Dan Crary
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Dan Crary ''(aka Deacon Dan Crary)'' was born September 29, 1939 in
Kansas City, Kansas Kansas City, abbreviated as "KCK", is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas, and the county seat of Wyandotte County. It is an inner suburb of the older and more populous Kansas City, Missouri, after which it is named. As of ...
and is an American bluegrass guitarist. He helped re-establish flatpicked guitar as a prominent soloing bluegrass instrument. Crary is an innovator of the
flatpicking Flatpicking (or simply picking) is the technique of striking the strings of a guitar with a pick (also called a plectrum) held between the thumb and one or two fingers. It can be contrasted to fingerstyle guitar, which is playing with indi ...
style of guitar playing. He is also a Speech communications Professor at
California State University, Fullerton California State University, Fullerton (CSUF or Cal State Fullerton) is a public university in Fullerton, California. With a total enrollment of more than 41,000, it has the largest student body of the 23-campus California State University (CSU) ...
. Crary categorizes himself as a "solo flatpicker" and has recorded several projects that feature him along with guests, usually other innovators of the guitar in all styles.


The beginning

Crary started playing guitar at the age of 12. In 1957, after graduating from high school, he attended Chicago's Moody Bible Institute to study theology. In 1960, he moved to Lawrence, to study at the University of Kansas, he played guitar and sang in a trio called the Carltons. 1965, he went to San Francisco to study at the Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary — playing locally both with groups and solo to make a living.


Louisville days

In 1967, with a degree in hand he moved to
Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...
to continue his studies in pursuit of a doctorate of philosophy at the Southern Seminary. In Louisville, greatly interested in bluegrass music, he became friendly with various musicians, and in 1968, he became a co-founder of The Bluegrass Alliance. They soon became the house band in a local bar, known as the Red Dog Saloon. In 1970 he left that band and was replaced by
Sam Bush Charles Samuel Bush (born April 13, 1952) is an American mandolinist who is considered an originator of progressive bluegrass music. In 2020, he was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame as a member of New Grass Reviva ...
and soon thereafter by
Tony Rice David Anthony Rice (June 8, 1951 – December 25, 2020), known professionally as Tony Rice, was an American guitarist and bluegrass musician. He was an influential acoustic guitar player in bluegrass, progressive bluegrass, newgrass and a ...
. He also released "Bluegrass Guitar", one of the first bluegrass albums built around the acoustic guitar, in that same year.


Back to California

After leaving Louisville and adopting his first daughter, Jennifer in 1970 Crary went to Los Angeles and did not record again until late 1975 when he
Byron Berline Byron Douglas Berline (July 6, 1944 – July 10, 2021) was an American fiddle player who played many American music styles, including old time, ragtime, bluegrass, Cajun, country, and rock. Life and career Berline was born in Caldwell, Kansas, ...
and Sundance and recorded a Country rock album by the same name. In 1977 he recorded "Lady's Fancy." a solo album that marked his return to Bluegrass. In the late 1970s, Berline teamed up once again with Crary and five string banjoist John Hickman for a tour of Japan. That trio went on to become known as BCH. By adding John Moore and Steve Spurgin to the original BCH, the trio formed the band California which won the IBMA Instrumental Group of the Year award in 1992, 1993 and 1994. California and BCH continue to play sporadic dates.


''Frets'' magazine

Crary hosted a monthly flat picking column in ''Frets'' magazine during the 1980s. A column that on a regular basis was, "the No. 1 or sometimes the No. 2 most-read column in the magazine".


The 1990s and beyond

In September 2006, Crary produced a theatrical musical history of the guitar called "Primal Twang: The Legacy of the Guitar." The production took place at the Birch North Park Theatre, in the community of North Park, San Diego, CA. Primal Twang brought numerous innovators of the Guitar together for a 4 night concert/theater event that has since been released as a DVD, including
Mason Williams Mason Douglas Williams (born August 24, 1938) is an American classical guitarist, composer, singer, writer, comedian, and poet, best known for his 1968 instrumental "Classical Gas" and for his work as a comedy writer on ''The Smothers Brothers ...
,
Doc Watson Arthel Lane "Doc" Watson (March 3, 1923 – May 29, 2012) was an American guitarist, songwriter, and singer of bluegrass, folk, country, blues, and gospel music. Watson won seven Grammy awards as well as a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. W ...
,
Albert Lee Albert William Lee (born 21 December 1943) is an English guitarist known for his fingerstyle and hybrid picking technique. Lee has worked, both in the studio and on tour, with many famous musicians from a wide range of genres. He has also mai ...
,
Eric Johnson Eric Johnson may refer to: Music *Eric Johnson (guitarist) (born 1954) an American guitarist and recording artist * Eric D. Johnson (born 1976), member of multiple indie-rock bands including Fruit Bats, The Shins and Califone Politics * Eric Joh ...
plus several others.


References


External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20070712201334/http://www.flatpick.com/Pages/Featured_Artist/crary.html *http://dancrary.com/ *http://primaltwang.com
Dan Crary Interview
NAMM Oral History Library (2018) {{DEFAULTSORT:Crary, Dan 1939 births Living people Musicians from Kansas City, Kansas American bluegrass guitarists American male guitarists American bluegrass musicians California State University, Fullerton faculty University of Kansas alumni Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary alumni Southern Baptist Theological Seminary alumni Guitarists from Kansas 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American male musicians