The Face of Local Music - Dan Newitt

Dan with Stacey and Cryin' Shame at the La Honda Fair

 

by craig eddy

When Dan Newitt finished Grad school in Champaign Illinois he was bound and determined to not stick around and become a "Townie" like the other grads.  His employer at the time Kinkos, was willing to transfer him to Menlo Park. Music wasn't the reason he moved west but once here it didn't take long for it to become a big part of his California life. Dan credits family sing-a-longs with Mom on piano for getting him interested in playing music.  Trumpet was the first of many different instruments but the one he stuck with first was the Sousaphone.  He did the whole marching band thing and actually loved it. At around 13 years old he got a guitar from his brother. He and some friends got an offer of a gig so they then formed a band, wrote 15 songs and practiced once.  He got in trouble by his folks at the rehearsal and got grounded so they couldn't do the gig. He got into a few other bands during high school and college mostly doing punk rock. One of his first bands was known as Scarred for Life. In college the music became a bit more artsy, free form and experimental with The Mango Zowies.  Once in California Dan didn't know anyone to play with so he was doing the solo singer-songwriter open mic thing when someone suggested going to the High Sierra Music Festival. There he met Dave Packer who Dan gives most of the credit for introducing him to the people he plays with now adays. At Dave P's urging Dan checked out the Strawberry Music Festival and started playing more Bluegrass and acoustic music. Dan says he would love more than anything to get his hands on a Sousaphone and take it to the jams at Strawberry.  I wanna see that!!   Dan credits his late friend Ted Kratter as a major influence and mentor. Boy we miss Ted!  Dan played for awhile with Bay Area Bluegrass band Strung Over. These days Dan is in demand as a singer as well as serious guitar and mandolin player. It doesn't matter what type of music, Dan can do it all.  Ripping it up on electric guitar or singing a sweet ballad while playing Bluegrass mandolin Dan can cover it. He is playing in several bands these days.  Each band is quite different than the next. Pathetic Honey, Cryin' Shame, The Cowlicks, Mountain Men and Them Rounders are all professional level bands covering styles from Rock to Country, and Bluegrass. Pathetic Honey just put out their first CD and it's a great one! Dan feels that Pathetic Honey had to reign themselves in and get away from jamming and improvising to put out a CD but now that they have finished the recording project he expects more of the loose organic stuff to happen. His favorite gig was the album release party at The Devil's Canyon Brewery. What Dan likes about Cryin' Shame is the fact that it is a trio usually and focuses on really great vocals with Stacey Erdman. Dan says Cryin' Shame is a bit of classic Country, some new Americana with a bit of Southern Rock thrown in. That band is currently working on their first recording. Dan plays all of the local venues and festivals with his various bands. You can find out more about Dan and his bands on Facebook. Checkout Pathetichoney.com as well as Thecowlicks.com and see Cryin' Shame on Facebook.

Comments

[Timothy B Newitt]

Thats my cousin and I can vouch. The mans a musical genius. Always has been. I've always felt so blessed to have him in my life. Go see him and his extended musical familias. You won't be disappointed.