Welcome to the Dan Time Podcast. The only place
where you're going to hear Dan talking to Dan
and never, I repeat, never just any old Dan.
These are Dan's of significance, of great import,
conversations that are going to carry you through
your day in a positive way. I'm your host, Dan
McArdle. Thanks for being here. You're in the
right place. DanTimePod at gmail .com for any
requests, suggestions, nominations for guests.
Could be you, could be a friend, your dad, your
grandpa, your aunt. Listen, I'm still trying
to land a conversation, if you could help me,
with an octogenarian or a nonagenarian named
Dan. If you don't know one directly, maybe there's
a guy in your town that everybody knows about.
He's 103 years old and his name is Dan. Send
me some information, I'll do the rest. and voice
actor, and along with his wife, Crystal, licensed
massage therapist and co -owner of Lovelock Healing
Arts in Pensacola. This is my first sit -down
interview since the Sean Perry episode and only
the fourth of this project, the other two being
Danny Zimmern and Dan Lindeman way back there.
Head over to the YouTube channel for the unedited
video companion to this episode. Also, you'll
see some additional live performance footage
of Dan, as well as some bonus conversation with
the one and only Awen Ascension, Galactic Kids
Yoga instructor at Love Lock. Dan has spent many
years in the Southwest, on the West Coast, in
Pensacola, wowing audiences with his prowess
behind the piano and his smooth vocals. We'll
talk about his musical upbringing and the opportunities
and challenges that he faced as a result of this
very unique childhood. Dan's a big guy at six
foot eight and he realized a few years ago that
maybe his frame was being underutilized and that
he could help people off stage as well. Lovelock
Healing Arts is a holistic family -centered approach
to whole body wellness. They offer massage therapy,
yoga, bar, workshops, breath work, meditation,
energy and sound healing, hypnosis, and programs
for infants, kids, and mama and me. Go to lovelockhealingarts
.com and check out the schedule and programs
being offered. Every Thursday night and Saturday
night you can see Dan perform in the area. Thursdays,
upstairs at the district Seville Steak and Seafood.
Saturdays at the world famous Rosie O 'Grady's
at Seville Quarter. Okay, let's get to the conversation.
My little boy Wyatt is gonna take a stab at it.
Wyatt, let's say it's Dan Lovelock time. Okay,
okay. Dan Lovelock time. Dan first of all, thanks
for being here. Yeah, absolutely And those of
you listening, we don't always have a video component,
but it was made possible today Just being on
site. I love doing this. I wish I could do this
with every episode Let's let's take it way back
here for a minute. So you're a Pensacola native
growing up your grandfather in Pensacola Jim
Robinson a an acclaimed jazz guitarist and then
your parents both professional musicians Did
you know as a young boy that you were, that you
had a passion, you're interested, did someone
have to put a guitar in your hands or did you
just know? Yeah, I 100 % knew from the very beginning.
I mean, it was just what my life was. And so
at the very beginning of my life, I was surrounded
by music all the time. Granddad Jim Robinson,
Colonel Jim Robinson, he was in the Pensacola
Jazz Society. There were always parties at my
grandparents' house and that was how my mom came
up and then my parents met in a band and then
that continued on. They continued to have other
bands here in town. My dad eventually started
doing touring all across the... the country because
that was where the better money was once he had
two little ones to look after me and my sister
Penny Lane and so we had um you know we had some
tension there because he was always off on the
road and then one of the ways that that tension
was resolved was by moving to Vegas where he
could live and work all in the same city and
make great money and then eventually after that
he got When with the band the spiral staircase,
which was a one -hit wonder in the in the 60s
I love you more today than yesterday that was
their big hit single and then so they were doing
cruise ships and He got into that into that band
and then eventually after the spiral staircase
Wound down as it were my mom joined him on cruise
ships and then my uncle her brother Andy joined
and then eventually I joined and so together
we we had about four years working on cruise
ships and Playing all over the world. So And
this is the Melodious Jones band Yeah, originally
their original band name was Neptune's Party
and then we switched it over to Melodious Jones.
I Really like the story going back to what you
said about Your dad was in Las Vegas, but the
family was in Pensacola And this doesn't happen
all the time. Sometimes dad just stays away and
is not really a part of his children's lives
that often. But was this something that your
father said, Hey, why don't you guys all come
out here? Or was it an insistence on your mother
saying, look, we got it or some combination,
but that I don't necessarily have all the details
on. Uh, you know, it was a family decision. It
was Basically like, Hey, there's all this work
out here. I've gotten a couple of gigs. It looks
really, really promising. I've got lots of great
prospects. Let's just pack up and move and, and
move the family out there. And we went out to
Vegas and did really well. But my, um, my mom's
mom was not doing well back here in, in Milton
where she was living. So we moved back to be
with her after her passing. Then we moved back
to Vegas again. And so there was, you know, as
any child of a musician or military family or
any other, you know, there is some, there's some
challenges and some opportunities with all of
that back and forth all across the country or
all around the world. And parts of it make you
more resilient. Parts of it make it. harder to
make friends sometimes, you know, you kind of
have a disposition that I don't know how long
I'm even going to be around here. So, you know,
those are those are different things that I've
struggled with internally to kind of recalibrate
and make sure that I, I don't let those experiences
color my present too much. And, and that was
one of the reasons why I wanted to come back
to Pensacola was I wanted to reconnect with my
roots. I wanted to, um, and I, I had had an amazing
career of on my own, both the early part with
my parents and then later after I went off and
did stuff on my own. And I wanted to make sure
that I had a time where I played in my own hometown
because I had never done a gig in my own hometown.
