MEET THE MUSICIANS EXTRAORDINAIRE

                              

Charles Steven Earl, affectionately known as "Duke" arrived in this crazy world on July 4, 1952.  His early interest in guitars at the age of 10 became a springboard to playing in local rock bands in the late 60's and early 70's.  In 1976 Duke became a member of the "Jones and Stanley Band".  The band members were from the surrounding Illinois -Kentucky area and enjoyed substantial success with record releases and radio airplay. Enough to draw the attention of Kyle Lehning, Dan's longtime producer. Dan packed his bags and after a month of rehearsing with the band (and living on pizza); they began touring and continued to do so throughout much of the '80's. Duke continued touring with Dan into the '90's and became part of the acoustic trio when Dan decided to tour acoustically in support of his "In A Quiet Room" CD.  Happily married, Duke enjoys eating steaks and tooling around with his 1948 Ford F1 Pickup Truck when not out on the road playing bass for Dan.

John "Porter" McMeans hit the world running on June 24, 1955 in Cullman, Alabama. With a background similar to Duke's he too began playing guitar at the early age of 9. This led to becoming a member of the rock ( yes, rock ) group "Thunder" and a record deal with ATCO. The group just happened to be produced again by Kyle Lehning. Porter's first recollection of Dan was at "The Studio By The Pond" where Dan was "wearing waders, holding a fly rod in one hand and a cigar in the other"! After two albums Thunder disbanded leaving Porter to focus on song writing for the next couple of years. Porter's songs have popped up on albums by Kenny Rogers, George Strait, Steve Earle and of course Dan Seals. Porter accompanied Dan on his successful 40 night college duo tour back in 1983. I can also remember this mop of blond hair playing with T. G. Shepard on the 1984 new faces show. The Summer of 1986 saw Porter joining forces with Dan permanently playing guitar and keyboards. This happily married father plans on continuing touring with Dan well into the next millenium.   A special thanks to both guys for providing the bio and Porter for organizing it!