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Fingerstyle blues guitarist Dan Livingstone has been receiving acclaim from musicians and audiences alike as an exceptional guitar player and an engaging performer - a young bluesman to watch. Whether playing rags, swing, blues or spirituals, his expressive style marks him as a musician with "big ears" and a passion for the authentic. Born and raised on the west coast of Canada, Livingstone now makes his home in Montreal where he regularly plays the clubs around that city. In the Fall of 2004, he toured Europe, playing the clubs and concert halls of Norway, Germany and France. His appearances and concerts across Canada over the last decade have included festivals in the Maritimes and Quebec, mainstaging at both Rimouski en Blues and Carleton International Blues Festival, the Pan Am Games (1999), and the 16th Islands Folk Festival on Vancouver Island where audiences ranked him as one of the top performers of the weekend..
Livingstone is inspired by the magic of the Piedmont, Delta and Texas blues traditions, and one of his aims as a musician is to immerse his audience in the music of Reverend Gary Davis, Mississippi John Hurt, Fred McDowell, and Robert Johnson. Livingstone’s originals – very popular with his fans – reflect a mix of these influences as well as a highly developed, lyrical style..
Livingstone's debut CD was released in June 2000 and is entitled, Dan Livingstone. A new CD, Live on the 8th Floor, featuring Dan Livingstone and The Polyjesters, was released in 2003. A further CD will be released soon..
Of the musicians who have influenced him, Livingstone writes:
My influences tend to vary between country blues and western swing. People like Ken Hamm, Michael Jerome Browne and Tim Williams come to mind. Many of the ragtime pickers of the '20s and '30s such as Blind Blake, Blind Boy Fuller, Gary Davis and like have been integral to my musical evolution. A great many piano players are in my day-to-day influences (Art Tatum, Fats Waller, Thelonious Monk etc.) also. The band has collected a large and eclectic repertoire with influences ranging from the Tune Wranglers, Bob Wills, Harry Choates to the Mississippi Sheiks and even Hot Tuna.
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