So that was like, a very general and high level
goal that I wanted to accomplish for a long time.
And I finally made that happen by setting myself
up with two career options and going into massage
therapy and being able to support my new family
with both of those things and make sure that
I have the stability and balance to be able to
offer all of my talents back to my own hometown.
That's great. It just probably never left you
maybe even in your teenage years or mid -20s
that you thought There's things I still want
to accomplish in Pensacola. Did it feel like
it was a an unfinished chapter or sore? Well,
I would say that it was That I had a long that
I had a longing for home That I would only get
to come home a couple times a year. It was always
great I had rose -colored glasses about the whole
scene. But I didn't feel that I had unfinished
work to do until much later, maybe in my 30s,
where I felt like, no, I have some responsibility
to go home and bring what I've learned and experienced
from the world back home. Because, I mean...
I'm a reader. I love both fiction, nonfiction,
history, et cetera. And in any hero's journey,
the hero goes the hell home at some point. Can't
just be out there and then just disappear and
not bring home the gold, bring home the knowledge,
bring home whatever it is that you've collected
from the world. So that was part of what was
underlying that desire and that homesickness
and nostalgia. And so now I'm here and it's very,
very real. And the rose -colored glasses are
off, and I'm in the weeds, you know, doing the
things. I think that, I mean, Pensacola, for
those of you who have not visited the area, it
is a great melting pot. You meet people from
all over. Some of them did not grow up here,
and some of them, like in Dan's case, traveled
for a while and have returned. Specifically,
speaking about where we are today at Lovelock
Healing Arts, I think that you and your wife,
Crystal, your staff here are providing really
an essential service and Feeling a need for the
community How nice is it to we'll get into some
of the details of the business But to get some
of the feedback whether it's online or in person
about how you're improving people's lives It
really is It's one of the most fulfilling things
that I have ever experienced to be truthful.
I mean that You know, in my mind, what I wanted
to do when I went to massage school was to serve
people in a more direct and hands -on way than
I had been as a musician. And I also wanted to
leverage my bodily leverage. In other words,
I'm 6 '8", north of 200 pounds. Like, I've got
some physical presence to use that is underutilized
in my musicianship. I could be four foot seven
and if and if I can still sing and play the same
way then that's all right you know and maybe
even more interesting I don't know but uh I'm
the I went the opposite way so but I I am heartened
every day to see and feel the impact and that
that is the thing that keeps us going because
this is harder This is so much more than what
we had originally planned. Like, in our cutesy
little idea, it was like, okay, I'll open a massage
clinic, I'll have my massage practice. And then
we looked all around and were like, oh, there's
no room, there's nowhere for that. but there's
this building. It's right in the middle of downtown
and it's, it was grungy. It was, it needed a
lot of love, but it opened up so many other possibilities
and basically my wife at that point had a conversation
that we hadn't had before, which was about her
bar practice and about the fact that she was
the studio manager at the original. Bar studio
in San Francisco or and one of the very first
ones in the country that was that was popularized
for Not ballet dancers because it's basically
ballet dancer rehab. I was aware of where that
methodology came about so it's a combination
of yoga ballet Pilates physical therapy kinesiology
Etc all wrapped up into a package and she and
she started me just having fairly recently been
been out of massage therapy school, I was like,
wait, you're talking in my massage language.
You're talking, you're talking body to me right
now. And this is really exciting because I didn't
know that that was in her. I didn't, I just thought
she worked out and you know, that's cool. Uh,
but then, then it started to be like, oh, maybe
we could do this and maybe we could invite yoga
instructors and we could have workshops and we
could. find other therapists and we could and
we just started and we could and we could and
we could until it manifested and and she put
in all the hard work when it came to designing
the space and and and trying to create a customer
experience that would that she wanted to experience
and so together we've We've grown it from this
space into the new Studio B backspace, which
is kids focused. Before we were just running
everything out of the front studio and trying
to coordinate practitioners and people are coming
in and out. So it's been an adventure and that
realization, that reminders and the feedback
that we get from people telling us how impactful
that has been on their lives or their child's
life, it really... It really is the glue that
keeps this whole thing going together because
we've got, you know, it's hard. We've never run
a business before. And there's making plenty
of mistakes and feeling it out as we go along.
So I'm just glad people are along for the ride
with us. You're doing something right. And you're
Google rating an average of five stars out there.
