Immerglück began playing music in the San Francisco Bay area. Like other aspiring young musicians, he played with various childhood friends, but began a lifetime habit of joining or "sitting in" with more than one band at a time, learning from the exposure to other differing musical influences and interests. He early began to experiment with different sounds with a growing interest in instruments beyond just the guitar. Initially emerging in the early 80's as musician/engineer in an esoteric rock band/studio collective called Polymorph, Immerglück recorded his first single with a band named Mod-L Society (featuring future Counting Crow Adam Duritz): "Back To Baltimore"/"Janie", in 1985.[3]
The Ophelias
By 1987, he joined popular SF band The Ophelias (signed to the San Francisco wing of British label Rough Trade Records), touring and recording two albums with them ("Oriental Head" and "The Big O"), while continuing to pursue his interests in producing and/or playing with other bands in the fertile Bay Area indie rock scene. Immerglück played with The Ophelias for the better part of the next three years, until joining Camper Van Beethoven in the summer of 1989. The Ophelias released a retrospective compilation album "Bare Bodkin" in 2017, containing many previously unreleased tracks.
Bassist Victor Krummenacher noted, "We were interested in doing slightly more outside music that had heavier and more progressive tendencies. It was an outside expansion, a chance to go wherever our imagination took us."[4] Immerglück described the sonic chemistry between that of himself and Lisher, the band's two guitarists, as music "that seemed to juxtapose the chaotic and the beautiful, the raw bluster and the ornate".[4]
Immerglück joined Camper Van Beethoven as a member for the final tours of their initial run, prior to their breakup in 1990. The Monks of Doom intensified their activity after this, ultimately producing five albums[3] to positive acclaim before the members took a long reprieve in 1993.[4] Both groups have since reformed - Camper Van Beethoven in 1999 (with Immerglück peripherally involved as a part-time member), and the Monks of Doom in 2003 (with Immerglück involved full-time).[citation needed]
John Hiatt (& The Nashville Queens)
In late '94/early '95, on drummer Michael Urbano's recommendation, Immerglück was brought in to record seminal American songwriter John Hiatt's album Walk On. He became a permanent fixture in Hiatt's band, touring extensively, and went on to record two more albums (1997's Little Head and 2000's Grammy nominated Crossing Muddy Waters) as well as new tracks for a compilation (1998's Best of John Hiatt). His tenure with Hiatt ended in 1999, when he became a full-time member of Counting Crows.
Around 1993, Immerglück became involved with an early incarnation of the modern rock group Counting Crows, and has since appeared in some capacity on all of Counting Crows' albums.[6] Because of other musical projects, he initially functioned only as a session player. With his skills on guitar and a variety of other instruments, including both slide guitar and pedal steel guitar, mandolin, keyboards and backing vocals, he easily fell into place with old friends from the San Francisco Bay scene. Since 1999, Immergluck has been a permanent member of the band, touring and recording.
Immerglück also appeared on the solo debut by Paul Collins, formerly of The Beat and The Nerves. Recorded for Sony Records, the album was a blend of alternative country and rock, featuring Immerglück on guitar, alongside the core members of Chris Isaak's band, Silvertone.
In 2008, Immergluck began playing music with NYC based British singer/songwriter James Maddock, forming the acoustic duo Jimmy/Immy as well as sometimes playing in Maddock's band. Jimmy/Immy have toured extensively in Italy on several occasions, and continue to play regularly in the greater NYC area. 2012 saw the release of Jimmy/Immy Live at Rockwood Music Hall, and in 2016 Jimmy/Immy (w/Alex Valle) Live in Italia was released.
In 2016 Immerglück produced and played on flamboyant Indie Rock legend Tyson Meade's forthcoming album Robbing the Nuclear Family, as well as joining bizarre improv collective Mushroom.
^U.S. Public Records Index Vol 1 & 2 (Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.), 2010.
^ abImmerglück, David; King, Mary (2000–2008). "Official Website Discography". Discography. Official Website of David Immerglück. Archived from the original on October 25, 2008. Retrieved January 4, 2009.
^ abcdeOfficial Band Website (2007). "The Monks of Doom". Official Website. Retrieved January 4, 2009.