Dana Countryman
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Dana Countryman (b. 1954) is an American musician, composer, collector of old electronic music equipment, and was from 1996-2003 editor and publisher of "Cool and Strange Music Magazine". Currently, he is in a musical partnership with legendary French electronic musician, Jean-Jacques Perrey. The duo released their first CD together (THE HAPPY ELECTROPOP MUSIC MACHINE" - Oglio Records, 2006), and are currently writing and recording their next CD, due out in the Fall of 2008.
Countryman started to make music at the age of 15, besides creating cartoons and Super 8 films. Shortly after high school, he co-formed "The Sparklers", the first of several bands he was in. In 1979, he formed "The Swingaires," a '40s-styled vocal group, patterned after the Manhattan Transfer. He biggest group success was with "The Amazing Pink Things" (1985 - 1991), a 4-piece comedy vocal group and cabaret act. The two men - two women lineup changed over the years:
- Baritone: Bob Kaiser, replaced with Bob Overman
- Alto: (each replaced the following:) Shawn Tordahl, Jayne Muirhead, Mimi MacLeod, Sandi Miller, Harrye Hayward, Maureen McKenna, Brenda Sonnier, Tricia Meier
- Tenor (Leader and arranger): Dana Countryman
- Soprano: Tami Martin
The group released 2 CDs and one cassette. At the height of their success, they lived and performed in California, and made television appearances on "The Late Show with Arsenio Hall" (1987), and A&E's "The Goodtime Cafe" (1988). They also performed as an opening act for country songstress Crystal Gayle. In 1989, they appeared in a commercial for the American Cancer Society, dressed as giant vegetables.(!) Countryman wrote the commercial jingle, and produced the sessions. In 1991, the Pink Things disbanded, and Countryman recorded a solo album "American Pop" (cassette only) on Momo Records.
Countryman married former Pink Thing Tricia Meier in 1991, and in 1992 they formed a jazz vocal group, "Moonlight Express", which performed in lounges and at conventions in the Seattle area. The group included singers Countryman, Meier, Denise Doering, Aaron Douglas and pianist Steve Rice. ""Moonlight Express" disbanded in 1996, the same year Dana and Tricia's son, Matthew was born.
For the next seven years, Countryman was editor and pubisher of "Cool and Strange Music Magazine" - from 1996 to 2003. He eventually sold the magazine in order to get back to working on his own music, and spend more time with his family. Unfortunately, the magazine ceased to exist after he sold it to an associate, Myke O'Clock.
One of Countryman's source of musical inspiration was the work of Jean-Jacques Perrey. Countryman has been working on a biography of Perrey for several years now. Eventually this led to a musical collaboration of the two artists and a first CD, "The Happy Electropop Music Machine". The promotional tour for this CD took place in 2006 and gave the audiences the rare opportunity to experience some analogue synthesizer legends, like a Moog modular system or an Ondioline, played live on stage by Perrey and Countryman. The tour led them in Feb. 2006, to "club transmediale – Festival for Adventurous Music and Related Arts", in Berlin, Germany, where they headlined the event.
To promote "The Happy Electropop Music Machine" (released on Los Angeles' Oglio Records), in September of 2006, they did several West Coast concerts including shows in Seattle, San Francisco and Hollywood. In September of 2007, they performed at Norway's "NuMusic Festival, and in March or 2008, they performed at Radiophonic AV08 in Newcastle, England. Future shows are currently being planned for Canada, and an East Coast tour at the end of 2008.
Countryman and Perrey are currently recording their second CD for Oglio Records, which is scheduled to be released in the Fall of 2008. An East Coast tour is being planned for Spring of 2009, which includes shows in NYC, and Boston, tenatively.
Countryman's own solo CD "MOOG-Tastic! Happy Electronic Music from the 24th Century" is also still in the making, as well. The list of equipment used for this CD includes:
- Ondioline (French vacuum-tube analog synthesizer)
- QCS-44 Arrick modular analog synthesizer
- Moog Satellite analog synthesizer
- Moog Voyager Minimoog analog synthesizer
- Moog Moogerfooger effects
- Korg MS-2000-R analog modeling synthesizer
- Korg Poly-800
- Yamaha DX-7
- Yamaha FB-01 digital synthesizer
- Yamaha RX-7 digital drum machine
- Propellerhead Reason soft synthesizer and sampler
- Ace Tone Rhythm Ace FR-1 analog drum machine
- Rhythm Master RM-10 analog drum machine
- Echoplex EP-2 analog tape delay
Countryman published some works at the now-defunct online label Comfort Stand.
[edit] Discography
The Amazing Pink Things:
- Fear of Underwear (CD)
- Live at the Hilton - Seattle, WA 1988 (CD) (both available by mail order only)
Dana Countryman:
- The Happy Electropop Music Machine (CD, 2006), with Jean-Jacques Perrey, available on Amazon.com and iTunes, and in stores.
