Bio Information

1.Name: Dan Hannan

2. AKA - Nickname(s):
Stan, Dr. Hook, Duke (my wife’s family has called me this for over 20 years; why,
nobody knows!)

3. Band member since:
Original band member (1979) – never quit… but considered quitting on multiple
occasions including when:
a.  I was forced to disco dance to Pieces of Eight’s performances of “That’s The
Way” by K.C. and the Sunshine Band
b.  Kenny Rogers’ “Love The World Away” was removed from the song list
c.   My goodest buddy Al quit the band in the mid-80’s
d.   Another area band referred to Pieces of Eight Featuring the Lakeside Brass
as “Pieces of Sh*% and the Dead Fish”
e.   I fell off the stage for the third time
f.    My slide flew off my trombone in the middle of a song for the third time
(totally unrelated to “e” above)
g.    A high school Homecoming dance contract said we had to wear our shirts on
stage and couldn't’t drink beer
h.    I was almost executed at the intersection of 55th and Quincy with a car load
of fellow band members and friends

4. The primary function I serve in the band is as:
Trombone player, lead vocals, background vocals, various shake-able percussion
instruments, insulting the crowd, impromptu vocal outbursts of really old and
irritating songs, assisting other band members with finishing their beverages,
First aid and medical consultation for band members and crew injured on duty

5. I can also fumble my way through playing:
Old Maid, Chutes and Ladders, acoustic guitar, harmonica, trumpet, and the
maraca-type thing shaped like a banana

6. I started playing music when I was:
11 years old - I played the trumpet; switched to Baritone Horn at age 13
because my braces hurt my lips when I tried to play the high notes; asked to
(forced by my band director!) to learn how to play trombone at a Junior High
recital in 9th grade one day before the recital.  Actually learned how to play the
trombone a few months later and played it in the Jazz Ensemble and Marching
Band while playing Baritone Horn in the Wind Ensemble.

7. I started playing music because:
I was not very good at knitting or crocheting.  My mom was a huge fan of
trumpeters Doc Sevrinsen, Herb Alpert and Al Hurt and singers Andy Williams,
Perry Como and Judy Collins so my house was always full of blaringly loud music
from the old phonograph

8. Besides Pieces of Eight, I currently perform and/or have performed in
these other bands:  
Stig and Stan; occasional fill-in trombone player for The Stone Pony Band;
performed with Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes on 3 occasions over the
past 2 years at Tower City Amphitheatre, Cain Park, and Cuyahoga Falls
Amphitheatre

9. Music is a fun hobby. But in real life:
I am a Hospital Administrator, Emergency Department RN, Healthcare Consultant

10. Outside of performing with the band, I have a life. In my personal life:
I am married to my best friend from high school, who eventually succumbed to my
persistent advances over the previous 4 years. (My best friend in high school
was indeed a female, so don’t get any funny ideas!).  2 children who, thankfully,
take after their mother, except, of course, for their musical inclination and knack
for falling down frequently.

11. When not performing in a band I like:
feather dusting in my underwear and dress shoes, small animal and insect
disembowelment, initiating multiple home improvement projects never to be
completed, Tae Kwon Do, coaching baseball, being a dad.

12. My thoughts on Pieces of Eight are…
We’re a diverse group of musically inclined slugs who get together on a regular
basis to perform for the love of performing.  It’s doubtful that anyone ever
thought that the band would still be together after this many years, but the
chemistry created among the members of the band and crew from endlessly
tormenting each other for their shortcomings, odd habits, and bizarre
idiosyncrasies has obviously worked so far.  What a great brotherhood of friends
who continue to create memories of a lifetime!

13. My favorite band related saying is…
After all these years, I couldn't pick just one:

“I be survive” – Bob’s inebriated response to a post- Put-in-Bay performance
when asked if he was OK, while in a virtual spread-eagle position across a picnic
table at a late night Island bar.

“Gimme the bucket” – Kurt’s request for an upright ashtray (vomit basin) after
cutting his finger while loading up equipment after a performance and seeing the
sight of his own blood.

“Hey, wanna bullsh*%?” – Mike Sosic’s exploration into fellow band members
willingness to converse with him on Dan and Al’s bed in his birthday suit while in
our Daytona Spring Break hotel room.

“OOOO” – Layne’s exclamation when struck in the neck by a chewed up corn cob
thrown by Mike Sosic from a distance of 50 yards at Stouffer’s on the Square
after a prom gig

“Sh*%, Fu*%” – Dan’s primal scream in 1982 while unexpectedly experiencing a
rapid descent from atop 20 foot ladder while painting the shop where the band
practiced”

14. My favorite memory of being in the band over the years is probably:
Again, impossible to narrow it down to only one: After breaking down for the
third time, watching and listening to Al play “Taps” in front of the dead band truck
after the band and crew frantically unloaded the equipment from the demised
vehicle onto a rental truck on the busy North Carolina freeway en route to
Daytona Beach in 1983.

Being rudely awakened from a deep slumber in the passenger’s seat of the band
truck on the way home from Put-in-Bay with Bob driving when the passenger
side rear tires flew off the band vehicle.  Despite veering sharply to the left upon
loosing its tires and heading directly toward a steep bridge embankment, Bob
was able to bring the vehicle to a safe stop prior to us unloading our soiled
undergarments.

After knocking down a large fence with the truck when leaving a Mt. Union
College gig, urinating in a beer pitcher (somewhat successfully) in the back of the
moving band truck with Rob Vincent

Julio Franco singing backup vocals with the band to the Beatles Spanish version
of “Tweest an’ Chout” at the Sahara Club

Mr. Bill passing out in front of the Ladies rest room at a Put-in-Bay gig at the
Boathouse and being revived by the door hitting him in the head as the ladies
exited one by one

Falling in the mud wearing an all-white outfit while packing up after a wedding in
a barn after a torrential downpour.  Rob, sympathetic to my drunken state,
assisted me with my shoe application upon helping me change into dry clothes,
only to later realize that my shoes were on the wrong feet.

15. Oh, I almost forgot, I wanted to add…
My mom still believes that when I was playing out in bars at the age of 16 with
“those nice Wickliffe boys” that I was only drinking carbonated, non-alcoholic
soda beverages.  It would be terribly unfortunate if she found out that I was
actually partaking in adult beverages at the urging of my hoodlum bandmates
during these formative years.
* Band Member Bios *