"The Lord gave me these gifts so I could move out of the way of them and let His Spirit move within the hearts of His Sons and Daughters."
"I know that God is equally pleased with me, whether I'm singing in the shower, or singing in a church, or on a stage. I'm blessed to have been ministered through, over many years, in many places and with many people, believing and unbelieving alike. I'm going to keep doing this thing I do until God tells me not to."
"I learned to sing harmony by listening to my mom harmonize to 8 track tapes of John Denver, the Beach Boys and Anne Murray, while cleaning the house."
At 13, Dan first picked up a set of drum sticks and then a bass (within a couple months of each other), and guitar soon followed at 14, leading to a few different bands in high school. Like many others did at a Franciscan Youth conference in 1998, Dan Ballinger first surrendered his life to Christ. That summer, before his freshman year at Berklee College of Music was a huge time of transition and uncertainty for this new believer, but there was joy, pain and grace for the journey.While a music business and songwriting double-major at Berklee, Dan was never shy about sharing his faith with friends; notably, Joe Guese (Guitarist for "The Click Five") and Jesse Terry (CMT/NSAI Songwriting competition '03 winner/now a staff writer for Masville Music) with whom Dan shared a performance class, taught by legendary singer/songwriter Livingston Taylor. Within Berklee's Songwriter's Forum, Dan also shared time with classmates: multiple Grammy winner, John Mayer and Annie Clements (Bassist for "Sugarland"). Despite his openness to witness, Dan struggled with substance abuse, which nearly ended his life, and ended his college career, short of graduation. Thankfully, God is bigger than any addiction or tribulation.
Dan continues to lead worship, nationally as well as locally, in the Phoenix valley, where he's lived since March, 2006. He is joy-filled each weekend, being a laborer in the vineyards of: St. Anne's Catholic Church, Desert Haven Community Church and Living Word Bible Church. Dan also has a rather beautiful wife, Catherine and four children: Aidan, Leah, Marie and Claire.
Dan's music is totally reliant on the grace of God. If you can sow in even a small seed, it would be lovingly appreciated.