by Chick Cavallero

I can’t think of a time I was following blues in Colorado without Dan Treanor being a huge part of the focus. Dan Treanor has had as eventful a career as anyone could imagine. He is one of the true Colorado blues legends and belongs on any list of the “Founders of Blues in Colorado”. His start on the blues harp was interesting to say the least. He enlisted in the Army during   the Viet Nam War and while serving as an infantryman in the Mekong Delta of ’Nam, he was taught to play the harp by a fellow soldier and musician, Bernie Willer. So at least one good thing came outta Vietnam, and shows the blues can grow from almost anywhere.

That was in 1969 and Dan never put that harp down. "Bernie showed me how to blow that harp and it's been stuck inside me ever since". To read that fascinating story click this link.  Dan has been documenting his time in ‘Nam “Crazyland- A Grunts Memoirs”.  https://highplainsbluessociety.org/files/1280712/misery-whistle-how-the-harmonica-found-me.pdf   

This is just Chapter XVII  and details his introduction to the harmonica. For some fascinating reading check out the rest of Dan’s “Crazyland- A Grunts Memoirs” on Dan’s Facebook page. It’s Dan’s Vietnam years and it’s still a work in progress. Facebook

Returning to the States, he began a lifelong quest to master the art and soul of American Blues. He used his GI Bill to earn a Masters in American History, where he unraveled the truth behind the evolution of the blues - from Africa to America, developing his interest in many of the African instruments that were at the beginning of the music that blues sprang from. 

Dan is considered one of the top harp players in the business. And not just a harp player- Dan has played harp, guitar and dobro on hundreds of 45s, LPs, CDs and even motion picture sound tracks (you can hear his harp in the background on “Dancing With Wolves”). His career has been a sampling of Colorado blues history, playing with every Colorado musician you can think of, as well as national performers like Son Seals, Frankie Lee, Corey Harris, and Bob Margolin to name a few, including a rising young bluesman named Nic Clark who Dan mentored from the beginning as a 12-year-old and has grown into a BMA nominee. He has performed in the IBCs in Memphis making it to the Finals stage in 2013 and taking home 3rd place with “Dan Treanor and Afrosippi featuring Erica Brown”. In 2012 he received the KEEPING THE BLUES ALIVE award as an Educator from the Blues Foundation for his work in “Blues In the Schools” (BITS), making Dan one of the few to take home hardware in the IBC and as a KBA recipient. Dan started the CBS BITS program and has reached over 100,000 kids over the years. He also started the Grand County and Austin, Texas BITS programs. Heck, he’s even made a couple 1950s style sci-fi monster movies!!!

How to classify Dan? Bandleader, musician, harp master, songwriter, solo artist, blues educator, producer, African instrument maker…bottom line? He is a BLUESMAN! And you won’t find  better anywhere.

Here’s a few cool videos of a Blues Master in action:

https://youtu.be/EiNFnLlgTG0?si=X1m-TZ9K-GSfZyZG

https://youtu.be/cLp1TPxURiU  with longtime friend musician w/Randall Dubis

https://youtu.be/H5D-WYKurQg    at the 2013 IBC Finals in Memphis