Dan Blakeslee: Guitar, vocals ~
Jonathan Blakeslee: Upright Bass ~
Matt Manning: Bass ~
Nick Phaneuf: Bass ~
Jim Rudolf: Drums ~
Mike Venn: Drums ~
Dan Fancher: Drums ~
Juliet Nelson: Cello ~
I also play in a couple local bands on occasion: drums for Black Window Music, and Zach Tremblay, under the name "Bang, Bang Blakeslee" and bass for Tigersaw.
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Influences
Well it may be hard to pin this one down, so here we go...Johnny Cash, The Smiths, Will Schaff, Echo and The Bunnymen, Bob Dylan, Red House Painters, Django Reinhardt, Leonard Cohen, Tom Waits, Chris Moore, The Texas Governor, Jeff Buckley, The Serfs, Harpswell Sound, Five Balls of Power, The Ponys ( Phantom Buffalo ), Vic Chesnutt, The Dead Milkmen, Bettie Seveert, The White Stripes, Donovan, Billy Bragg, Sam Phillips, Led Zepplin, The Pogues, Pedro The Lion, Shudder To Think, Groovie Ghoulies, Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, Nick Drake, Run D.M.C., Elvis Aaron Presley, Jonathan Richman, Radiohead, Grant Lee Buffalo, Satan's Teardrops, Big Sandy And The Fly Rite Boys, Bonnie Prince Billy, The Innocence Mission, Bruce Springsteen, Richard Buckner, Wayne Hancock, and most of all my family!
Sounds Like
Mix 10 ounces of Johhny Cash, 8 ounces of Leonard Cohen, grind in a little Led Zepplin, add a dash of Jeff Buckley, and garnish with Bob Dylan. Make sure to have a little Red House Painters to wash it down with! Enjoy.
Dan Blakeslee walked into Laconia State Prison last year, not knowing what to expect. Hed always admired Johnny Cash and his affection for the underdog. Similar to Cash at Folsom Prison, Blakeslee was about to perform live for a house full of murderers and felons. Behind closed doors he could hear the prisoners chant, and he felt as though he was about to be fed to the wolves. But instead of inciting a riot, Blakeslee anesthetized the prisoners with his crooning voice and delicate charms, slowly calling out angels and demons alike with equal regard for both. Blakeslee walked out with a homemade recording of the event that night (Live at Laconia State Prison), a perfect blueprint of his own complicated soul. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The last great American Renaissance man is gone, but his likeness lives on the shores of Newburyport, Massachusetts. Equal parts musician and artist, Dan Blakeslee’s soul core is woven from the fabric of his surroundings. More specifically, the tangled fields and forests from the town where he was raised, South Berwick, Maine. This enchanted farming community also schizophrenically possesses an artists spirit, which, is embedded deep within him. While Blakeslee learned his Yankee ingenuity from the farmers, it was his parents who infused music and art into his being by singing the young Blakeslee to sleep every night as a child.~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The skies over the Blakeslee childhood home hung heavy with stars. Anyone who has ever looked into a night sky unfettered by light pollution or a gazed at a horizon dotted with mast pines at twilight knows theyre looking at the lightning seeds of imagination. In fact, it seems this environment has permeated every aspect of Blakeslee’s music and art, one needs to look no further than his paintings and drawings to know they are deep seeded by his childhood surroundings.~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After attending the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, Blakeslee ventured northward to Boston. He toiled with his acoustic in the smoke-laden subways before slowly rolling his influences (Leonard Cohen, Red House Painters, The Smiths, Jeff Buckley, Vic Chestnut, Radiohead, Tom Waits and the aforementioned Cash) into his own eclectic blend of music with chameleon-like appeal.~~~~~~~~~~~~
Blakeslee’s live performances are wondrous. Similar to a beekeeper who spells smoke upon the colony before gathering honey, he rouses audiences with wit before subsequently throttling them with his deeply engaging voice and well-thought lyrics. He is unafraid to bare his very soul, emptying a loaded cache of emotion and passion onto the stage for all to witness, explore and devour. His conviction and love for life itself alone makes him impossible to ignore.~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Blakeslee’s music, categorically speaking, is impossible to classify. It sparks images of melted candles in city square vigils, lone tree hills or a shoreline drive at dawn. Blakeslee seems unconcerned with where the songs fall, only that hes tapped into their ghostly essence and emerged with a blinding account of life itself.
Thanks for stopping by please go to danblakeslee.com for further direction!
So great Dan to have you at Fletcher's Field again this year Dan. We'll be doing it again next year so I'll give you a call when we set the date. It went off so well and you were a HUGE part of that. Thank You! Here's one of the photos I took of you there....
Dan, I am playing with Like (in his band) at The Middle East Corner next Monday night: I hope you can stop in, have a beer, and catch up with us. (AND swap discs!)
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DUDE! I can't believe the day you guys are showcasing up here in Portland is when Loren and I head up north to celebrate our anniversary!! I'm bummed out to miss it, man!!!
How's the move treating you? Are you and Kelly J. settled in? Great to see you've got plenty of gigs/showcases/CD releases... awesome!
Keep up the good work, Dan, i've always got an ear out for you!
Hi there! Hope you are doing well. Looks like you've got a good schedule worked up. I'm moving to downtown Newburyport next week. Yay! Check out myspace. com/guitarwolfhero for my Allie's latest shenanigans! It's just a little side project. Meanwhile, she's packing up to move to New York to work at RED, a great division of Sony BMG. So cool. Keep in touch. Miss your smiling face.