A lot of these reviews quite Colorful and in
a good way. Here's one from the first time I
walked in the door of love lock and every time
since I notice the love and Attention to detail
that has been given to all the things that make
the space different from all the rest in our
area just that first Statement there. I noticed
it too. You think about it the favorite places
that you like to go. There's typically an ambiance
There's an olfactory component that that draws
you back there's maybe some water ambiance about
places that you love and especially in this in
this realm that's super important so she goes
on to say I especially love the intimate space
for practicing yoga it's a place that once through
the doors it's like leaving the world behind
the lighting the scents the drapes she says I
know this is silly but I even notice how easily
and quietly in which they Glide on the tracks
It's so nice to have everything ready and waiting
for me when I enter the mats bolsters blankets
and blocks even tea is served and it's delicious
and She continues to go on and a lot of the reviews
are quite similar Dan. So how much time did you
spend? You opened in January of 22 Making sure
that you got it right on that first two steps
through the door experience Man, that is a hundred
percent crystal I mean, I certainly built a lot
of things. I certainly hung a lot of things.
I certainly drilled and did a lot of different
things. She put your height to good use. Yes,
she did, and as she should have. But yeah, the
aesthetic is 100 % her, and she gets all credit
for that. Not only that, the overall vision of
the aesthetic, but just making sure that it...
stays that way because it when you're running
a business and you have all these different practitioners
it can get out of hand real quick, but then as
we've You know, it wasn't perfect the moment
we opened our doors and as we've been here we've
settled in and we've You know, that's part of
the feeling that you get when you're here is
that we are in it all the time if you come in
these doors If you walk in any door, you're likely
to see me, or Crystal, or both, and our daughter,
and we live in this space. We're constantly putting
our energy into it and loving it and caring about
if things go wrong. And that's a big difference
when it comes to studio ownership. and why it
might feel really different to be in, you know,
a big name studio or doing workouts at the Y
or doing these different things because the responsible
entity is elsewhere. The ultimate responsibility
of all of this comes down on me and Crystal.
And I'm glad I'm... I especially laughed at the
curtain thing because it took me forever to get
that sucker to like it was catching and it was
it was a uh I fought it for months so especially
right when we first opened um well again speaking
to serving the community um especially well I
mean we're a few years removed from the pandemic
but a lot of people I think maybe have some areas
in their life that have not been addressed properly.
I want to say this, a thing I notice about you,
going back to the experience that people have
when they encounter you or Crystal, is your posture,
that's something I work on constantly, but you
have a good, what you project to someone walking
in, it's like you said, we live here, this is
our place, we care about it. And all that comes
across and people feel like they're in the right
place Yeah, I think I just see it being so transformative
for people who have sought the same services
and other With other businesses and maybe just
not gotten the full Experience this even goes
back before the pandemic and just in general
I think as adults we feel like our bodies are
an afterthought like we they can run without
gas they can run without food, I mean, you know,
it's like we just, we just run them through the
ground. And it's really easy to do that. And
depending on your personality, I think a lot
of type A's would say, yep, you know, that's
me. I get three hours of sleep. I get five hours.
I eat when I feel like I absolutely have to eat,
you know, that sort of thing. How important,
and have you seen the results with people when
they take the step in here? I've seen the results
within myself because that was part of this whole
process was my wife and I are both performers,
both musicians, partied, played, had all the
fun. And part of it was I felt like unless the
stakes were my survival and also like tying my
whole life up, in this wellness space that I
would never really change or fully commit. And
there are obviously things that I still struggle
with, but just starting with the body, I mean,
the reason why I got into this has a lot to do
with how much I abused my body as a musician
for almost 20 years. And so having that realization
was... you know, was very stark. And it happened
on a New Year's Eve wedding gig. Before the gig,
New Year's Eve, during the day, I'm out in the
backyard picking up dog crap and I tweak my back
worse than I can remember. And a massage therapist
friend helped me out and helped me get through
that gig later on. It was a celebrity wedding
on New Year's Eve. at the most expensive country
club in Scottsdale, Arizona. So the stakes could
not be higher. And I'm the MC. I'm the lead.
I'm the band leader. I bring all the gear. I
bring all the lights. I am the keyboard player.
I am the DJ. I am the MC and running around doing,
you know, announcing and cocktail hour and all
those different things. And all of that is in
my back. What a frightening Realization and I
I was like I got a I got to do this a different
way I got to figure out how this thing works
a little bit better Damn, was this the wedding?
I read this on the website where Vince Vaughn
was the best man. It's a different one Yeah,
that was that was one in LA and that was that
was a whole different scene. But yeah, I have
done you know, I have thrown myself into every
conceivable musical situation that is accessible
to me. Whether it's been wedding and corporate
bands, recording, lounge gigs, all the different
things that I've done have turned what originally
is just a weird proclivity, which is an eidetic
memory for songs. So songs live in here. and
all it takes is a little spark to pull one up
in its kind of full form. And my brain just holds
that song like a record. And so I can kind of,
depending on how many times I've listened to
it or how intentionally I've listened to something,
I can recall that in the original key and hear
parts and all that kind of stuff. And so that...
