Dan Prindle
Multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, composer, and teacher Dan Prindle has over 25 years of experience as a music educator and professional musician. Dan holds a Ph.D. in music theory from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he also completed a Master of Music in music theory. Dan completed his undergraduate education at Berklee College of Music in Boston, earning a Bachelor of Music in Composition.
Dan started his successful musical career with the New England jam-band juggernaut Rane in the mid 1990s. The intervening decades have been filled with musical accomplishments including the release of Dan’s first full-length solo album, Where You Land, in 2013 and an EP called Water and Wine in 2017. Recorded almost entirely in his own brand-new studio, Six String Orchestra Productions, the EP features Dan’s most elaborate productions to date. It draws on diverse influences: the accessible singing of Ben Folds, the rich backing harmonies of the Eagles, the moog synth sounds of Percy Hill, and the jazzy guitar inflections of Steely Dan.
In addition to being a songwriter, Dan is an experienced performer and recording artist, having shared the stage and the studio with a diverse collection of commercially and critically successful artists. He began his career with Rane, an award-winning rock ensemble who, in addition to becoming a success in their own right, opened for such acts as The Allman Brothers Band, The Jerry Garcia Band, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Wilco, Rusted Root, and Santana. After working with Rane, Dan became a freelancer, playing bass and cello with artists like Simon Kirke (of Free, Bad Company, and Ringo Starr’s All-Star Band), Kurtis John (of The Last Goodnight), Jennifer Hartswick (of the Trey Anastasio Band), Sean Kelly (of the Samples), and Rex Fowler (of Aztec Two-Step). His innovative and tasteful cello playing can be heard on recordings from innumerable artists, notably Frank Black (of the Pixies) and Mark Mulcahy. Dan appears on several tracks on Mulcahy’s 2005 release, In Pursuit of Your Happiness, an album that Thom Yorke of Radiohead called the best of that year.
Dan is also a successful composer. His style ranges from classically influenced chamber music to pop-rock songs, and he has been equally successful in both genres. His portfolio includes works for a variety of ensembles including chamber ensembles, choir, accompanied solo vocalists, and symphony orchestra. Dan’s works have been given well-received performances by various ensembles in southern New England. In November 2013, just days before the release of Where You Land, his one-act opera A Charming Affair was premiered by the Hartford Opera Theater. It was his second premier with the company, following Gift of the Magi in 2010. As a songwriter, Dan was a regular contributor to Rane’s prolifc output, which featured seven full-length albums and one EP in an eight-year period. Eric Danton, writing for the Hartford Courant, referred to Rane as “one of New England’s most innovative bands,” and the Northeast Performer praised the quality of Rane’s songs, despite the fact that most jam bands focus primarily on the live experience, noting that “many bands are either good songwriters or seasoned performers, but rarely are they both. Rane can be counted in that group.” Similarly, Mike Greenhaus noted the band’s impressive live shows, but still described their music as being “complete with catchy hooks and radio-ready choruses.”