Today we’d like to introduce you to Dan Loftus.
Dan, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I got started playing music at the age of 5 or 6 and haven’t looked back since. It’s grown to become not only a way to express myself artistically, but a passion that has consumed my life and also a way to make a living.
Music runs deep in my family. My grandfather, Pat Loftus, was the leader of a big band in the Kansas City area after he returned home from WWII. My dad, Mike Loftus, was the lead singer in a rock & roll band here in the 60’s called The Cavaliers. There was always music around when I was growing up, and that helped to instill an appreciation of a wide variety of musical styles. Jazz, rock, reggae, and soul music always seemed to be blasting from my dad’s stereo system… sometimes at an unreasonable volume according to our neighbors.
My older brother, Conor, and I both asked for guitars one year for Christmas. Conor, being the older brother, got to decide what we would be doing most of the time, so he told me that I had to ask for a bass guitar as a compliment to the regular six string guitar that he would soon be receiving. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as I quickly took up and instrument and got good enough that my parents decided to sign me up for bass guitar lessons.
I studied electric bass for a couple of years and really enjoyed it, but when I got to high school everything seemed to change. I started meeting kids closer to my own age who were also really good at music. Not just as a hobby, but kids who were actively writing songs and starting bands. I went through a couple of bands, and before too long I was asked to join a ska band called The Uprights. This was my first real exposure to playing the piano. When we were working on songs for the band, I would be asked to play a few chords on the piano to accompany our main songwriter, who would be writing melodies over the chords. I told him I didn’t really know how to play piano, but after showing me a few simple chords I felt proficient enough to lay down some piano under his melodies. From that point, playing the piano came to me really quickly. The keyboard just made sense to me for some reason. I understood it, and it was almost as-if I had already been playing my whole life already.
Fast forward to 2021. I get a phone call from my lifelong friend, Kian Byrne, asking if I would have any interest in playing piano with his dad’s band, The Elders. The Elders were already a very well-known band in Kansas City, and I considered myself to be a huge fan. After a few years in retirement, the band was working on songs to release a new album and I was being invited to be a part of it. Part of me didn’t believe it was real. I thought Kian must be joking with me, asking if I wanted to be in The Elders. No way it could really be true, right? A couple of days later I get an email from his dad with tour dates and a list of songs to learn. Since then, I’ve been able to travel the world playing music professionally. I’ve gotten the chance to see some amazing places and meet some incredible people, and I consider myself very lucky to be able to do so.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Life always has it’s challenges, and mine has been no different. Losing my dad to Alzheimer’s disease in 2010 was one of the hardest bumps in the road for sure. He was the one who taught me about music, life, and how to be a man. He never got to see me perform with The Elders, but I know he would be proud of what I’ve been able to accomplish with my life so far.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Coming out of high school I joined a reggae band called The New Riddim. I have been the lead singer and piano player in that band for the last 15 years or so. We released an album in 2015 called “Second Sight”, and I wrote 7 of the 9 tracks. I am proud of that album as a songwriter, and as a time capsule of what it was like to be a care-free young person making music with people you love.
I also played piano and bass guitar in a Kansas City-based band called The Grisly Hand. They’ve put out several great albums over the years. I had the chance to record 2015’s “Flesh & Gold” and 2016’s “Hearts & Stars” as a member of the band. I spent a few years touring around the United States with them, and it was just another opportunity for me to travel and make music with people I love.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.eldersmusic.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/skataro/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thenewriddim
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@eldersmusic