Proclivity turned into a whole career. And so
I've just followed that wherever opportunity
has taken me, you know, and speaking of the pandemic,
when that came crashing down on my career for
eight months of no gigs or more, when my whole
My whole pay my everything about me was about
gigs That was obviously that moment was the time
where I had enough space for self -reflection
to go hmm Maybe maybe I knew does something else
and maybe I need to and hey also Maybe it could
be more intentional than just jump into something
else Maybe I could use what I have and use and
use what I what I had learned To help other people
more directly and then that opened the opportunity
for for me to come back here Yeah, uh, wow Yeah,
you know people and this is just me generally
assuming that When they feel rundown they feel
like they're overworked overstressed the kids
are stressing them out. Their job is stressing
them out People they go to places of worship.
They go to see a counselor They talk to their
best friend they go for a walk, but do you feel
like people sometimes come in these doors where
they thought, why didn't I do this sooner or
in addition to all these other things I had going
on, I didn't, or have they used to practice yoga?
Yeah, I mean, I've seen it all. And to be honest,
I mean, it all works better together. All of
the things that you mentioned are therapeutic.
very, very, very scientifically grounded to say
when you are feeling down, if you are feeling
depressed, you must reach out as hard as it is.
You have to reach out for some kind of connection
because that depression and anxiety is a symptom
of a lack of connection. Johan Hari, so many
different things are now supporting. the conclusion
that really at the heart of many, many of those
internal states of disquiet and disease is a
lack of connection. And we have so many things
getting in the way of our connection. COVID is
obviously a huge one that threw a big wrench
in the works. But long before that, societally,
we have a lot of, we have a lot of hangover,
carryover. cultural practices and different things
that stop us from really connecting on a continual
basis. And so I find that, especially with massage
clients, with lots of different people, that
a huge part of the therapy is just someone paying
attention with care and holding space for whatever
it is that they're going through and to be 100
% clear about this, that is what all therapy
is. I mean, whether you're doing yoga, whether
you are coming in for a massage, whether you're
doing hypnosis, spiritual advice, I mean, there's
all the different things that we offer. It really
is just an opportunity for you to be in the presence
of someone else with some intentional training
and the desire to help you. Help heal yourself
because there is nothing that I I'm gonna put
my hands on you and go You're Harold and doesn't
work like that You have to come into into the
space that I'm holding for you with the desire
for healing and restoration and then be willing
to in that moment I accept that frequency accept
that vibration of and I and Part of my job is
to try to model that or embody that as best as
I can. We are, you know, healer heal thyself.
We are none of us perfect. So, but that is the,
that is the essence of what this business is
built around is the concept that number one,
healing comes from within. I'm not a healer in
the way that I do any magic on you. We work together
to promote that. state of healing within you.
And we have built a business around giving opportunities
for people to come in and find that healing for
themselves, whichever direction they need, they
need to come at it. So for plenty, plenty of
people, it can just be a yoga class. And that
in and of itself is moving the, you know, moving
the ball forward or it's a, or it's a nice massage
or it's energy work or it's want to go deeper
and do some hypnosis and dig into turn off the
conscious mind and deal directly with the subconscious
mind. So many different practices, sound baths
and kundalini and you know the list goes on and
on and it really has been determined by the passion
and the training of practitioners who have been
attracted to this place. And so we've been incredibly
fortunate to be in a time and space where so
many different people have those practices available
to serve others and that they have been attracted
here. And we, you know, everyone who practices
here is just so authentic and amazing at each
of their different practices. I keep saying the
word practice and it's bothering me. Disciplines.
uh, services, all those different things. So
it's very gratifying to see that all those connections
equal the healing that people need because ultimately
it is the most healing thing is being in community
together and feeling that support and then working
on little, little treatments, little this detail
here, this detail there. Let's open it up. Let's
open this out. You know, wherever you need to
start that's That's kind of the way that we've
built it. So you can walk in the door and find
your thing. And people are probably comfortable
coming in here. And if they happen to get emotional,
they probably feel like that's OK. Certain people
maybe feel like they are not included or they're
invisible. I think the elderly, sometimes if
you walk through a grocery store, if you smile
at an elderly person, sometimes they act surprised
that you're even still looking at them for more
than two seconds. Um, I think they go through
that but I think that younger people whether
they're 20s 30s or 40s they also maybe Walk through
life and their work week and they don't They
don't exchange hugs with people. They're they're
not approached They're not and to come in here
and actually have someone a trained professional
where they can get a massage and and just open
up a new a new Experience for them in a setting
like this is it's just wonderful I think it's
that the need is only going to continue to increase
and Speaking with Awen when I first arrived here
talk a little bit briefly and then we kind of
get into some more Dan Lovelock Performing career
stuff, but the summer camps that you have for
kids. This is so cool Well, yeah, so this is
new for us this year. We kind of wanted to do
it last year, but it didn't come together. But
the summer camps that we're doing are a combination
of all of the different kids offerings that we
currently have, which are focused on music, yoga,
art, mindfulness. And so we are doing two different
weeks in June and July, one week in June, one
week in July. And they are... They're open for
kids who are four to 10, and they are three hours
in the middle of the day that is, as a parent,
I know is incredibly necessary to have some space
during the summer for you to get things done,
you know, all that kind of stuff. It's serving
many, many purposes all at the same time. But
kids yoga, and I loved how... Awen explains how
her class has developed and evolved by following
the children in their curiosity and figuring
out, oh, well, instead of just doing random animal
poses, why don't we spell out our names with
our bodies and finding different avenues of that
kind of exploration. And it is her primarily
driving the classes and using her experience
in Galactic Child Yoga, and then also her experience
as a musician. She's a professionally trained
opera singer and musician, all around musician.
