Focus on: Dan Crary
Dan Crary is a master of the guitar with an international reputation for innovation and taste. His flatpicking techniques are studied by guitar students around the globe. Dan's performing career in groups and as a solo artist spans over forty years and crosses boundaries of genre and style.
Born in Kansas in 1939 he got his first guitar at the age of twelve. Dan heard the instrument on the radio and was grabbed by the sound of it. He finds this is the most important thing for a musician. You have to like the sound of the instrument. Dan recalls that almost no one in the US was seriously playing acoustic flattop guitar at the time.
After high school Dan played on weekends to fund his studies at the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago and later at the Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary in San Francisco. From there he moved to Louisville to pursue a doctorate of philosophy at Southern Seminary. In Kentucky he got hooked on bluegrass and formed the Bluegrass Alliance. The group played at a local saloon but was not readily accepted in traditional blue- grass circles because of their departure from the traditionalb bluegrass sound and band configuration. The group embraced a sort of newgrass view of the genre and the guitar took a break in every song. It was unusual at the time but helped re-establish the guitar as a lead instrument. Bluegrass Alliance also took a very casual approach to their attire on stage and included some contemporary songs in their performance. This raised some eyebrows. The group was not invited to festivals and camps. However in 1969 they did receive an invitation from Carlton Haney's Camp Springs in North Carolina. Lonnie Peerce of Bluegrass Alliance convinced Dan to listen to some fiddle tunes and consider them for guitar. That was a turning point for Crary. He realized the beauty of those tunes and learned a bunch of them. In 1970 he released Bluegrass Guitar. It included many of the fiddle tunes. Bluegrass Guitar brought attention to these tunes as an exciting addition to the guitar repertoire. Soon they became standards. Still today any jam session you attend will likely include many of the songs from the album.
In 1970 Dan thought he should return to school and prepare for a real job. He earned the Ph.D. in Speech Communication at the University of Kansas and spent his career teaching at California State University Fullerton. Back in California he connected with Byron Berline and others to form Sundance. The group recorded with MCA and Sugar Hill. Around 1987 Dan collaborated with Bob Taylor to develop a new kind of guitar that was microphone friendly. Dan led two lives for the span of his career from about 1975 on. He played concerts on the weekends and returned to class during the week. With summers off he could also tour extensively.
Dan was executive producer of Primal Twang: The Legacy of the Guitar. The 2006 show documented the history of the guitar across the ages. An international cast of greats such as Doc Watson, Mason Williams, Andrew York, Doyle Dykes and Peter Sprague appeared on the DVD and in the 2006 concert along with Dan and the Primal Twang Band. Primal Twang won best documentary at the 2010 Rome International Film Festival. The DVD has aired on PBS stations in 2009, 2010 and 2011.
Recently Dan was at Winfield with his band, Thunderation. Visit dancrary.com to find out where he is playing and watch for him in our area.
*Focus features musicians and groups from the past and contemporary performers. These musicians are selected because of their contributions to the preservation and enjoyment of acoustic music.
