Dan sang and learned piano as a young boy, and played violin in his high school orchestra. As a teenager, Dan also began to play guitar and harmonica and, inspired by his first love, started writing songs.

After graduating from Queens College in New York with a B.A. in sociology, Dan and his bandmates moved to a loft in Manhattan, aspiring to make their name in the music world. Curiously, they called their band “The Great Mystaque.”

As a soloist or with the band, Dan played many well known venues such as Gerde’s Folk City, The Gaslight Café, The Bitter End, Max’s Kansas City, and Studio 54. “The Great Mystaque” shared billing at CBGB’s with the Talking Heads and the Ramones.

Following his fascination for the American West, Dan left NYC with a friend, his trusty guitar and his harmonicas to explore the west coast and to visit Tucson, Arizona. Dan was smitten by the desert, the mountains, and the mild October weather, and, ultimately, made Tucson his home.

In Tucson, Dan played guitar in the orchestra and sang in the “pit chorus” for the Southern Arizona Light Opera Company (SALOC). He also performed on guitar in the Simon Peter Passion Play orchestra for ten years. Dan played at the first annual Tucson Folk Festival in 1986 and has participated at most of its subsequent festivals. Within the Tucson area, Dan has performed at many restaurants and retirement homes, schools and churches, festivals and farmers markets and more. He has also played for many private celebrations, ceremonies, house concerts and corporate events.

Dan was a winner in the first annual Sheet Music Magazine’s songwriting contest for his song “Uncle Willy”. Most recently, he was interviewed and his original translation, “Servant Of The People” showcased by ASU’s Melikian Center for Eastern European Studies.

Currently, Dan is the music director for the Camp DeBenneville Pines summer family camp and is the band leader of the UU4X of the Mountain Vista UU congregation. He is a partner in the duo, Fine & DanO and founder and top dog of the Blue Prairie Dogs.