Dan Frechette

People have called me a "Walking Folk Festival" and a "Human Jukebox." I love delivering great songs and performances for audiences and listeners, and have over 2000 cover tunes ready to go. Request a song. Hopefully I know it. And if not, given enough notice I'm sure I can learn it.

I can perform acoustically, or through the compact and clean sounding system I can bring. I enjoy playing for both intimate and large groups, in both formal and informal settings. I can help set the mood of an event with volume sensitive background music, or as needed, kick into high gear, and have everyone dancing and singing along. I am always utilizing those skills I honed in my busking days, being an observant, charming, and passionate entertainer and helping ensure memorable and joyous events.

Ever wish your favorite playlist could morph into a real live human entertainer? Look no further!

In addition to my career as a songwriter and recording artist, I've performed for private events, such as birthday parties, receptions, proposals, anniversaries, weddings, openings, and corporate events, for over 30 years. My repertoire includes over 2000 covers, and I especially enjoy sharing classic songs of the 20th century as close to the original versions as possible. These include songs across a wide range of genres, including Pop, Rock, Motown, Blues, Jazz, Country, Folk, and Bluegrass. If you also enjoy brilliant songbooks such as Lennon/McCartney, Jagger/Richards, Bacharach/David, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, Neil Young, and Simon & Garfunkel I have you well covered! I'm also happy to perform some more recent hits.

I offer music as a solo acoustic guitarist, performed instrumentally or with vocals, a "one-man-band" including vocals, acoustic or electric guitar, percussion, and harmonica, a violin-guitar duo, performed instrumentally or with lead and harmony vocals, and a 3 to 6 piece band, including bass, drums, and bespoke additional instruments and/or vocalists as needed or requested

After finishing a stint in Toronto as one of the youngest Canadian songwriters signed to EMI publishing (I was 17), I traveled North America and Europe as a street entertainer for a few years, making a living in iconic busking spots such as Dublin and Stuttgart. I quickly found out that in order to survive as a street musician I had to learn to make people smile. As Bruce Springsteen says: “Give it all you got to make the people happy.”

I have since performed everything from gas stations to major music festivals, including the Winnipeg Folk Festival, Edmonton Folk Festival, Suwanee Springfest, Kate Wolf Festival, and the Lake Eden Arts Festival. I've had the great pleasure to shake hands with Taj Mahal, Gordon Lightfoot, Doc Watson, and Townes Van Zandt. My songwriting has been appreciated by the likes of Bob Dylan, Tim O'Brien, Jessie Winchester, and David Bowie, and I've had some songs included in feature films. Some of my songs have also been discovered, recorded, and performed widely by celebrated artists around the world, including The Duhks (Canada), Dervish (Ireland), The Ploughboys/Damian Howard (Australia), Emma Cloney (Canada), Jessee Havey (Canada), and The Stacks/Tania Elizabeth of The Avett Brothers (United States).

Yet, I'm never far from all the music that inspired me to play air guitar on a tennis racket as a little kid, and the joy and satisfaction I get from entertaining - delighting audiences, changing styles to suit the mood of a crowd, and delivering "Human Jukebox" requests to charmed listeners.

In addition to guitar, I can also perform on mandolin, 12-string guitar, bass, electric guitar, National resonator guitar, dobro, ukulele, banjo, drums, auto-harp, or slide guitar as needed or requested.

I enjoy playing for both intimate and large groups, in both formal and informal settings. I can help set the mood of an event with volume sensitive background music, or as needed, kick into high gear, and have everyone dancing and singing along. I am always utilizing those skills I honed in my busking days, being an observant, charming, and passionate entertainer and helping ensure memorable and joyous events.

I'll need an armless chair on a flat surface, a corner or stage where I won't be in anyone's way, and a covering for outdoor events held in direct sun or when rain is threatening. I can perform acoustically, bring a sound system, or use my an existing PA and speakers.