The Man Behind the Curtain
Founder and Musician
Dan, often referred to as Dan Dan, started his musical history like many singing in garages and basements with his first band in high school. Always wanting to be a drummer but without drums, he eventually picked up a guitar and taught himself to play rhythm. Many years later, Dan has performed professionally with numerous bands including his most recent duo, The Swift Brothers.
Having established musical roots in the Lansing, MI area, Dan created quite a large circle of musically talented friends but noticed that many of them would leave town to find shows. Area musicians found that opportunities were being held hostage by booking representatives offering little value to shows. With high fees, no advocacy for decent pay, and no service past writing a name on a calendar, the talent was leaving town and the venues were left to do all the work of promoting this part of their business. The music scene was dying on the vine.
Dan Laird
Origin Story
In 2021, The Peanut Barrel in East Lansing, MI, wanted to add live music and set up Dan with a regular weekly solo gig. When his shows with The Swift Brothers began to create some scheduling conflicts, the owners trusted him to find his own fill-in musicians for the week.
It wasn’t long before he noticed how much he enjoyed opening the doors of a new venue to musician friends that local residents rarely get a chance to see. With the owners’ blessing, he reduced his shows to once a month and started booking different artists each week. He promoted the artists anywhere that would print their names, he negotiated a pay increase for the musicians at the turn of the year, he promoted the venue and supported their business, and HE DID IT ALL FOR FREE!
It turns out that bringing a new diverse group of talent to the community would be a huge success. Within the span of a year, The Peanut Barrel would go from having no live music to be being voted one of the top five music venues in the Lansing City Pulse “Top of the Town” voting competition. With the success of this business philosophy, it only made sense to start thinking bigger.
Getting Angry
As word spread, musicians began to reach out not just to play at the Peanut Barrel but for help booking gigs at other venues. As this variety of booked shows continued to grow, it quickly became apparent that Dan would need more than just his personal Facebook page to keep track of everything.
Motivated by recent success and his frustration with those currently abusing the system for their own financial gain, Angry Talent Entertainment was formed.