Community Love – Featured Artist: Dan Blakeslee

I’ve said it once and I will say it again and again, our community here in the Northeast is one of the strongest musical factions in the world. And that group extends to our friends who may have moved throughout the years as well. We are able to lean on each other for things, its a wonderful thing to have really. And usually, its not merely superficial. The people around here genuinely care about one another and respect each other’s art. Someone who’s art, attitude and involvement in the community that is hailed as top of heap is our featured artist…Mr. Dan Blakeslee. People who know Dan personally love him, people who are only meeting Dan for the first time love him and those who don’t know him but have listened to his music or seen his artwork will surely be forced into a smile. He just has that effect on folks.

If you needed another reason to pledge to Dan’s new music campaign, here it is. All the folks he has left an impression on within the community speaks to how much this record needs to be added to your collection and to come to fruition.

http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/danblakeslee

I asked some friends to weigh in about our featured artist…as you can see by the quotes, many people have A LOT to say about Dan as an artist and a person.

“Whether it be busking, booking, or making a one of a kind piece of art for every show he plays, Dan works harder than any one artist I know. Somehow he does this while making everyone he meets smile in the process.” – Joe Fletcher

“To those of us who know Dan Blakeslee, it seems impossible not to know him. “Oh, you must know Dan, right?” I’ve heard variations of that question asked countless times over the past few years. An affirmative response, which most of them are, invariably includes a smile. On those rare occasions when I have been the one asking and I have been told “No, I don’t know him,” I’ve made sure to instruct that person to change that as quickly as possible. Luckily for all of us, the man, through his art, has found a way to be in any number of different places at the same time; keep your eyes open and you’re bound to encounter his great work. But don’t stop there. Don’t cheat yourself out of the experience of seeing Dan in person and hearing his songs. Because the only thing more rare than meeting a person who doesn’t know Dan Blakeslee is seeing him give a performance in which his heart is not completely invested. I’ve never seen it, and I doubt I ever will.” – Ian Fitzgerald

“Dan is a beacon of light in an otherwise murky sea of musicians and whatever else people call an “industry.” He just does it because he has to. I’m not sure he is capable of doing anything else. A couple times he was pretty broke and I tried to urge him to just get a part-time job, like making signs for Trader Joes or Whole Foods, or teaching guitar lessons. But he won’t. He’s actually pretty uncompromising. He’s also the only person I know that has the duality of two art forms to draw from. He’s chosen music but I think he could just as well have chosen art. I have a whole corner in my rehearsal space dedicated to his posters, and I’ve been lucky enough to be on a few. Someone should make a documentary about him at some point, he lives a true vagabond, troubadour lifestyle, that is for sure.” -Audrey Ryan

“Dan Blakeslee is one of the greatest human beings I have ever encountered. His music always opens my heart and makes me smile”. – Jonah Tolchin

“It might be hard to believe that Dan Blakeslee has had a bad day. But one evening we crossed paths and he was smack dab in the middle of one. It’s a memory that stays with me, not due to the tragedy of it (that bad time is long gone), but ’cause it made me understand how generous Dan Blakeslee is almost every day. A man who can take one step into a room and already be an illumination of pleasant feelings for the first ten people lucky to be by the door chooses to forego sharing the trivialities and pitfalls of daily life. And when Dan Blakeslee’s on a bill, that’s the man on stage, too. So you got the bum seat in the crowd? No matter—wherever you’re sitting, he’s serenading you. And those songs…that guy drills the shit out of monotony to shine a light on the exceptional. On Dan’s bad day, I wished I was a genie so I could have twitched my nose and had a college cheerleading team enter the room chant-singing his song “The North Woods” while prepping for a two-and-a-half high pyramid…I’m pretty sure that would’ve made him feel better for at least an hour. Instead, in appreciation for letting me observe a much more honest glimpse of the man, I’ll say now that those eager to be enchanted by a spinner of yarns who yearns to capture carefully-considered beauty in song, should seek out Dan Blakeslee’s album Owed To The Tanglin’ Wind. You don’t have to travel far. You only need to click right here: http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/danblakeslee “ – Jenn Harrington

“I found a somewhat embarrassingly gushy fangirl note I wrote to Dan back in 2012, before we really started hanging out, telling him how he was a huge inspiration to me as a fellow illustrator and musician. Over the past two years, as I’ve gotten to know him better, though, Dan has only continued to make me feel inspired (and to gush!). I approached him to get some advice for making my album art, and it turns out that we are currently playing leapfrog in terms of working on our albums — going through the mastering process, shopping for the right manufacturer, sending it out for reviews, and trying to stay sane — so it turns out that he’s been a great support to me personally as well as a fantastic resource for figuring out how to do all this stuff. He also has gotten me hooked on making scratchboard art (that’s where you have an inked surface and you scratch away the ink to reveal white), and I’m having a lot of fun with that. If you want to see an example of a good work ethic, or a positive influence for how to follow your artistic muse, I can’t think of a better person to look to than Dan Blakeslee. The first time I ever heard him playing was long ago, maybe 2009 or 2010. I was walking by JP Licks in Harvard Square, and there’s this guy with an octopus on his guitar. I’m totally obsessed with octopi, so of course I freaked out. I was hoping his music was really really weird, so when he said he played folk music, I was a bit let down. (This was before I also played folk music!) But it turns out that he plays folk music that’s a bit weird, and has this dreamy quality to it… but where you might expect the songs to be really dark, they always steer you back to the light. Dan is as much an optimist as he professes to be… always finding not just the silver lining of the cloud, but telling you why the cloud itself is wonderful. The cloud is made of cotton candy! But it’s not even sticky! And you can float on it to a land of enchantment.” –Amy Kucharik