Songs written by Dan Gonzalez are portraits of the common people and places that we never quite get around to knowing: the farmer tied to the legacy of the land he tills, the gypsies of southern Spain, or the housewife lost in American suburbia. Each song is part story, part truth, and part speculation delivered from the perspective of a songwriter who wonders, three minutes at a time, what it might be like to be somebody else.
Dan got his start playing Paul Simon covers at the campus coffeeshops of Dartmouth College. After a degree in engineering and a few years teaching high school physics, he took a radical turn toward Boston’s Berklee College of Music. There, he studied guitar and songwriting, and in 2003 was the recipient of Berklee’s top songwriting scholarship.
Today, Dan is an award-winning singer/songwriter who calls Boston home. In addition to performing and writing, he has initiated the Columbus Day Gift Project, a project that uses music to promote social justice.
Awards…
• Winner--2008 New Jersey Folk Festival Singer/Songwriter Contest
• Finalist--2008 Plowshares Songwriting Contest
• Radio Crystal Blue Best of 2007 recording artist
• Finalist--2007 Telluride Troubadour Contest
• Finalist--2007 Wildflower! Performing Songwriter Competition
• Finalist--2007 Rose Garden Coffeehouse Performing Songwriter Competition
• Runner Up--2007 Singer/Songwriter Awards
• Semi-Finalist--2007 Starbucks Music Makers Competition
• Honorable Mention, 2007 Lyric Writer Awards
• Performing Songwriter Magazine Top 12 DIY album for Public Square, November, 2006
• “One to Watch" Rob Reinhart’s Acoustic Café, August, 2006
• Honorable Mention, Rocky Mountain Folks Festival Songwriting Contest, 2006
• Radio Crystal Blue “Future Star, 2006
• Winner, Lizard Lounge Open Mic Challenge, December, 2006
• Feature, NPR’s All Songs Considered, May, 2004
• Honorable Mention, American Songwriter Magazine Lyric Competition, 2004
• Scott Benson Scholarship for Songwriting, Berklee College of Music, 2003
• Winner, Berklee College of Music Songwriting Competition, 2003
• Winner, Berklee College of Music Performer/Songwriter Contest 2003
Notable venues played…
• Telluride Bluegrass Festival (Telluride, CO)
• Club Passim (Cambridge, MA)
• Tupelo Music Hall (Londonderry, NH)
• Berklee Performance Center (Boston, MA)
• Nameless Coffeehouse (Cambridge, MA)
• Me & Thee Coffeehouse (Marblehead, MA)
• Rose Garden Coffeehouse (Mansfield, MA)
• Bitter End (New York, NY)
• Knitting Factory (New York, NY)
• Johnny D’s (Somerville, MA)
• Canal Street Tavern (Dayton, OH)
• Wilbert’s (Cleveland, OH)
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