Hi Dan! With Dan Gutner as lead singer/songwriter for the band, tell us how this project came together, who plays what, and the backstory?
This project started several years ago when a good friend and co-songwriter of mine moved away from South Florida. Ellie is actually the lead singer of the band. As a guitar player, I’ve always had a wealth of material, but I’ve always wanted to co-write with a vocalist. I think it’s a good setup for that pair of writing team to bounce ideas off each other. When I found myself without a co-writer, I went looking for someone new, and I found Ellie! We made it a hit right away, and wrote a new song practically every time we were in a room together. So Ellie is a songwriter and singer. I play acoustic and electric guitar, harmonica, dobro, lapsteel, ukulele, harmonica and sitar. I also arrange the music and produce and curate all the other composers needed for a given song. Eli and I are the only permanent members of the group.
How would you describe the band’s sound and music? Who/what are your musical influences?
We’ve pulled out a variety of songs so far, ranging from blues rock to more folk or country sounding songs. Some recent press refers to us as indie rock and indie pop, so I guess throw that in too! As far as influence, I can list Bob Dylan, Tom Petty and Monsters of Folk to influence some of the overall vibes and songwriting style, along with a few things like the new The Fox and the Hound for example. As a guitar player personally, I also have to list Steve Miller, Mike Campbell, Eric Clapton, Lindsay Buckingham and John Frusciante. All of them have had an impact on how I approach creating riffs for a guitar solo as well as a song.
Your new single ‘The Fox and the Hound’ has just been released. Congrats! What is this about?
Thank You! We are proud of it and very excited to finally have it. The song is about two kids who fall in love with each other, but they are not meant to be in love. They come from different worlds and are on two different paths. Throughout their time together, their families are also trying to separate them, as they do not understand each other. Sadly, this is often the case in the real world. These characters in this song represent a real life situation, people can’t always see eye to eye with each other, just love each other, and feel that we are all in this world together .
If there is one band or artist that you could open up to tour, who would it be and why?
It’s hard to pick just one, but I’m going with the Steve Miller Band. He is one of my early influences. My father listened to him, so I have been listening to him practically from birth. When I was 15 years old and my mother asked what instrument I wanted to learn, the guitar was a big choice for Steve Miller. Guitar solo in our song “Doom and Gloom,” I’m Thinking, What Would Steve Miller Do?
What’s next for the Dan Gutner Band?’
We have a ton of unpublished material right now that is finished and ready to go! The response to The Fox and the Hound so far has been incredible, so we’re leaning toward the next single stylistically in the same vein. But we have a few more fun things in the bag, like a funky instrumental song with a big horn section, and other surprises too. So keep an eye out!
What do you guys like to do when you’re not playing music?
We love the outdoors! Eli goes to the mountains, and I go under the water. Actually right now Allie is hiking through the mountains in upstate New York. I have been a scuba diver since 2010 and love to visit great dive sites. I’ve even added some of my songs to my GoPro dive footage, and all the videos are on our YouTube channel.
How can our readers keep up with you guys?
We hope you will follow us! on Twitter: @DanGootner and Instagram: @dangootnerband.
