November 2, 2011

Fan Questions Answered

I have this nifty site where you can stop by and ask me anything. Fromtime to time folks do this, so I've chosen a few Q&A's to share with youthis week.

Q: How did you start playing guitar? You seem to have taken on an American Country style...Who is your mentor?

A:  I actually only started playing the guitar about 7 years ago - and my only goal was to turn up Beatles songs and play along with them! After the wore out the Beatles albums, I moved to Simon and Garfunkel and then Bob Dylan...just playing along day and night.

I never had formal lessons or anything, so I feel that I still have a lot of improving to do - but it's good to have something to work toward!

Q: Now that you've toured INTERnationally, what is next for you- and what have you taken away from this wonderful adventure?

A:  Haha, I like that you adopted my "INTER..." it shows you're paying attention ;-)

What's next for me is returning to the U.S. early 2012 and playing some shows on the East Coast for a couple of months while I get some good rest and do some writing. Then it's back on the road for a nation-wide tour in March and April, another month to rest and write in May, then a long Summer tour through the U.S. including a bunch of festivals around the country.

Besides that, there are some radio and production companies interested in playing songs from the new album, so I'm looking forward to that! And we're launching a new site (which I'm very excited about) in December...but the content is top secret for now, so you'll have to keep your eyes peeled around then!

That's all I can think of off-hand...and now that it's written down it looks like a lot more planning than I usually do...I must be getting old.

Thanks for the Q!

Q: Where do you get most of your inspiration from?

A:  In the past I never really knew where it came from - often it would come while listening to other music...so maybe that's it. But lately I've been taking much more time to craft my songs and I think this has helped me tap a source of inspiration. For my new album "From Prague To Paris" it was definitely travel. When I look at the list of songs, about 7 of the 10 songs have to do with travel. I still get inspiration from listening to new music...usually something I've never heard before will really strike me and give me a thought for a new song - music can be really kinetic in that way for me.

Q: Hello Dan,

You've been traveling quite extensively now and things are really looking great for your new album. What is your dream situation?

A:  My dream situation would be to have enough success to be able to keep on traveling, making music, and playing live shows. My favorite part of being a musician is the live shows, then writing songs, then recording. So if I can have enough success to just keep on moving, that would do it for me!

Stop by and ask a question too!