And so she's taking all that and her, and her
passion for children and weaving it into a elements
themed, uh, daily progression, being able to
explore, you know, we're going to have some gardening
opportunities outside. We're going to do, they're
going to. play with water, they're going to get
to learn. And this is one of those things that's
really important for me is this embodiment, this
idea of embodiment, bringing the learning into
the child's whole body as often as possible.
Because it's great, we're very, we're really
good at the cerebral stuff. And we can chat,
we can, I mean, we're the chattiest monkeys ever.
But when it comes to our well -being, the equilibrium
and that equanimity that we're looking for in
our bodies in order to feel well enough to do
all this harder stuff up here and be clear and
not internally turbulent requires that it lives
in the body. And all of these practices, whether
it's early music or yoga or all these are things
that used to be, to some degree, much more just
integrated, baked into childhood. And now, you
know, because of the way that we live our lives,
it takes some intentionality to add that back
in. And so we're trying to offer that because
that's what we know that we have a five -year
-old and we know that that's what she needs.
And we're like, we got this space. Again, once
again, let's open it up. Let's make it available
to not just us and make sure that the Pensacola
community has an opportunity to... use that backspace.
And then later on in the fall, we are setting
ourselves up for continued homeschool enrichment
program, which will also be during the day. And
that will be available to homeschool kids, unschoolers
that will be, I'm just now setting up the platform
to be able to accept the PEP funds, like the
Florida school choice funds, so that three hours
out of every Monday through Thursday, they can
have a space where they are continuously learning
and interacting and all worries about, you know,
homeschoolers not getting enough social interaction
and all that kind of stuff. You can erase that
just like that by just giving them an opportunity
and it gives, and for us as entrepreneurs, we
need that too. We need that time to just focus
on the business and our own relationship. for
that matter and so we're always trying to figure
out how we can solve a problem for us, solve
a problem for other parents, solve a problem
and do it in a way that just bundles us all together
and so so far that's been going really pretty
good. Speaking of you and Crystal and you run
the business together you probably don't have
as much time as you'd love to have to just spend
time just the two of you just the two of you,
you've got a child. What are some things that
you and Crystal like to do if you have an evening,
if you've got a babysitter or if you maybe do
you have a planned out of town trip sometimes
or what are some things that you guys used to
do or still like to do sometimes? Well and we
were talking about this before the show but we
have stopped drinking and so you know what the
way that we met was I was playing She came to
the lounge that I was playing at and our whole
early relationship was all tied up in alcohol
and going out and all that kind of stuff. So
now that's part of our current relationship exploration
is like we have lots of other interests, but
because that was our default, that's what we
would just normally go and do is go have drinks
or go have a meal. with drinks, always with drinks.
So now, now that we're choosing a different path,
now we're going up. I mean, there are so many
springs, there are so many parks, there are so
many things all along. I mean, basically just
take a pen and put it on the map somewhere and
there's something to do around here. So never
a shortage. And you know, we are That's also
one of the negotiations that we're trying to
make right now in our relationship is, you know,
we cannot always be obsessed over the business
as fun as it is, stressful and pressure, you
know, in order to be good at it, we need to decompress.
We need to take our own advice and we need to,
you know, and that's why I say. all seriousness
like this business is a process that is also
simultaneously meant to help us work on our own
healing by serving and by showing us different
patterns in the people and the clients that we
serve and learning to embody the the correct
or more healthy patterns for ourselves so that
we can better serve and that that cycle continues.
So yeah, so we're doing weekly date nights. We're
doing, or we're trying, we're figuring out, and
she's all right now, currently she is in the
Pensacola Little Theatre production of Rent.
And so she's in rehearsals every night. And so
that's an added layer of complexity. I'm performing
a couple nights a week still and running all
this and we're... doing dad stuff and seeing
clients and et cetera, et cetera. So it is a
never ending juggle, but it's got this momentum
now. It's got this rhythm that we're kind of
getting into a groove with. And once she's done
with rent in the summer, I mean, it's going to
feel like a vacation at that point. That's one
of the, one of the benefits of adding too much
to your plate is anytime you take something off,
you're like, Oh, that's, Whoa, that's really
working for me. Hallelujah. Yeah, I could see
a lot of us have a tendency to just fill up every
corner of our calendar and Some of it you look
at it. You're like I don't have to do that. I
choose to do that and it's fun. It's healthy
and whatever but Sometimes it's okay to have
some relaxation or work in a hobby I should take
some of that advice sometimes Spring cleaning
with everything Everyone you gotta you gotta
clean out the closet and move it move stuff along
and go. Oh, that's not working for me anymore
now Dan Going back to the top of the conversation
you move to Las Vegas and then Scottsdale we've
had many many years on stage and For several
years now you've been the featured player Or
one of the featured players in the Rosie O 'Grady's
dueling piano show at Seville quarter in Pensacola
This is a big deal folks if you've If you've
got a trip planned at Pensacola, this is a must
stop. And if you ask people at your hotel, they're
probably going to tell you something similar.
