Tomorrow is never promised

[jamsire]

Below are pictures of our buddy CaptDan at the 2015 NAMM Show in January. It was his first NAMM Show. When it was over, he said it was one of the greatest musical experiences of his life. He thanked me and thanked me over and over again for inviting him to join me on my annual sojourn. We were friends on this Tascam forum, and this was the first time we met in person.

Dan's wife just told me last night that our friend CaptDan had a heart attack on Saturday and the hospital staff did everything to try and save him, but to no avail. I am saddened by this news because Dan and I talked on the phone quite a bit about mixing, recording, and guitars. As many of you know, he was accomplished in all three disciplines, and he was a semi-retired boat captain as well.

I'll miss Dan as a phone buddy and on this forum. At NAMM, his greatest highlight/ happiness was seeing the great Kenny Burrell play a set at All Star Guitar Night, an event I treated him to. The look of happiness on his face was that of pure joy in seeing one of his great jazz heroes perform live. I'm glad I was able to do that for my buddy. Enjoy the pictures.

Tomorrow is never promised.

Me and Dan (on the right) at the Orchestral Tools Booth NAMM 2015.

Dan throwing down on a Veillette Flyer archtop - he was burnin' on this guitar.


Dan holding a Strandberg guitar - for my sake. He wasn't a fan!


My favorite picture of Dan - playing a Roger Sadowsky archtop - he was in heaven.

 

[cmaffia]

Oh my God. I am in shock and very saddened. My condolences to his family. What a kind soul he was. He will be surely missed and this forum will never be the same without him.

 

[Arjan P]

Oh, what awful news! Condoleances to his family and friends - may our forum buddy rest in peace. I agree with Charlie, this place will not be the same without his ever helpful and cheerful contributions. Sigh...

Thanks for letting us know, Ernie, and the great pictures.

 

[DJ X]

I am very sad to hear this. Dan was an upstanding man, with a great sense of humor, always generous with the time he spent on sharing his knowledge and helping others. My thoughts go out to Dan's wife and his loves ones.

 

[Gravity Jim]

The former Gravity Jim here. I swung back just to express my sadness to the loss of the warm and witty Capt Dan.

Dan lived close enough to visit, and he had been to my place and we were making plans for me to visit his. He and Donna also have a Scottish terrier (we have two) and he invited us to bring the dogs as well, for some kind of Scottie rave-up. Many phone conversation and e-mails... in fact, we'd been chatting through e-mail when he wrote back to say that he was experiencing some gastric pain and wanted to get the message sent before he headed to the hospital.

Lisa and I were just talking about him at lunch, getting worried because I never heard back, and when we got home, the e-mail from Donna had arrived.

I wish we'd had more time. I could have learned a lot from the Skipper, mostly about how to be a generally cool old guy. Missing that chance makes my heart heavy.

 

[Good Noise]

So sad to hear. Capt. Dan's posts and replies have been so helpful here getting me going the past years with my DM. We never met but it's easy to see what a great guy he was. ROCK ON captain!

 

[DJ X]

Thank you for sharing this, Jim. You owe it to him to learn how to be a cool old guy on your own now. I am sorry for your loss.

 

[Gravity Jim]

DJ X, I already have the old guy part down.

I'm planning on being at either the memorial or the open house after on Saturday. I'd be happy to deliver any messages to Donna in person.

Or PM me for an address to send a card.

 

[waterstrum]

I'm saddened and shocked by this news.
CaptDan was and is one of the most generous and vibrant contributors to this forum.
He was always there to help.
I regret that I took his presence for granted.
I thought of him as a super hero of this blog.
I always knew that if anybody had a problem, he would do his best to solve it.
Count me among the many, who's lives were enriched by his kindness and generosity.
I send my deepest sympathy to his family.
John

 

[wm_b]

When you frequent a forum, even as a lurker, after awhile you get to know who the elders are, the ones that seem to have time to get work done and to help someone out. CaptDan seemed to fit that bill well in my experience in this forum. My condolences to his family and to those on this forum that knew him personally. I've never really had an internet acquaintance become a real life friend so I can only imagine the feeling of losing a friend in that context.

Sail on CaptDan.

 

[jamsire]

You guys are great. CaptDan would be blushing with all the kind words being spoken about him.

At NAMM he was blown away by all the gear and and toys, but my favorite moment was when we went to a private party of a friend of mine, and there was guy there who spoke about collecting old mics - like PA mics, etc. Well he and Dan had the BEST "Bro-hang" I've witnessed in year. The mic collector had his collection of pictures on his iPad and the two of them just became one person and it was fun to watch. Dan was impressed, and knew quite a few of these rare find mics. I was busy eating delicious crackers.

It was a good time. I am blessed to have met Dan when I did.

 

[ManoucheTunes]

CaptDan was one of the leading Personalities and Mentors in the Tascam Forum. We lost a great friend and supporting column in this Forum. All my Condolences to his family.

I'm forever grateful, the day I got my DM4800, CaptDan helped me to get the Gear setup and running on PT.

 

[Jonne B Goode]

I, too, am shocked to hear this.
I am a direct recipient of CaptDan's generosity, kindness, knowledge, wit and humor, which he had in abundance of them all. He helped me with setting up my 4800 (via this forum and direct contact). In fact, I owed him a reply. I feel bad I didn't get it done. However, I would guess that he would not be upset with me.
He seemed to have the greatest heart and soul. The world suffers from his loss. He made it a better place.
Rest in peace, my friend.
My condolences to the family and all who will miss him.
Yes... Tomorrow is never promised. Make today matter.
Thank you for letting us know, Jamsire, and for the shared photos.
~Robert Carlson
BrainFood Productons

 

[goodflow]

I very much enjoyed his contributions to this forum and am sad to learn that there won't be any more of them. Love and condolences to those who knew him, I'm thankful to have benefited from his knowledge of and enthusiasm for the Tascam DM.

 

[Tuviel]

Boy this is aweful news. :0( I hadn't been on the forum for a couple of months. Just too busy trying to catch up on some projects. Anyway something inside told me I should just "check in" and I see a post about his passing in another thread. My heart just sunk.

As others said, I have also been the recipient of his expert advice. I loved his cool helpful demeanor and his sense of wit. I could tell by his posts he was a great guy to hang with. The forum will surely miss his presence. I already miss him although I barely knew him.

Sometimes the passing of a friend/acquaintance just takes you by surprise. My condolences to his family. May his memory be blessed.

 

[Raw_b]

I just learned of this news. For a man I hardly knew, Cap made a huge impression. He helped me through some technical issues and amazed me with his skills as a guitarist. My biggest impression, his kindness. I am very saddened.

 

[Jose Orea]

I´ve owned a DM 4800 for about 7 years now, since day one everytime I run into something I can´t figure out I come to this forum, 9 out of 10 times I found the answer I was looking for on a post by CaptDan. Today I learned something new from him yet again and while doing so found out about his passing. Just wanted to pay my respects to someone I never met or even talked to directly but has helped me countless times.

Thanks CaptDan!
Rest In Peace.

 

[Rockum]

Sorry to hear this.

 

[darkjoint]

I havent been on for ages, but this is truly a sad news to find out. My Condolences to his family as like everyone one else mentioned he was a mentor in this forum. Thanks CPT Dan for all your life lessons in the world of audio and your wit. RIP mate.