Dan Saulpaugh is a singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, composer and music instructor based in New York City. His music spans the worlds of folk, jazz, and contemporary classical music, streching beyond the confines of genre.
Saulpaugh sings about the sublime moments that lurk in the mundane and about finding one’s place in love and the world all over genre-defying musical backdrop that's as complex as it is playful. Dan muses on the understated parts of life that succeed youth’s defining moments. His compositions are reminiscent of Jeff Buckley, Becca Stevens, and Theo Katzman; delicate and precise with a deep sense of group interplay. The effect is emotionally nuanced and totally effortless to listen to.
A graduate of City College's Jazz Studies program, and having studied classical guitar at SUNY Potsdam's Crane School of Music, Dan studied with many innovators in modern jazz and classical guitar, including Lage Lund, Brad Shepik, Pete McCann, Kenny Wessel, Paul Meyers, and Doug Rubio. He also studied composition with Greg Wanamaker, David Heinick, and Mike Holober.
He was a finalist in The Greene Space's 2015 Battle of the Burroughs - Bronx. In 2017 he assistant sound engineered the podcast musical “Wait! Wait! Don’t Kill Me” under sound engineer Steven Pardo, written by David Holstein and composed by Alan Smuckler, winning the Webby Award for Best Sound Design/Original Score.
Saulpaugh’s released his debut EP “Before the Fire Is Gone” in 2018. This collection of songs features compositions written for the West Village cafes he played in during his first few years in NYC as performed by his working band. Steven Pardo produced the EP, which featured Saulpaugh as co-producer. He is currently working on, and self-producing, his follow up LP, due for release in spring 2025.
Saulpaugh also composes and plays in the straight-ahead modern jazz idiom and co-leads the jazz trio Stoop Pigeon with Columbia-based drummer Alejandro Luna, a band featuring Jonothan Toscano on double bass. He produced their 2024 debut EP “Quiet City.”
As a composer, Saulpaugh most recently collaborated with the Passaic County Arts Center on a sound installation piece entitled “Road From Home” in February 2024. It featured the paintings of Patterson-based, Ugandan artists Deo Lutwama and John Mubiru. The piece was composed specifically for the space at the John W. Rae House and curated by Isabella Costa.
When not leading his own projects Saulpaugh collaborates with several New York City-based and international artists as a sideman and session player. He has recorded, performed and toured with artists such as Sammy Rae & The Friends, Jenny Kern, Ali Aslam, Sophie Avidane, Mari Solberg, Ricky Stein, Calista Garcia, Gabrielle Marlena and Tatyana Kalko, among others. He co-hosted the monthly jam session, Jamhattan, at Harlem’s Silvana with drummer Luke Markham from 2017-2020.
In 2020 Saulpaugh collaborated with film maker Steffie van Rhee, scoring a short film for The Wellness Center followed by a series of short films spotlighting students at Manhattan’s Ramblers Studio. He later collaborated with van Rhee again scoring Adobe’s “A Spotlight on Photographer Michael Aboya” with C41 Media in 2023.
Saulpaugh maintains a studio of private students and teaches at the Martina San Diego Studio, as well as Manhattan Youth, giving private lessons and group classes in guitar, songwriting, theory & composition, world music & percussion, creative writing, and Dungeons & Dragons. He has held teaching positions at the Darien Arts Center and New York Music and Arts.
Images provided by Steffie van Rhee
C O N T A C T
Performances, Lessons, Recording Sessions (Live or Remote), Production Services (Mixing, Mastering, Engineering), Songwriting, and Film Scoring/Composition/Arranging Commissions:
dansaulpaughmusic@gmail.com