Either go to Seville or check out the Dueling
Piano Show. You've been performing for a long
time. You do some voiceover work. And we were
talking earlier that you kind of like to shift
the balance a little bit. Maybe still perform,
but with the business and everything, going back
to just moving some pieces around. you'd like
to do a little bit more on the voiceover side?
Yeah, definitely. And my mom was a radio DJ in
her high school, junior, sophomore, or junior,
senior year, just out of high school, up in Milton.
And yeah, I've been wanting to play with my voice
in other ways. I have done so many different
kinds of gigs. And this is really the first time
where I've been in a genuine dueling piano bar.
But I feel like every gig and every experience
that I've had has led up to me being able to
even do this, because it's a whole different
level of engagement with the audience, pulling
requests, doing call downs, doing fight songs,
and me having to bust out, you know, Whitney
Houston and Celine Dion, because I'm the one
who can do it. Yeah real quick I gotta say because
I've seen this a few times and you may have been
on stage if this goes back a few years. Folks
this is a high octane performance. I mean you're
up and down in and out of the seat. Well and
unless you come in and request a sad sappy ass
song in which case I'm gonna do that one for
you. And I probably depending on how it's going
I might call you out on it. And, you know, and
it's been really, it's been incredibly fun and
has brought out a side of me that was never freed
before. Because, you know, for a long time, especially
the past few years when I was living in Arizona,
I... was for the most part in high -end lounges,
steak and seafood spots, kind of jazz trio type
stuff. And then my main money makers were all
these wedding gigs, corporate gigs, Intel, you
know, whatever was going on in Phoenix and Scottsdale,
I would be the number one call there. And also
got pulled out to LA and Seattle and San Francisco,
Reno and... and Lord knows where else. But at
a certain point, I wanted to, again, come home,
bring what I've learned, and weave that into
a new experience. And then I originally was just
trying to get a gig at the district, which is
across the street from Seville, and... That was
kind of full up at that point and then I've later
on walked into the Dealing piano bar for a networking
event. They have a business after hours networking
event at Sevilla and Walk in there taking the
bartender of my drink ticket with my wife and
she turns to the pianos and goes Hey, when does
this happen? It's like oh, it's tonight Come
on back at eight, and it starts up. And she's
like, well, did you know that my husband is a
badass singer and keyboard player? He's like,
well, no, I literally just met you right now.
But I'm glad you said something. Come on back
tomorrow. The owner, one of the owners, will
be here, the entertainment director. And you
can show them what you got. I'm like, cool, I'll
be there. And after nearly two decades of playing
around, I sat in with the band for about half
an hour. He listened to about 30 seconds of it.
And he's like, yeah, yeah, yeah, go ahead. Yeah,
we'll take him. But I had to work my entire life
in order to just walk into a gig like that. And
Dan, I haven't seen you perform. I'm hoping to
catch some of your performance at the district
tonight. But I think a big part of it with any
musician is your If you can engage with the crowd
and I can tell from our conversation. You're
probably very adept at Engaging. I mean you have
the presence. I'm tall and you're taller. I'm
six five or you're six eight and But you naturally
I think people are just drawn to you and and
then you give it right back to them Do you love
that part of it? yeah, I it is an interesting
dichotomy for me because I part of this whole
exploration of being in the wellness space was
about me sacrificing the persona that I had built
for myself over the years of being a musician
and going, no, that's not real. I need to, you
know, and that's called persona. embodiment or
you can believe that you are your persona and
I wanted to make some very intentional freaking
space for like like I'm that guy for two or three
hours but not for 24 hours and that was hard
you know that was because I was a full -time
performer and I was making killer money doing
what I was doing. It's very, you know, it's self
-reinforcing. And so that was part of the, you
know, that space that COVID gave me was I had
to live with just me. It's just me, no one to
perform for and miss me, wife and baby. And,
you know, so that, that was very grounding and
I'm very grateful for that, that opportunity.
But yeah, I have, you feel free to ask my mom.
or anybody in my family, I have always sought
that attention, have always been desirous of
just being out, being big. And I'm like, this
is what I'm working with, y 'all. And why not
let's have a good time? But like I said, after
30, you start to go, I guess there's more to
life than just having a good time. Maybe I should
figure out kind of how to do that. as well, and
still have a good time, but also, you know, mature
and progress. And, you know, other members of
my family are, you know, teachers at Oxford,
and my granddad on my dad's side is a neurologist,
and there was no pressure. It was just, you know,
the example of, like, there's lots of stuff you
can do there, boy. Don't worry about, you know.
