TM

Run Grammie Run!

Dan’s Opening Act

  I can’t quite recall the actual age when I was interested in singing or playing guitar, but I do remember listening to my mom sing around the house, and I loved plucking the strings of my father’s ukulele to the tune of “My Country Tis of Thee“.  That’s when I realized that I could “play by ear”.  Although I could only play on one string, I was totally amazed that I could play any melody I had in my head.  I finally bought my own electric guitar at age 16.  “Wow!” I thought, “Now, if I could only afford an amp, I’ll be on my way to rock and roll stardom - or at least piss off my neighbors.”  My amp for the time was an old Panasonic radio with a mic hook up.  You thought YOURS was funky, eh?

  My early influences were Iron Maiden, Metallica, Anthrax, and Dio.  Yes, I was a headbanger and proud of it!!!  I always looked forward to playing guitar after school.  I was determined to learn as many Iron Maiden songs as I could.  Their guitar solos were phenomenal.

   At 18, I started writing my own songs.  My first song was a sappy love song, believe it or not.  Yes, this heavy metal dude talking with you has a soft side.  I continued writing about my life’s experiences.  It was great therapy, and still is.  Who needs a shrink when you’ve got a guitar in one hand and a pen in the other?  I eventually started jammin’ in my garage with a drummer.  We never found any other players, but we had fun.  Unfortunately, that fun ended when the cops showed up to tell us we were disturbing the peace.

  I continued practicing every day though, and after a few failed attempts of getting a group together, I finally found some players that were serious about practicing and playing out.  Our first gig was at a shopping plaza.  That was fun until the owner of Applebee’s came out to unplug our power and tell us to leave.  Apparently, they thought we played oldies music. Maybe it had something to do with our band name, “Tomorrow’s Past”.  Anyhow, “Tomorrow’s Past” became “Tomorrow’s Dads”, and the band split up.  The singer and I became dads a few months later.  Eventually, I found another drummer and we hit it off.  Within a half-hour, we had some solid heavy metal pouring out of his living room.  It was great.  We practiced 3 nights a week in a barn.  Unfortunately, the drummer was usually too wasted to keep playing, so I decided to

Updated 2004 Dec 23

Dan’s Second Act

Dan’s Headliner Act