Guitar with Dan F.

-Guitarist, songwriter, teacher, band-leader, all around musician, writer, photographer....been playing music for over 38 years and teaching for over 20 years. - Highlights include performances at "The House of Blues" in New Orleans and The Fox Theater in Boulder, Colorado opening up for national acts. (Jerry Garcia Band, Keller Wiiiams) -Taught numerous private and group lessons over the years. - Involved with music summer camps and guitar seminars for children. - Began studying guitar with Jeff Tillman (Westchester, NY) who has played in various jazz bands with people like Bucky Pizzarelli. (famous jazz guitarist) -I am currently listening to artists like Ray Lamontagne, David Gray, Galactic and Medeski Martin and Wood. -Keep your mind open to all kinds of music!  Lots of improvising on it for those of you interested in learning more about soloing!  Here's my full bio! In the past, Dan toured with The Boulevards based out of New Orleans, Louisiana. He spent about 7 years in Colorado in the 90's absorbing the music scene in Boulder and working the clubs in Denver. He first landed out west moving to Boulder, Colorado after he graduated college in 1994. Here, he met a lot of great musicians and worked with Samples producer Walt Beery at a local music store where guys like Big Head Todd and other popular Colorado musicians would stop in. He once played a gig up in Nederland, Colorado with Dave Watts (The Motet) and Erik Deutsch (Charlie Hunter Trio) among others and although got a little lost on the jazz changes, he hung in there. Now, in 2014, Dan would be more than ready to tackle that gig! For you aspiring musicians, that's what time, performance and practice will eventually do...Anyway, there was (and still is) a great music vibe in Boulder however, Dan wanted a change and moved to Denver in 1998. At the time, The Boulevards were a hard working swing and blues band playing all over the state and touring when they could. At this point, Dan was really digging into the life of a working musician, sweating it out at the clubs and eagerly anticipating the next one. (not too different from today) The Boulevards played multiple venues in New Orleans during several Jazz Fest's and Mardi Gras. Pierre Masperos, Bombay Club, Vic's Kangaroo Cafe and The Dream Palace were some of the venues, although a few no longer exist. Those were important musical experiences for Dan shaping what would be, his own funky style. After The Boulevards, he formed his own band called Rare Form who were based in Denver. He also recorded an all original cd recruiting some of Denver's finest session players. Dave Cieri the keyboardist for the popular jam band (at the time) Chief Broom did some excellent keyboard work on the album. The power trio was an all original project with LA studio musician Beto Hale on drums and Denver's own Steve Morrow on bass. That was a hot trio however, Dan was frustrated living in Denver and missed the big city. A recording at the Soiled Dove in downtown Denver was the band's highlight with "A Groove" recorded at that point. In 2001, he relocated to Long Beach, New York which had always been close to his heart and continued writing and recording music. Now, reflecting on his current New York band The DF Project, "At first the band was a trio and then a five piece. We had a keyboardist and then we didn't. That's how band's go. People come and go sometimes. Recorded at a recent performance in Manhattan at The Underscore, are two new tunes on the page. They are "Warning Sign" and a funky one called "New Orleans". Several years ago, he spent some time in the studio rehearsing with former Jason Bonham Band guitarist Tony Catania. That band never took off.. oh well they would of been hot! He's also done gigs with some of the areas finest musician's including George Panos from the popular band Mystic and Manny Focarazzo who currently plays keyboards for Alan Parson's Project. He's also jammed with Primo guitarist Dean Brown who plays with Stanley Clarke's band among others. He also has several other projects in the works he hopes to perform with in 2009. In 2005, he wanted a break from music and began painting. Some examples of his work (photography included) can be viewed under "pics" or on the picture collage. In 2007, Dan performed over 130 gigs in the New York City and Long Island area as both a solo artist and with several bands. The challenge of performing for roughly two decades now has proven positive with gigs under his belt at The Knitting Factory in Manhattan, Kenny's Castaway's (didn't Bruce play there?), The Fox Theatre in Boulder, and The House of Blues in New Orleans to name a few. Dan has opened up for such artists as Keller Williams, Jerry Garcia Band w/Melvin Seals and Jumpin' Johnny Sansone, a New Orleans blues musician. He also placed second in the LIBS solo competition in 2007. Dan has recorded over the years with a number of independent artist's. The new lineup for 2014 is exciting! With Jon Gray, Chris Gardner and William Johnson Jr now making up the band the sound is right where Dan wants it! "I'm glad we have a keyboard involved..." *** Lesson Details *** Teaching is like anything else, you need to put in the time in order to become better at it. There is a certain method or art in teaching that through time, develops as you work at it. My attitude is this: each person deserves a custom-designed method for their individual needs. Some people start out on their instrument knowing absolutely nothing about music. Others can remember things like sight reading or tempo from classes taken during their school years. These variables need to be recognized and a student needs to be developed using their strengths. I try and keep my lessons informative and flowing smoothly. I keep in mind there are a lot of instructional videos floating around on the internet. I have seen some of them and there are certain benefits in watching these videos. However, I firmly believe nothing takes the place of a good lesson one on one. Not only does it personalize the learning process, but it makes it more fun and more hands on. Sometimes, in order to keep my lessons productive, I pretend I am videotaping myself. This way, I concentrate on spending my time wisely and getting my information across as clearly and concisely as possible. I also concentrate on keeping the lesson fun and interesting in order to stimulate the student to want to come back for the next one. I teach all styles, jazz, blues, rock, country, classical so depending on your goals, we can customize the lesson to what you want to achieve! (and have fun doing it too!!) *** Studio Equipment *** Line 6 Guitar Amp, Fender Blues Junior III Guitar Amp. Hartke Bass Amp, Yamaha E403 Keyboard. *** Travel Equipment *** For guitar students I expect them to bring their own instrument. I can lend out a guitar or a bass temporarily. You can always rent an instrument for our lesson if you don't want to buy one! *** Specialties *** Guitar and Bass, Songwriting, Improvisation, Songs, Sightreading