Dan Hocott: Acoustic & electric bass, guitar, and vocals

Born and raised in northwest Indiana, Dan's musical roots include country, R&B, jazz, and gospel. Dan’s first musical instrument (thanks to a door to door salesman) was accordion, which he has never admitted to until this very moment, and would probably deny it if asked again. Grade school and high school were spent playing trumpet in the school marching band which is a prerequisite to living in Indiana. But his real love was the guitar which he picked up at 10. He began performing at the age of 14, playing bass with his uncle's band in Chicago's south side blues clubs. After high school, Dan toured extensively, playing the west coast college circuit and gathering additional influences and inspiration. It was there that he first became interested in acoustic, traditional folk, and bluegrass music.

Dan is a multi-instrumentalist. In addition to vocals, electric & acoustic bass and guitar, he also plays mandolin and piano. His education includes theory and composition studies at Indiana University. A prolific song writer and arranger, Most of Dan’s spare time is spent composing soundtracks for various narrative works which he records in his home studio Gabriel Recording in Southington, CT. Dan's recorded works include Music of the Spheres, Poems of Love and Wisdom which he recorded with his wife, Linda, A Sure Foundation which is a collection of old time gospel tunes, and Selah, a delightful sampler of holiday favorites.

Most recently, he has completed two new CDs - Dreamers Like Me, an album of 14 new originals, and Circle Of Healing – a collection of instrumentals intended to create spiritual and physical healing. This is in connection with the oncology department at MidState Medical Center in Meriden, CT where Linda just successfully underwent chemotherapy treatment. All is well, Thank God.

Dan is a sought after studio musician and can be heard playing on many CDs as a guest artist, including work by guitarists Judy Handler & Marc Lévesque, The Connecticut Classical Guitar Society, The Hartford CitySingers, Wild Notes, Donegal fiddler PV. O’Donnell, singer-songwriter Emma Wallace (produced by his son Julius), folk artist Robert Neary and gospel group The Anointed Band. He has also appeared at many venues throughout New England and NYC including Kenny’s Castaways, The New Bedford Summerfest , The Sounding Board, and about every coffee house in Connecticut.

In addition to recording, Dan performs with various bands including Wild Notes, Kenn Morr Band, and country singer/songwriter AJ Jansen, as well as his involvement as an instrumentalist at MidState Medical Center’s music therapy program.

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