Dan Palladino Bio

Photo: Dan Komoda

Dan Palladino is a guitarist, vocalist and composer based in Central New Jersey. He began his journey on guitar at the age of seven, played his first gig at the age of 12, and has performed in public for the past 50 years. Along the way, he has backed Broadway stars (Cady Huffman, Tamra Hayden), opened for comedians (Joan Rivers, David Brenner), appeared with contemporary jazz groups (Todd Collins Trio, Offramp), and performed live and in the studio, with various singer/songwriters, jazz ensembles, and R&B groups.

Currently, Dan performs 160+ live dates per year with Acoustic NRG, an acoustic cover trio.

Dan honed his skills playing rock music from the 1970’s. Progressive music of that era was the bridge that led him into jazz and improvised music. “I don't consider myself a jazz musician, but I am an improvisor. While I love playing standard tunes and improvising in that style, I also enjoy creating spacey loops and improvising until I hit on an organic theme. I think I come closest to my own voice in situations where I can combine elements of rock, R&B, jazz and more avant garde experiments.”

Dan's latest release is the ambient album, Lunar Currents, a single multi-part piece, which draws the listener into a succession of cinematic soundscapes. He elaborates, “Although Lunar Currents was composed as a single piece, each part sets up a new musical environment, similar to how one would experience a video game. It’s up to the listener to determine what the journey through these environments represents to them. For me, the reward is in hearing the unexpected personal interpretations of the music.”

In 2019, Dan released his first ambient album, Pastoral Memory, which was awarded Best Meditation Album of 2019 by New Age Music Guide, and Best Ambient Album of 2019 by One World Music Radio. Dan has also released two albums with the pop/rock project, The Mung Brothers: Honey, grab your coat! in 2004, and Here We Go! In 2016. Songs from Honey, grab your coat!, co-written by Dan and Richard Gnum, were licensed for use by MTV’s Cribs, and My Super Sweet Sixteen. Samsung America also licensed the album in 2012.

In collaboration with singer/songwriter, Alice Leon, Dan co-wrote and produced the segment music for New York Uncovered, featured on The Joan Hamburg Show on WOR radio in NYC.

Dan was technical editor for the book, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Home Recording Illustrated, by Clayton Walnum (Alpha).

From 2005 - 2022, Dan was on the music faculty at County College of Morris, Randolph, NJ, where he taught Intro to Music Recording, Intro to Music Business, Music History, Aural Comprehension and Rock History and Culture. In addition, he has taught private guitar lessons for the past 35 years.

Dan earned his Bachelor of Music degree from Berklee College of Music in 1985.