Bio:
Dan Schatz is a has been playing folk music since his childhood in Kensington, Maryland. Nurtured by the active folk music community in the Washington, DC area, he has performed concerts, festivals and workshops since the age of 12.
Since then, Dan has become a GRAMMY nominated singer, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, producer and interpreter of traditional and contemporary folk music. He combines a strong voice with instrumentals that have been described as both “brilliant” and “yummy.” Dan has long been known as a leading autoharp player. “Each octave on his autoharp has something different to do,” wrote one reviewer, “which underscores his versatility and originality.”
In recent years, Dan’s original songs have gained increasing recognition and admiration. He continues to perform songs and tunes both new and old, accompanying himself on guitars, autoharp, dulcimer and banjo. Dan's work on Singing Through the Hard Times - a Tribute to Utah Phillips, an album featuring Dan along with Emmylou Harris, Pete Seeger, Tom Paxton, Jean Ritchie and others earned him a GRAMMY nomination 2010
Dan's recordings combine musicianship with a deep respect for tradition, a poetic creativity and a strong sense of social justice. His 2007 solo CD, Bring the Morning Home, has been called by Sing Out! magazine "a magical collection of traditional and original songs that, given the chance, will stay with you for a very long time." Currently, Dan is working on a new CD, The Song and the Sigh, a collection of songs from many sources (including six of Dan's own) and which includes collaborations with Magpie, Lisa Null, Charlie Pilzer and others.
Dan is available for concerts, coffee houses, festivals, children’s performances and workshops. When he isn’t singing or playing music (and sometimes when he is), Dan serves as Minister of the BuxMont Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Warrington, Pennsylvania. He lives with his wife Geeta Shivde and son Kiran in West Chester, Pennsylvania.