As the primary songwriter and front man fueling the power pop 80s band, CARUSO, Dave and his three brothers, Mike, Joe and Rob performed for thousands of audiences in the U.S. and Canada, earning them a national corporate sponsorship with the prestigious Miller Rock Network and tracks on two RCA Records albums.  CARUSO's single, London, appeared on college radio playlists across the Midwest.  Their In the Face album marked its 35th anniversary in 2022 and was reissued as a 17-track deluxe package.

Dave's distinctive songwriting on his debut solo album, Elizabeth Parker Revisited received glowing reviews from the pop music community, powered by the title song and tracks like Letter To My Ex and I Can't Be On Time.  His 2014 followup, Cardboard Vegas Roundabout is a self-produced tour de force of sparkling sunshine pop and jangle pop.  Highlights include the Beach Boys tribute, Champion, and the super jangly Your Fake Friends.

In the 2010s, Caruso taught an original series of affordable songwriting courses with more than 160 hours of inspiring content.  He's also the creator and host of Songwriter Stories, a songwriting and music discovery podcast, featuring fascinating interviews with such esteemed pop songwriters as Matthew Sweet, Marshall Crenshaw, Vicki Peterson and Tony Macaulay.

Dave's 2017 release, Buddha Pesto Manifesto, climbed to the #1 album spot on WHFR's Theme Attic, and received a strong response from a host of melodic pop reviewers.  His self-produced album, Radiophonic Supersonic, was mixed in Nashville by Brad Jones and was the #8 Power Pop Album of 2020, according to Power Pop News.  Its lead-off song, Little Miss Sunshine, was named one of the Top 10 Songs of 2020 by Hop On Power Pop.

Dave has surpassed 5,000 live music performances and his DaveCarusoMusic YouTube channel has earned more than 300k views.