Dan Van Vechten music

Welcome!

Welcome to the official web page for Dan Van Vechten and my music projects! I am a local singer/songwriter who grew up listening to folk and country music, then returned to it to find my sound after being influenced by the folk music I heard when I moved to Cincinnati. A few years ago I started writing songs, and then I started inviting local musician friends to join me while I played them. The cover songs we select for live shows amd recordings include songs written by local folk bands out of tribute to their influence. Performances range from solo sets for coffeehouses or smaller spaces to a folk trio with bass, banjo, and sometimes more. My sound is always described as warm an soulful - although I can and do play some bigger stages, my best fit is often a restaurant, patio, or parties where enjoying each other is as important as the music.

My go-to duo partner for the past 5 years ago has been Henry "Hank" Becker on banjo. He knows my songs and has been a part of all three of my EP/LP releases. We love our folk and bluegrass, but we stray from the norm enough times that you'll probably hear some songs you know in one interpretation or another. In December 2022 we celebrated 100 live performances together and we do not plan on slowing down anytime soon! Also in 2022, Hank and I teamed up with Elia Burkhart on bass and several local friends to record and release my third studio project titled “Stringtown Sessions”, which can be found on Spotify here.

Our most recent band addition has been Chris Werner on bass. We have a nice little sound dialed in, so we are ready to get started on another recording project of old and new originals called “Queen City Homebound”. Stay tuned in 2025!

Recent

2026 NPR iny Desk Contest entry

This song is called “Powerless”, and I wrote it a while ago while attending a songwriting group at the Folk School Coffee Parlor. The prompt was “origin story”, so I thought about superheroes and the powers they had, along with everything else that comes with having powers.

Last night's solo show at Third and Main sounded good, so I recorded a set to share!

Performance at Leo Coffeehouse

2022 Tiny Desk entry

“Walt's Waltz” was a song I wrote for a songwriter friend in one of our writing groups. After playing it for Walt, he ended up buying the guitar I wrote the song on :)

2025 Tiny Desk entry

As long as I'm posting my Tiny Desk entries, here is my song for 2025. This one is called “Grow Bananas”, and it will also be featured on the LP we are working on for 2025!

NPR Tiny Desk 2023

I'm going back into my YouTube channel to find some originals to post. Here's my NPR Tiny Desk entry from 2023, called “Get My Guitar”. This song will be on a new LP we are working on to be released later this year.

recent upload to Youtube

We ran a livestream last year while playing a show, so we saved a copy for you to check out. Enjoy!

Stringtown Sessions is on Spotify!

We are up on Spotify, YouTube Music, iTunes, Apple Play, and a variety of other platforms now, so get to your favorite app and put us in your algorithm!

CincyMusic review

When you aren't sure what to write for a review, write your own review :)

https://cincymusic.com/blog/2022/06/stringtown-sessions-ep-release-this-friday-at-crows-nest

Stringtown Sessons EP Release!

We've been back in Cappel Recording Studio this spring so Tommy can put down some of our favorite songs for you. Three of them are original songs, including the title track, and three will be songs written by local artists with their blessings. Hank Becker plays banjo and Elia Burkhart plays bass throughout the project, but we have a couple of curveballs in there as well! Guest artists include Joe Macheret, Sleepy Andy Tracy, Jamonn Zieler, and Rob McAllister. Release party will be at the Crow's Nest in Cincinnati on Friday, June 10.