Dan Crary

Flatpicking guitarist Dan Crary grew up in Kansas, where his early exposure to the instrument centered on the steel-string flat-top models championed by players such as Doc Watson. He co-established the Bluegrass Alliance in 1968, taking Watson’s approach as a foundation for fresh developments within the style. During the 1970s he performed regularly with Sundance alongside fiddler Byron Berline and banjoist John Hickman, while earning acclaim for his skilled adaptations of fiddle-based traditional material on both six- and 12-string guitars. One notable release, the 1983 album Guitar, assembled leading figures from the contemporary bluegrass community; Béla Fleck, Sam Bush, and Mark O’Connor all appeared on the project, which presented updated bluegrass treatments of classical compositions. In 1990 Crary formed California with Berline and Hickman, a group that pursued broader cross-genre explorations while remaining active alongside his other endeavors, among them the Men of Steel ensemble featuring Genovese flatpicking master Beppe Gambetta. MOS issued a concert recording in spring 2003.