Joe 1902
  3. A3 Guitar, mandolin · Milton 1930
  4. A4 Guitar, harmonica, songwriting · Warren 1954
  5. A5 Violin, trumpet, guitar · David 1981
Listen

Pull up a chair. Hear one.

Start with “Because.”

Why he plays
“Playing for charity is my way of honoring family, and using what they gave me to help others.”
David Olson
Side B · Why he plays

Side B opens on a summer night in 1985.

Monticello, Minnesota
22 Aug 1985

David was four and a half. He stopped a falling industrial shelf from landing on his little brother.

“My lungs failed, my ears bled, and my voice was silenced.”

That night

A helicopter crew came for him.

North Memorial's AirCare flew him from Monticello to a trauma center. The program was only months old. Bob Field was the crew member caring for him in the air.

Forty years later

Bob still trains the people who do that work.

And David uses his voice “to be a voice for those who maybe don't have one.”

So

He plays for free, and the room gives to the people who were there.

Two of his causes go back to that night. The third goes back to Emma.

The red thread, today · How it works

The music is free. The mission is bigger.

Donations are made through each recipient's own giving page. Nothing is collected on this site, and nothing passes through David.

01 No fee. David charges nothing to play. 02 Giving is optional. If the room wants to give something, it can. 03 It goes straight to the cause. Through each cause's own giving page.
  1. 01
    No fee.David charges nothing to play.
  2. 02
    Giving is optional.If the room wants to give something, it can.
  3. 03
    It goes straight to the cause.Through each cause's own giving page.
B1 · Scholarship

The Robert D. Field – Magaw 14,000 Lifeguard Scholarship

Named for the AirCare crew member who cared for David in the helicopter in 1985. It supports students training as nurse anesthetists at Saint Mary's University of Minnesota, where Bob now teaches. Opens the university's giving page for the scholarship.

Support Bob's scholarship → B2 · Air ambulance

North Memorial Health AirCare

The helicopter program that flew David from Monticello to a trauma center in 1985. Opens David's own fundraising page for the North Memorial Health Foundation, hosted on JustGiving.

Give to AirCare → B3 · Heritage

American Swedish Institute

Minneapolis's home for Swedish and Nordic culture: the music, crafts, and stories immigrants like Emma brought with them. Opens ASI's own donation page.

Support the Swedish Institute →
Unsung Heroes

The people who got him here.

A doctor, a flight crew, a violin teacher. Short pieces about people whose names nobody knows, each one ending where you can give in their honor.

Read them all →
01The doctorPatrick

The air ambulance program that flew a four year old to a trauma center in 1985 was only months old. The man who built it is the reason there is anybody here to play.

Placeholder copyRead →02The flight crewBob

Somebody was in the helicopter doing the actual work that night. Forty years later he is still training the people who do it now.

Placeholder copyRead →03The violin teacherKathy

He did not choose the violin. Somebody put it in his hands at three and a half, and then stayed for the part where it got hard.

Placeholder copyRead →
Booking

Bring him
to your room.

Solo acoustic or full setup. Thirty years of reading a room: knowing when to lean in, and when to let the moment carry itself.

Coffee Shops Background · 1–3 hours
Bars & Taprooms Solo acoustic
Festivals Day stages
Benefit Concerts Fundraisers · any size
House Concerts Intimate · 20–60 guests

Every one of these is free. If the room gives, it goes to charity.

Ask about a date

Tell him roughly what the room is and when. He answers these himself.

Or email him directly: DavidOlsonMusic@gmail.com