About Dan |
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Fender 1000 1957
Steel guitarist Dan Dugmore translated an interest in country-rock in the late 1960s into a career as an A-list Nashville session musician starting in the 1990s. Born in Southern California, Dugmore was inspired to take up the pedal steel guitar by seeing such country-rock bands like The Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, Poco, and the Flying Burrito Brothers. He wanted to learn to play the instrument, but couldn't find one for sale. So, he introduced himself to the Burritos' steel guitarist, Sneaky Pete Kleinow, who sold him is first Steel Guitar. After learning to play it, Dugmore joined John Stewart's band, and he can be heard on the Stewart album Phoenix Concerts (1974). The same year, he appeared on Dory Previn's self-titled LP, and successfully auditioned for Linda Ronstadt's band.
Joining Ronstadt gave him entry to the Los Angeles session scene, and for the next decade-and-a-half, whenever a pop/rock
performer needed a steel guitar, Dugmore tended to get the call. He began working with James Taylor regularly, starting
with the re-recording of "Carolina in My Mind" on Taylor's 1976 Greatest Hits album. During the rest of the 1970s, in
addition to appearing on Ronstadt's million-selling LPs Prisoner in Disguise (1975), Hasten Down the Wind (1976),
Simple Dreams (1977), and Living in the U.S.A. (1978), and Taylor's equally successful JT (1977) and Flag (1979),
he played on albums by Andrew Gold, Pablo Cruise, Karla Bonoff, David Gates, Richie Furay, Michael Martin Murphey,
the Pointer Sisters, and J.D. Souther, among others. In 1980, Dugmore joined with other Ronstadt/Taylor backup
musicians to form the band Ronin, which released one self-titled album.
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Gibson Southern Jumbo 1949
By the end of the 1980s, Dugmore was finding fewer opportunities to play steel guitar on pop albums in L.A., as the
country-rock trend had long-since passed. He relocated to Nashville and began working right away, playing sessions all
over Music Row. It didn't take long for Dan to establish himself in Music City. In the early '90s, he played on such
sessions as Warren Zevon, Neil Diamond and Kenny Rogers. By 2000, he was appearing on dozens of Nashville-recorded albums,
adding to his list of artists albums, Highway 101, Kathy Mattea, and Ronnie Milsap, Billy Ray Cyrus, Charley Pride,
Eddy Raven, Collin Raye, Pam Tillis, Bryan White, Deana Carter, Ty Herndon, Martina McBride, Patty Loveless, Dolly Parton,
Randy Travis, Trisha Yearwood, Matraca Berg, Lorrie Morgan, Sawyer Brown, Earl Thomas Conley, Toby Keith, the Nitty Gritty
Dirt Band, Don Williams, Kenny Chesney, Montgomery Gentry… | |
Gibson LG2 1949
In his fifth decade as a professional musician, his notability and unique "California" sound kept him working full time,
adding such names as Loretta Lynn, Travis Tritt, Alabama, John Anderson, Brooks & Dunn, Joe Diffie, Earl Scruggs, Mark
Chesnutt, Willie Nelson, Keith Urban, Lee Ann Womack, Reba McEntire, Dirks Bently, Carrie Underwood, Blake Shelton, Faith
Hill, Tim McGraw, Brett Eldredge, Kacey Musgraves, Dave Stewart, Billy Gibbons and recent Grammy Winner Stirgil Simpson…
Dugmore has been recording sessions with so many talented artists and songwriters in Nashville for over three decades now.
He continues to play steady to this day and has been awarded Seven Academy of Country Music Awards showing no signs of
slowing down on the Music scene!
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