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Forty-eight years ago, I played my first paying gig as a rock n’ roll musician.   I was the rhythm guitarist and vocalist for the group, The Falcons.  We performed two songs at the Civitan’s  Annual Christmas party in 1964 in my hometown of St. Joseph, Michigan.  Our drummer’s dad was the president and my dad was the vice president of this community organization (so we did have connections!) My fourth-grade buddies and I were each paid a dollar for our performance.  And, so my life as a Rock n’ Roll musician began.  I’ll never forget hearing the applause after we performed our version of Herman’s Hermits’ hit song, “Mrs. Brown You’ve Got a Lovely Daughter.” 

Shortly after that performance The Falcons broke up.  Hey, we were ten years old and there were baseball games to be played, frogs to be caught and ravines to be explored.  Besides, everyone knows it is tough to keep a band together.

When I was fourteen, I actually did learn to play guitar on a ten- hour bus ride from St. Joseph, Michigan to Word of Life Camp in Schroon Lake, New York.   Knowing three chords by the time we arrived enabled me to play “Mr. Tambourine Man” by The Byrds.

My self- taught guitar skills made it possible for me to play briefly in another band in high school but, after graduation in 1973, I thought my rock career was over.  And it was….. until 2005, when at the age of fifty, I joined my current band - Blue Sky.  Our name comes from the song by the Allman Brothers but, since we play for various charities, we also think of it as our mission statement - which is to help bring blue skies to people who are going through the storms of life.

I’ll never forget the night in February of 2005 when my physical therapist and friend, John Spangenberg, asked me to sit in on a rehearsal with his band.  I was afraid that I wouldn’t be good enough to play with them but the guys were very welcoming and I had a blast that night!   I loved all the songs they played and even taught them a couple of songs that night.  Just a couple of months later I played my first gig with Blue Sky at a local bar/restaurant.   I was introduced as a “friend of Blue Sky.” There were about two hundred people there and we raised over six hundred dollars from the cover charge for a local hospitals’ brain rehabilitation unit.   Shortly after that performance, the bass player for Blue Sky was transferred to another state.  The boys in the band asked me if I played bass guitar and I said, “No but I will learn fast!”  I took a few lessons and I’ve now been the bass player and one of the vocalists for Blue Sky for the past nine years.

Blue Sky Band @ legendary Brownie's in Ardmore, PA for Hurricane Sandy Relief efforts!

I have always had a deep love of music.  As a child, I played trombone in the school band until the ninth grade.  I quit, however, when it started to interfere with school sports (another great love of mine.)  My interest and passion for music, however, never stopped growing.  I learned in college that my highest aptitude is in music.  So, when I am playing and singing with the band, I feel like I am fulfilling a lifelong dream. 

Over the years the band has steadily improved.  Our repertoire of classic rock songs has now grown to over one hundred.  We cover a wide range of artists including Van Morrison, Eric Clapton, The Rolling Stones, Lynard Skynard, Grateful Dead and The Allman Brothers.  Every year the number of requests to play for charitable organizations in the Philadelphia area grows.  We have already booked five gigs for some of the biggest charities in the Philly area for 2014.  The amazing part of this is that we never promote ourselves or seek out gigs.  People either hear us play or hear from others about us and they call.

The music is awesome but the guys who are in the band are even better. Our drummer builds multi-million dollar homes by day and his company is renowned for their quality and expertise.  One of our lead guitarists is a highly regarded Neurologist and heads up the brain trauma unit at a prestigious local hospital.  The other lead guitarist is a Senior Vice President of Engineering for an international air compressor company.   Blue Sky’s keyboard player is a Vice President of commercial lending at a bank while our sax player is an Executive Vice President at a competing bank in the area.  My Physical Therapist owns his own Physical Therapy Workshop and is our lead singer and rhythm guitarist. Then there is me, the bass player/vocalist, a QVC Program Host.  Seven guys who love playing rock n’roll and helping others.  It was recently estimated (by one of the bankers in the band) that we have helped to raise over three hundred thousand dollars for various charities over the past nine years.

I know I am not your typical rock n’ roller but Blue Sky Band is not your typical rock band.  The average age in our band is sixty (I’m on the young side at 59.)  We have never taken a penny for playing and we all STILL really love playing music together.  We are all great friends as well as band members.

One of the best feelings I have ever known is being onstage, hearing all seven musicians blend together and watching people dance, laugh and SMILE.  And knowing that all of the monies raised at an event are helping put a smile on the face of someone who is in desperate need of help makes it one of the most rewarding things I have ever been a part of.

I feel so blessed that I have been a part of the QVC family for over 25 years and I pray that I can continue here presenting products to you for many more.  But when my time in front of the camera is over I hope to keep rockin’ with Blue Sky. 

Merry Christmas!!!  May all your dreams be realized in the New Year and may all of your Skies be Blue!!!

-Dan