Dan Steven Erickson is a great undiscovered American singer-songwriter. You might categorize his songwriting under Americana but he’s practiced in a variety of musical styles. He also writes poetry and fiction and has published several books.
Dan Steven Erickson has been writing songs for more than 40 years. He’s literally written upward of 1200 songs. In his late teens and early 20s he started as a rock and roll drummer and wrote the lyrics for his band, The Dan Stevens Band.
By his mid twenties he discovered country and Americana and bought his first guitar. That was the beginning of a long and in-depth journey into studying and practicing the art of American songwriting. His influences range from Tom Petty to Bill Callahan but he’s made an effort to study songwriting greats like Townes Van Zandt, John Prine, and Kris Kristofferson. He earned a Master’s Degree in Communication from Washington State University where he completed his thesis on the life and music of Woody Guthrie. He’s a big fan of Blues. He wouldn’t call himself a “bluesman” but much of his work has a bluesy quality about it.
Dan also composes experimental electronic and ambient music under the name Anderhill. He started experimenting with electronic music around 2015 as a way to provide backing tracks to his songs. He quickly discovered that he enjoyed the process of sampling sounds and creating soundscapes. Composing ambient music has become an alternate passion to songwriting.
As a writer, Dan has written hundreds of poems and several books. He prefers free-verse poetry to offset the tight rhyme and meter of songwriting. His first book, A Train Called Forgiveness, was published in 2012 and is based on his own childhood trauma of being the victim of an abusive religious cult. That book led to a fictional trilogy partially based on real-life events. Dan also has an interest in simple living and minimalism and has written self-help books about the topic.
Dan was born in New England but his family moved to Washington State when he was 10 years old. He recently decided to relocate back to his roots and currently calls Maine his home. He’s been a single dad to his daughter Annie since she was a baby. Annie recently turned 18. He also loves nature and photography and enjoys incorporating the sights and sounds of ocean, mountains, and prairie into his art.
Currently, Dan’s working on a memoir about his childhood experience in a cult as a sabbatical project for the college he works for in the Pacific Northwest. He participates in Rodney Crowell’s songwriting camp and has worked with Rodney Crowell, Joe Henry, and many other great songwriters. He’s continually inspired to refine and improve his songwriting craft.
He plays guitar, mandolin, banjo, ukulele, piano, drums, harmonica and works with a variety of electronic instruments and recording programs. He plans to start live performances in upper New England soon. You can learn more about Dan in his own words here.
Photo by Chris Otten.