It's awesome that you picked a path and that
worked really well for you. But again, once,
if it starts to feel like it's not working or
it's gotten a little, you know, sour on the edges
and might be time to trim some things off. And
so, yeah, as I'm, as I'm moving into deeper and
deeper into adulthood and trying to spend as
much time with my awesome daughter and beautiful
wife as possible. Yeah, I'm thinking, yeah, I
could, you know, just check into a voiceover
studio for a couple hours and then be home for
dinner and see clients and continue to expand
what we can offer and bring more people into
the fold and And and and so but yeah still playing
always plan to plan to play out I'm hoping to
make the district my new performance home and
as well In addition to all the other 1700 things
that I'm doing, I'm playing opening night at
Pensacola Little Theater for rent. So I'll be
playing in the atrium during happy hour, like
everybody's coming in and getting drinks and
getting ready. And then you'll get to see my
wife perform. So that's June 7th coming up super
fast. Wow. Oh my gosh, Dan, great stuff here.
I love talking about both sides of your career.
the here and now and some of the past stuff and
the performing stuff and like you said I think
children at least for me it changes your perspective
and So many different ways that you could never
see coming you make some lifestyle changes It's
it's crazy. You look back ten years and you think
Wow, look at look at what I mean You don't even
have to be really ashamed of the old you but
you can just say golly Did it take having kids
to quiet all that down? Sometimes it takes a
lot more than that. Five -year -old daughter,
I've got a six -year -old, I have a three and
a two -year -old and you see the years going
by and you see the stages going by so you want
to be around and present and involved and I'm
so excited for what's in store for you and Crystal
and everybody here at Lovelock Healing Arts.
How often do you have people return with a friend?
Well, I mean, I certainly get past client referrals
for massage. People have said this is the best
massage I've ever had. You must go. But yeah,
and actually on our... System the platform that
we use to book everything They actually it's
weird that you're mentioning that because they
just came out with like an easy way to do guest
passes And so I haven't implemented it yet, but
that's gonna be something that I'm gonna I'm
gonna start rolling out and give everybody who's
a member an automatic guest pass One a month
so that yeah, because I we want to see more and
more involvement we want to serve more people
and bring the community closer together. And
it's funny too, now that I've been here for three
years, what? Three years in two days. On June
1st, it'll be three years total that we've lived
here. And so now I walk down the street, I run
in, almost always run into somebody I know or
somebody who knows me. because of my exposure
in the doing piano bar at the district. I've
done other things, I've do other events, Navy
Federal Party, et cetera, et cetera. I'm always
getting into all kinds of crazy stuff. And that
just creates opportunities to see if there's
a way that I can serve that person. And I'm doing,
because I've been in so many different situations
in my life, whether it was high pressure, corporate
thing or a celebrity wedding or this, that or
the other. I feel a lot less pressure to impress
now because I've just seen so many different
angles of how people behave. I'm like, oh, whatever.
Do you need some service? If not, no big deal.
It's that constant push and pull of how do we,
how do we think like business owners and how
do we serve like servants, like actually this
is one of the things that I really like about
doing massage is weirdly the opportunity to wash
somebody's feet, to clean somebody's feet the
way that Jesus did. Now I got a hot towel warmer.
Jesus didn't have that. But that's something
that it just feels like every time I have it
done for me, I'm like, there's nothing more simple
and kind and straightforward and luxurious than
having somebody just clean your feet for you.
And then I'm going beyond that too. But yeah,
those are just little things that anchor me into
this practice and keep me grounded when I feel
like, what is my life? Because sometimes it gets,
you know, the momentum, just the momentum of
everything moving all the time can be Overwhelming
in and of itself even if things everything's
going great I'm glad you mentioned that because
an outsider's view might be that Someone in your
position is in perfect harmony. I mean look at
the the wellness spa that they they must be doing
everything right, but you're human as well and
I like what you spoke to about being a servant,
you know, none of us know how long we're gonna
be here and Am interested in making an impact
and helping people in the capacity that I can
and I just love Hearing what you're doing here
in this phase of your life and that it's catching
on Dan I always forget to ask the question of
my guest, especially the Dan guests Most of us
weren't born Dan. We started going by Dan at
some point in life Your story may not be you
know, any more exciting than mine, but how old
were you when you said, all right, call me Dan,
or? Oh. One of the things is that on my dad's
side of the family, very many of my male predecessors
are Dana, or Danny, or Daniel, or, so it's, so
as a way to stand out, like my mother, Still
calls me Daniel somewhat She's really and my
aunt JJ. I think that's I don't know at what
point though. I don't I don't know if there was
like a definitive switch I don't really correct
people if they call me Daniel. It doesn't bother
me in the least and so No, I don't know. But
yeah, you okay with Danny? Danny I mean it depends
on who's saying it. That's usually the one I've
heard what people say I'd you know, call me anything
but Danny I'm not as it just doesn't happen very
often But if someone's wanted to call me Danny
and they're being nice about it, I would have
a problem with it Yeah, and it's also you know
how men are like there's a playfulness and a
ribbing and like, you know Testing you to see
like what's the edge of your sense of humor?
