Dan Crabtree is a singer/songwriter, a retired Letter Carrier dubbed "The Singing Mailman", and now is working as "Dan, Dan, The Hardware Man" at Gobel's Pro Hardware in Roseville, Oh. Just since 1998 (that's at 48 yrs. old for anyone who's counting), has he been playing guitar and singing, which he started doing in church like so many other artists. Seemingly always a late bloomer, Dan explains, "We always had a guitar around the house. Dad could REALLY sing and play! And when I was a kid, he tried to teach me. I remember learning C, F, and G7 chords to "Home on the Range", but I was sure I was going to be the next Mickey Mantle or Lew Burdette and just didn't have time to be bothered with music as a kid."
A few years ago, though, God brought a set of circumstances into Dan's life that awakened in him a real passion for learning to play the guitar. First, his doctor told Dan that he needed a hobby to help relieve work-related stress; Dr. Casanova suggested the guitar. At the time, Dan didn't know that Dr. Casanova was a VERY good classical guitarist! Second, a new pastor, Mark Clarke, was called to Dan's church, and he came playing a guitar. And third, well, we'll let Dan tell this last one. "With guitar thoughts already planted by Dr. Casanova and Pastor Mark, I realized that, at 77 years of age, Dad was teaching himself to play piano. After working his way through some "teach-yourself-to-play" books for about a year, Dad was playing some pretty nice songs. So I decided that if Dad could still learn to play piano, I could still learn to play guitar! I bought a used Yamaha six-string the same week Mom and Dad called to tell us that Dad had 3 cancerous tumors in his brain. Before he died a few months later, though, and me being a HUGE Statler Brothers fan, I learned to play well enough to strum and sing a rough version of "More Like My Daddy Than Me" to my Daddy. His last inspiration to me was one of his best!"Dan has been playing and singing ever since.
In addition to playing his gospel favorites at local churches in and around Charlotte County, Fl., Dan has performed at the Port Charlotte Cultural Center Theater, Peace River Center for Writers, The Murdock Garage Movie & Entertainment Center, local dinner theater, flea markets, mobile home parks, and assisted living facilities. Now living in Rose Farm, Oh., Dan has played at several churches in the area, with The Garden Party Band at Crooksville's Art Walk, at the Deavertown 200 Year Celebration, the Gobel Hardware 100 Year Anniversary, at Roseville's OctoberFest, and at The Backwoods Fest near Thornville, among others. Dan's self-proclaimed "meager talents" are always enjoyed with his mix of wholesome country, cowboy western, old standard sing-a-longs, and always closing his shows with the gospel message in a few songs. The Spirit of God has even given Dan to write some songs of his own, and he's been adding them into his play list.
Folks at Dan's shows really get a kick out of "Why? Why? Why", a true story about his courtship of his, now wife, Kizzy Mary. "The Charlotte County 2004 Hurricane Season Experience" is an encouraging song to the locals after Hurricane Charley devastated that area of Florida; but the sentiments of the song surely apply to all those who have been hit so very hard along the Gulf Coast the last few years. Those two, and eight more of Dan's own songs, and his Dad's favorite old hymn, "In the Garden", are on his first "national release" CD, including the title cut, "Believing is Seeing". That's 10 original songs and 2 old hymns (counting the old "him" pictured on the album cover). Here's hoping that you check out Dan's CD and become acquainted with both him and his music. Enjoy!