Dan Tedesco

Dan Tedesco's story is that he has no story, per se. He comes from a solid family. It's a point of pride for him. He grew up in the far west suburbs of Chicago. The only serious addiction in his life, if you'd like to call it that, has been music. Piano at age 5. Violin at age 9. Guitar at age 11 after hearing Eddie Van Halen. And that, as they say, is all she wrote.

Dan has been madly in love with it ever since. Growing up he was fortunate enough to be treated to a fairly eclectic musical mix: The Beatles, Dylan, Paul Simon, James Taylor, The Band, The Beach Boys, Pink Floyd, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Bob Seger, Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty. Even a healthy dose of Mozart, Beethoven, and Wagner. A friend in his neighborhood used to make cassette mixes for him: The Who, They Might Be Giants, The Police, The Clash. He missed the grunge period and it wouldn't be until nearly a decade later that he'd discovered the power of Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and Soundgarden. once Dan found the guitar, things focused in a touch. It wasn't unusual for him to fall asleep at night to the sounds of guitar wizards like Joe Satriani and Eric Johnson - and the random Van Halen record was never far away.

Then there was the jazz period. Wes Montgomery, Joe Pass, George Bendon, Charlie Christian, John Coltrane, Elvin Jones, McCoy Tyner. "The things I learned from those guys," Dan says. "It's everything, really. The spirit of jazz. The freedom of it. That's been a great influence on me."

But Dan Tedesco was always a rock 'n' roll kid. PEte Townsend more than Pat Metheny and, ultimately, he craved power chords over the complex harmonies of jazz.

High school was a weird time for Dan. He straddled the jock world playing baseball, and the music world as a member of the high school jazz band. Most mornings, after being dropped off by the bus, everyone would hang out in the lunchroom before first period. Not Dan. He'd head straight to a room adjacent to the school's band rehearsal hall, writing music on the computer. Outside of school he jammed in a duo with one of his best friends, who happened to be a fantastic drummer. They wrote all kinds of stuff. Lots of instrumental music (queue the Santriani). Recorded various demos. But neither of them sang. That made it hard to play out. Most of the other kids were interested in the classics: Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, The Stones. They weren't interested in what Dan and his friend had going on.

So, like many of his heroes, Dan was a bit of a social outcast. That, if anything, was and has always been his struggle. Everyone has at least one. Dan Tedesco found his comfort, security, and confidence in the world out on the fringe, populated by the misfits. The world of rock 'n' roll.