So I'm good with all that and I mean for as Awful
and offensive as I can be on on stage sometimes
and just Ridiculous, I'll take a while. I deserve
all the Danny's you can throw at me. So it's
fine. It's no big deal Okay, I wish we had time
for a lot more for many more questions, but you've
been so generous today Folks if you're traveling
to Pensacola if you're coming here for business
and you're here for a few days Plug this in for
one evening or two evenings, whatever you can
work in. Another thing I like about Lovelock
Healing Arts is you're not on a main thoroughfare.
It's in an urban setting, but a walkable setting.
You're not pulling into a strip mall. There's
a nice approach to it when you park and you walk
up. That's huge right there. So yeah, if you're
staying here, if you're maybe even staying on
Pensacola Beach and you've got a vacation planned,
You may be coming downtown at least one or two
of those days. Check this out and check out the
programs for children as well. This has been
wonderful. Dan, anything else that we didn't
cover? We didn't cover everything, but covered
some great stuff. Anything you'd like to promote?
Oh, sure. I mean, you're saying, you know, staying
on Pensacola Beach or anything like that. I have
more than just me as a massage therapist available,
so I send out for out calls and in homes. We
have a wide variety of different practitioners
who are doing things all across the city at various
points. So we have always so many different things.
We have our Oyster Bay community classes. Those
are just up the street on Main Street in Alkenes
and at Oyster Bay Boutique Hotel. So those are
just 10 bucks and they're on Saturday mornings.
That's it, you know. For people who are struggling
or want a low cost, low commitment kind of thing
to help get them started, that's a great one
because it's beautiful there. We often rotate
in some different guests who will either bring
like mocktails, like the curious elixirs or the
guys from the stretch zone or have some different
vendors there. So we just try to make that. Cool
and low, low cost is 10 bucks. And then just
in general, we are starting to, um, as this whole
whole process has evolved, we're starting to
figure out, okay, we're offering memberships
that include the childcare. We're starting to,
we're starting to figure out the groove of how
to work with this brand new space that we just
remodeled. So yeah. I mean, the biggest thing
that we're promoting right now are those summer
camps. And so if you're in Pensacola and you're
looking for a place to send the kids for a couple
hours over the summer, there's a, as you probably
already know, if you're here, them summer camps
feel the best. So, um, and you know, and we're
working with about 700 square feet back there.
So it's 15 kids max and, um, And so we're going
to we're going to be doing those and I forget
the precise dates June and June and July one
week at a time. And other than that, we're always
our doors are always open. We're really excited
to be continuing to deepen our connections into
the community. And I'm really grateful for this
opportunity to just talk about some stuff and
connect with another fellow Dan. I love it. It's
just great. Another tall Dan. So very unique
conversation here. I guess one more wacky question,
and if you don't have an immediate answer, that's
okay. Dan, if you could pick an actor to portray
you in a film and your life story, is there one
that immediately comes to mind? Ian McKellen.
Okay. For no other reason than he's just, yeah,
he's just awesome. But no, I often get weird
questions about the way that I look. or like
I look like so -and -so because I have a ethnically
ambiguous kind of setup with the really dark
hair and dark beard but blue eyes and I have
a lot of you know my my family been here for
a long time there's a lot going on in here so
a lot of people will like pick up on a thing
that they see in my face that reminds them of
an actor or a like what's the guy who did Spock?
The new Spock. Somebody came up to me just the
other day and they're like, where are you from?
I'm like, I'm from here. Like literally in the
middle of a piano bar performance, or my partner
was leading the song. No, but I mean like where
are your people from? I'm like, also here. So
you're just, you're... She was trying to get
me to say, I don't know, some ethnicity or some
confirmation of something that she felt. And
I'm like, I'm a mutt. Girl, I'm American. I mean,
it goes all the way back to the beginning. And
that's one of the reasons, you know, side reasons
why I love being in Pensacola because this is
where it all started, for real. European settlement,
really, this is the spot. And so when you want
to understand how it's going since then, it's
interesting to look at it from the place where
it first all started. So I'm grateful to be in
Pensacola. I'm grateful that this is my home
and I'm grateful to serve as best as I can, imperfectly
as I am. And I'm glad that you reached out and
we got to have this conversation. I am too, Dan.
Thank you so much for your time today. Hopefully
we could do it again sometime. Alright folks,
hope you enjoyed this episode check it out. The
website is well, there's actually a couple websites,
right? Yeah, so I mean love lock healing arts
calm easy Dan love lock calm all the All those
things will get you to the places that you might
be interested in or your favorite platform. So
yeah, and then You can always just find our info.
Call us up. We'll guide you to something that
will that will serve you if you're confused or
you're like, I don't, some of that stuff sounds
a little woo woo. I don't really, is there any
science behind that? And most assuredly, yes,
on all fronts. And if you want some deeper insight
or you need a little guidance to help you get
started or want to find out more about kids programs,
just contact us. Excellent. Okay, folks, be good
to yourself, be good to everybody around you,
but I've said it is for a long time ago many
many weeks ago, but it starts with you and look
into it if you're in the area again Check it
out. Love lock healing arts and have a wonderful
week. We'll see you next Sunday on the Dan time
podcast Thanks for tuning in