Music
Press
Musical Monk draws from a wide variety of musical influences on their debut album, The Spaces In Between. The evident talent and jamming abilities is presented on tracks like the Grateful Dead-esque, "In the Sun" and the funk driven "Eight Short Years." Led by guitarist/vocalist Dan Griffith, the big band's line-up is stacked with key players like keyboardist Tim Peck and Trey Anastasio Band trombonist Natalie Cressman, who can solo and support Griffith's original compositions. Though the mellower songs such as "Steady as She Goes" add a nice change of pace, the band functions best when they follow their jamband tendencies. The albums diversity makes The Spaces in Between an appealing album to both mainstream and jam-centric audiences. The album serves as an intriguing look at Musical Monk's abilities in the studio and gives promise to their live performance. - Relix Magazine - March 2012 Issue - Written by Issac Slone
Discography
The Spaces In Between - 2012
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Bio
Musical Monk is the moniker for Dan Griffith: smooth and aggressive guitarist, soulful singer, introspective poet, prolific song writer and avid enthusiast of Self Expression.
Since graduating From Connecticut College in 2005, Griffith has played over 1000 shows with different bands throughout the east coast. After having a few great bands unfortunately split, he decided to start a solo career as Musical Monk while also employing a handful of gifted musicians to fill out his sound.
Dec 2012 saw the release of Musical Monk's Debut Album, "The Spaces in Between." Among many other talented musicians to grace the album, the record features the likes of Natalie Cressman (Trombonist for the Trey Anastasio Band) and Sean Dixon (Drummer for Jazz Mandolin Project).
The album's stylistic diversity spans Rock n Roll, Funk, Folk, Bluegrass, Phish-infused flavor, Reggae, Ska, Blues, Grateful Dead west coast vibes and more (yes even more!). This spectrum of sound followed Griffith's original vision of the record: a mix of James Taylor, The Band, Phish, P-Funk, Paul Simon, Norah Jones, John Mayer and Mumford & Sons.
Though Griffith writes about specific themes and stories based on his own life, he succeeds in leaving the meaning of his songs up to his listeners. Whether keeping the subject matter light or delving into more serious issues, Dan's lyrics never force a message but rather act as a filter, extracting different interpretations out of each listener's unique thoughts, experiences, and personality.
"The Spaces in Between" is a deeper, introspective album and features more of a laid back folk vibe then what you might see if you caught Musical Monk live. On stage, Dan typically keeps things dance friendly with filthy funk, skanky reggae infusion, or uplifting, swanked out peaking rock and roll with the occasional laid back song to give the crowd's legs a break. His unceasing energy is contagious to those in the room, he interacts with the whole crowd, and he has honed his improvisation on the guitar to be a reflection of his musical will. Thus, improvisation and musical exploration play a huge role in his concerts.
Through the years he has shared bills at clubs, festivals and colleges with The Meters Experience, Lettuce, Gavin Degraw, Dopapod, U-Melt, The Heavy Pets, Particle, New Monsoon, Consider the Source, The Breakfast, Kung Fu, RAQ, The Code Talkers, The Afromotive, Yo Mama's big fat booty band, Big Leg Emma, Pnuma Trio, Emancipator, Higher Organix, Roots of Creation, The Indobox, BuzzUniverse, Lucid Twiddle and countless more.
Dan was raised in the small country town of Pomfret, CT and has been living in Brooklyn, NY since 2007. His personality is like his playing: honest, easygoing, focused and almost always energetic. He centers his life on music and his spirituality, which like his improvisation is either searching for the next higher peak or ready to stay put and enjoy a blissful groove. He rejects labels and limits, remaining confident in the ability to constantly improve as a person, friend, and musician. When not working on his own music, he teaches and manages a music program for children aged 0-5. He finds it to be the perfect opportunity to help new people find their own confidence, self-love, humility and willingness to express themselves creatively.
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