Just The "Facts":

Born in Philadelphia, raised in South Jersey. I first remember music from the great Folk Scare of the early 60's. The first record I had and learned to play was "Tom Dooley"-a murder ballad. A sign of things to come. With two sisters ten & twelve years older than me, I heard lots of great records. Mostly 45s. My sisters had completely different tastes. One's interest stops before the British Invasion and the other sister's starts there. There was Gamble & Huff, there was the Lennon & McCartney. There was the Teenagers, there was the Turtles. Mom's record collection had lots of Eddie Arnold and Broadway scores. Jagger & Richards, Lerner & Lowe. All vinyl was good.

Shared a room with my brother who was two years older. Folk music. After a time that really clashed with my Grand Funk fixation. There was a Grass Roots obsession before that. They were the real first band I ever saw play live. Between games at a Phillies double header. My brother had a guitar that I wasn't supposed to play. But my brother had many friends and was out of the house a lot. I was a Rock/I was an Island. First songbook I tried of his was a Paul Simon-so many chords, too many chords, I surrender. Now, this Hank Williams book-this makes sense.

Started playing in bands as a teenager - Bad Company a specialty! Glitter was a big thing in our school, but we were flannel shirt & jeans guys. We all looked like Rory Gallager - only fifteen. Brief foray into soul with the 10 piece Below Average White Band. Nobody played "Heatwave" like us and we played it six times a night. Some guy on my paper route tried to trade me records when he didn't have the money for his papers. He handed me a couple of LPs and said you'll like this one, it's weird and you're a weird kid. It was an original copy of White Light/White Heat by The Velvet Underground. It was my best score till the day I found all of Townes Van Zandt's Tomato albums sealed for 69 cents each. Once I found a box of sealed copies of Jim Dickinson's Dixie Fried for a quarter each. Everybody I knew got a copy of that for Christmas that year.

Started playing solo gigs upon graduation. What's that old joke? Folk music is for people who can't afford electric guitars...something like that. Punk & New Wave hit everyone I knew hard one way or another. I never saw why sides had to be drawn. All vinyl was good. I once saw Patti Smith one night and Steve Goodman the next and they are still my all time favorite performers. They both understood connection even though they came at it from opposite directions.

Somewhere in there I discover Meth and the lights go out for a Long time.

When I wake up, I talk myself into a job as sound man for The Ben Vaughn Combo. Spend five years behind the board, behind the wheel, ahead of the darkness. I often refer to this time as "the puberty I never really had." Saw the country several times from a broken down ex casino van from Atlantic City. Met people all over, saw amazing bands that went on to great hights and twice as many that should have. Fell madly in love with Memphis, TN. Found a box of sealed copies of Beach Boys Love You in Chicago one winter-Merry Christmas everyone! Touring cycle continues for years. When it stops, the lights go out again.

An attempt at being "normal" never works if you're not "normal."

Going in & out of the light. After years of not playing or even writing, in quick succession I join The Fumblers -a Folk Rock ensemble and Drugs Before Breakfast -a hard driving Teenage Head era Flamin Groovies/Stones type band that was on it's way to some acclaim in Philly till it broke up after two gigs and one recording session.

An attempt at being "normal" never works if you're not "normal.":
An ill fated move to Michigan proves this, though it does lead to an intense writing period like never before. Came back from two years on a farm in Michigan with a boatload of new songs and a reformed DBB morphed into Del Pez. A bit more "Pub Rock" than DBB, the Pez still put out a ferocious slab of a 45 called Hope I Had A Good Time on King Of Rock Records and as Philly bands are want to do, broke up.

I moved to a house in the California desert called Wonder Valley. A series of bad breaks bring me back home to New Jersey. But not before I wrote a whole slew of new songs in a more intimate style than I had in years -- volume was/is my last drug -- and I learned to play the harmonica. You can't be a sincere singer songwriter without a harmonica, now can you? On arrival in NJ I put together The Dan Montgomery Ward an acoustic trio of myself guit/har/voc. Gus Cordovox accordion & Neil Arot on bass (Neil went as far back as having played bass in the Below Average White Band). We played two gigs to fine acclaim and broke up. Actually I moved to Memphis, TN. I always knew I would someday, and on my way through there heading out west I met Stephanie Christine Sweda. We stayed in touch, I went to Memphis for the summer and am still there three years later. All of the sudden there was light. And it was Good! The Ward regrouped to record the Man From Out Of State CD at Easley McCain studios in Memphis. Later recording and mixing was done in Venice, CA at the Sonic Workshop studio of Ben Vaughn who lent his bandmates as well as his ears for mixing. The CD was a song cycle covering ten years, three thousand miles and almost as many sleepless nights. Constant moving, Running from something or toward something. Each song had a different town listed next to it to show where it had been written. The Ward did several East Coast shows on the CDs release. Neil left to return to family life. Gus has a great interest in emptomology, but will squeeze in gigs with me when I'm back east. I got him to play some festivals in California with me by the lure of rare desert bugs. Worked like a charm.

The CD has sold well, especially overseas where the "Americana" thing is really happening. Stateside, I did a lot of solo & duo gigs to promote MFOOS. Including two sold-out shows at the prestigious Folk Music Center of Claremont, CA and the Coyote Fest in Joshua Tree with Victoria Williams & Marc Olson. Among other acts I shared a stage with are artists as diverse as singer songwriters Steve Forbert, Bruce Robison; David Wilcox, Amy Farris,Lowen & Navarro, alt.country heroes Jack Ingram, Slobberbone, Jimmie Dale Gilmore,Cary Hudson, I See Hawks In LA, Marah, The Yayhoos, Bastard Sons of Johnny Cash and Lucero; garage rock kings Reigning Sound, Brazillian popsters the Mosquitoes(another sold out show in Philadelphia!) and my longtime compadre (and one time employer) Ben Vaughn.

Back in Memphis I met Maggie Vesey a young bass player looking for a gig. In a few months we had Angela Horton (The Satyers)on drums and Mike Vesey(Maggie's dad) on steel guitar, baritone guitar, mandolin, etc. We became Dan Montgomery & The Professional Baddasses. We played everywhere in town. Some nights to lots, sometime to no one. We played our hearts out either way. After a year Angela bowed out and we were joined by Jason Hatcher on Drums. We're always working. Available for Weddings, Bar Mitzvahs, Divorces and Bris'.

We hope to start a new record soon. There's a story behind it, but it's too early, if not too late to go into all that........

Give or take some sharp turns and some questionable career choices, that's about it.

How 'bout you?