From Sunday service to folk festivals

AS the son of a preacher man, Dan Hannaford’s love of music began when he started playing the organ in a church at Ballina when he was around 12 years old.

He dabbled in playing the drums before picking up the guitar at 16 and forming a punk band, then fronted a hip-hop/rock band in his early 20s.

These days the singer-songwriter can regularly be seen performing folk/blues/Americana tunes at venues throughout the Northern Rivers, including Hotel Brunswick, The Northern and The Railway Friendly Bar.

“When I first started playing at the Rails it was a safe place for original music,” he said. “The folk tradition of story and song was championed and if you were a little or a long way left of centre you felt right at home.”

He’s also opened shows for the likes of Tex Perkins, Ash Grunwald and The Black Sorrows, and has performed at various festivals around the country such as the Falls Festival, Party in the Paddock in Tasmania and the National Folk Festival in Canberra.

One of his career highlights was singing at a blues festival in a 400-year-old castle in Austria where The Sound of Music was filmed.

“Former world number one tennis player Thomas Muster had seen me playing at a house party in Noosa and he made a call to get me to the other side of the world and do my thing for his Austrian friends,” he said.

While he mostly plays solo, Hannaford enjoys getting his band together for a few gigs a year.

“The band for me is a therapy of sorts – a cathartic magic carpet ride that can keep me flying high for weeks after,” he said. “I’m honoured to have some of the best musicians around playing my songs and more so (I’m) blessed that I can call them my friends.”

He’s also making his sixth appearance at the Blues on Broadbeach festival on the Gold Coast, which runs from May 16 to 18.