July 13: Dan Haas Band at Ladew Gardens
I first picked up a guitar the summer after my sophomore year in high school (Severna Park). I didn’t add words until my last year in college at Towson State.
After college, I moved to the big city (Annapolis), got lucky and booked a few gigs in town. I met a bass player (Brian Goddard), who knew a drummer (Mickey Eckman), who played with a girl (Elisa Infante), who’s sister was marrying a lead guitarist (Bryan Ewald), who regularly sang with a girl (Meg Murray). And so a band grew, and performed all over. Weddings, parties, gigs, bars, restaurants, pubs, festivals and outdoor shopping centers.
Soon I started to write songs, and met another bassist (Josh Chapman), who knew a drummer (Jamie Watkins), who knew a piano player (Joe Morson). Since we enjoyed playing songs that I wrote, we started a band (Ben’s Bones), made two CD’s, and played loads of shows and once even on a boat (The Rock Boat).
At some point, I met this amazingly-talented creative spirit (Joe Pisapia), and somehow convinced him to produce a record of my music (GOODbye MOON), with some of the most talented musicians in Nashville (too many to mention).
Today, I perform all over the region, as a solo acoustic musician, or with a bassist (Larry Melton), or with any configuration one can imagine. We play hits, party-rock pop music, acoustic folk, soft rock, Motown, R&B, and just about any other genre you can imagine.
And that’s the story (the parts I’m allowed to discuss), for now.
The trio: Josh Chapman on bass. Mickey Eckman on drums. Dan Haas on guitar, vocals and sinus infection. It was about 31 degrees while we were performing (for an ice rink grand opening in Rockville, MD). I love what my iPad can do at our live shows.
