Daniel McCann Music

First, if not already, I retired from a long career as an educator on February 1st, 2020.  My working career has been long and filled with different jobs and employers. I retired from the University of South Alabama as an Instructional Designer in the College of Nursing. This job provided me with a ton of experience in online as well as live instruction for college students. I was responsible for website design, computer based testing, and a variety of instructional technologies. I worked there for 12 years.

For 12 years prior, 1991-2003, I worked at the Mobile based hi-tech company, QMS (later QMS-Minolta) as a training specialist and instructional designer. In this period I completed a Master of Science in Education from USA. From 2004-2008, I worked with three companies involved with hi-tech, educational software, and military training.

So I won't list jobs previous to 1991 but I've been working since the age of 17. I've paid through all my education by working full-time and part-time work. I also have an Associate Degree in Electronics Technology.

Musically, at the age of 17, I bought my first guitar in 1972. It was a fairly cheap Japanese-made Epiphone acoustic guitar which launched my life-long pursuit of music. A few months later I bought my first electric guitar and amp, also an Epiphone but this one was a Kalamazoo made Casino from 1968. I bought it for $300 and a Pignose amp for $80. This guitar is now a vintage collectible instrument often sold for 3-7 thousand dollars. I've still got it and I love it! Started playing with a band after a year and a half and I've been playing in bands ever since. In an early band configuration, we were playing Eagles and Marshall Tucker and I wanted to play pedal steel. I found a student model MSA for $300 and started learning. A year or so later I ordered a Sho-Bud Pro II from the factory and I still have it and play it - also now a vintage guitar.

Playing and toting the steel was difficult in some band configurations so I wanted to branch out to playing a much lighter dobro (or resonator guitar). My girlfriend (now wife) bought me a metal-body Dobro from the factory in California (also now a vintage dobro). I played the dobro much like a steel until I heard and was inspired by the playing of Mike Auldridge and Jerry Douglas. I began working on my technique and pursued playing with Bluegrass bands. In the time that I was studying dobro, my wife and I had a son, I completed two degrees, associate and masters, and I pretty much closeted the pedal steel for 20 years. I was asked to play the steel for a Mobile Theater Guild production of a country show based on Grand Ole Opry songs and Henry VIII. So I brought the steel out of the closet and began playing again. I was later asked to play for another production and I made up my mind to practice the steel and find a country band to play.

So after some wood-shedding I found groups to play with and ended up playing some great venues including Bayfest opening for Blake Shelton and BB Kings Blues Club in Nashville. I've got a couple of new groups I'm playing with now and I'm still playing bluegrass with other bands.

So I've been pretty busy playing and now I'll be dedicating more time to playing and learning my instruments, and also using my skills as an educator to teach my instruments. I've was teaching dobro, lap steel and pedal steel at Blues Angel Music in Spanish Fort until they closed because of the pandemic. In February 2020 I retired from my full-time university job. After the pandemic had faded, my wife and I decided to move to Georgia to be nearer to some family. We settled in Grayson/Loganville area, about midway between Atlanta and Athens. I've had a chance to play a few times since the move but I'm still looking for more opportunities.