Sign up for my other groups

To stay informed and chat with me and other fans, these are some other places to go and sign up:
www.myspace.com/calanmusic
www.myspace.com/craigalanmusic
www.starpolish.com/craigalan
http://goups.yahoo.com/group/craigalanmusic

Go check out these groups and join the one that you like, or join them all.

www.craigalanmusic.com will be up sometime in November, so keep checking back here or one of the above sites to stay posted on when that is up.

Bio

There's nothing like finding a passion for something at the age of 17, which is past the youthful sponge stage, and it being a passion no one in your family has a talent for, none of your peers are any good at, and you live in the middle of nowhere, so private lessons aren't really an option, and teaching yourself is. Well, that was me 5 years ago when I decided that music would be apart of my life. Little did I know then, music itself would rock my very soul and become an addiction I would have to feed for the rest of my life.

I now live in Dallas, TX, plugging away at the local scene, I have come a long way since I strummed my first chord. Starting out playing in my church band, to playing in local coffee shops in my hometown, Albuquerque, NM, to clubs, bars and private events all around Dallas. Now even though I have enjoyed playing at places like Yucatan Liquor Stand, The Cavern, What Bar, and my oh so favorite open mic night at Club DaDa, I would have to say that the gem of my music eye this far would have to be the invitational showcase at Hard Rock Cafe in New Orleans, LA, this past January.

I still prefer to play solo and acoustic, and even though it is infinitely harder to book gigs as a solo artist, there's just something about owning the stage and having the crowd all to yourself that gives such an amazing audrenaline rush.

My abilities and musical style have also evolved these 5 years. Growing up, I never had an opportunity to be influenced by many great musicians like you hear every artist ramble on about in there stories. My dad only allowed my brother and I to listen to the local pure christian radio station, even christian rock was not allowed. At 17, when I started playing the guitar, that was around the time I had been able to choose my own music to listen to. So naturally I was drawn to what was popular at the time, artists like Matchbox 20, which was the biggest influence in my earlier music, also The GooGoo Dolls, The Calling, Lifehouse, Collective Soul, and then artists like Staind, influenced my earlier vocal styling as well. More recently my music has been taking a stylistic turn, something that excites me to get into. I am just at the beginning of this new direction, led by infuences of John Mayer, Jack Johnson, Gavin DeGraw, Howie Day, Citizen Cope, and even Michael Buble'. I also want to take some time to get into the influences of these artists, something that I never really had the chance to do, and allow myself to be moved by the earlier greats.

My knowledge continues to grow and more I am introduced to different techniques and styles the more I fall in love with the life in music I have chosen. I am continually adapting different things I here to a style of my own, and I am very excited to see how music will change me in the future.