Daniel Ferguson

SEEKING

Band to Join, Vocalist, Bass Guitar, Drums.

ABOUT

I was born in 1952 and have been playing since I was about 8 years old.

I started playing in a cover band at 11 years old doing songs by British Invasion bands like the Beatles, Stones, Kinks, DC5, et al, and American bands of the time like Paul Revere and the Raiders, etc. But I quickly moved on to heavier and more serious music as I moved into high school: Cream, Hendrix, Zep, James Gang, etc. During my high school years I lived overseas and played in some of the top bands in Taipei, Taiwan (Tribal Gathering) and Bogotá, Colombia (Hope).

In college in the 1970s I did my time in various funk and dance bands, and also did a fair amount of classical guitar and jazz, mostly big band. I also did a LOT of acoustic and lighter country-rock music like Neil Young, CSNY, Eagles, etc.

I got a Bachelor's degree in music composition, then went on to grad school and did MA and PhD in ethnomusicology, so I also play some non-western music. While in grad school I played a bunch of 80s punk, new wave, rock, pop, and such. From the 70s through the 90s I did a lot of recording projects for various artists (mostly unknown, low-profile folks) and "house band" cabaret and Broadway show tune gigs.

During the early 2000s I spent a lot of time in Utah and the western states and joined various bands that did mostly country and some heavier country-inflected rock (or rock-inflected country), as well as straight ahead rock.

I was the main guitarist for two highly respected local singers: Ron Brown and Loreen Allphin. With Ron, I played mostly his originals, and I helped him shape and arrange (and in some cases co-wrote) his songs. We recorded two CDs together (I also co-produced) before I returned to NYC. Loreen's was a partly original, partly cover band, so I was heavily exposed to the women's country repertoire.

In the past couple of years I've played with two bands out of Virginia. One is Non-Fiction, a Black Crowes tribute band that recently folded. The other is Chain Bridge Road, a trio (keys, guitar, and vocals using backing tracks).

Most recently I've joined a local Westchester band called Lugwrench.

I've also recently put together a band called Soho Rifles that emphasizes punk, Mod-revival, and New Wave of the 70s and 80s. We need a good singer and keyboard player.

[Please see my photos as well as audio and video clips.]

Screen name:: Daniel Ferguson
Member since:: Sep 27 2009; Active within 1 week
Level of commitment:: Very Committed
Years playing music:: 60
Gigs played:: Over 100
Tend to practice:: More than 3 times per week
Available to gig:: 4-5 nights a week

Influences

THE TIP O' THE ICEBERG (in no particular order):
The Jam / Paul Weller
Terry Kath
Love / Arthur Lee
Spooky Tooth
Television
The Band
The Who
Richard Thompson
Wes Montgomery
Led Zeppelin
Traffic / Steve Winwood
Tom Petty (& the Heartbreakers)
The Byrds
Marshall Crenshaw
Bruce Springsteen
T-Bone Burnett
David Bowie
Michael Bloomfield
Frank Zappa / The Mothers of Invention (first 3 albums)
Buddy Holly
Elvis Costello
Gram Parsons
David Gilmour
Mick Taylor
Brian May
Jeff Beck
Joni Mitchell
early Rod Stewart
The Small Faces
The Faces
The Pretenders
Free / Bad Co.
the British Invasion bands (Beatles, Stones, Kinks, et al)
R.E.M.
Big Star
Jimi Hendrix
The James Gang
The Black Crowes
Badfinger
Buffalo Springfield
Big Head Todd & The Monsters
Neil Young
Derek & the Dominoes
AC/DC
Stillwater ;)
The Rascals
Dwight Yoakam
Moby Grape
Aerosmith
Queen
Waylon Jennings
Merle Haggard
etc. etc. etc.