The Dan Merrill We All Know and Love
Dan was born in Hartford, CT and moved to North Yarmouth, ME when he was a
few months old. He attended local schools and graduated from Greely High
School in 1979.
He played baseball, basketball, and belonged to the 4H. His market lambs were
sold at Cumberland Fair. Dan worked in the poultry houses, raked blueberries,
and joined the Fire Department where he was the faster ladder climber on the
Department’s Muster Team.
Music was Dan’s early interest. His father Lincoln, Sr. worked for a large
department store called Porteous, Mitchell & Braun on Congress Street in
Portland. One of the things they had there was a jukebox that played the old
style 45 RPM records with the latest hit songs. When the representative from the
company came to change out the old records for new ones, his Dad brought the
old records home. Dan played them over and over in his bedroom on an old record
player.
Country singer Loretta Lynn came to Portland to perform and his mother Barbara
took him to the concert. He came home with her album “Coal Miner’s Daughter”.
He also went to see The Sorcerer’s Apprentice with the dancing brooms. Both of
those records were also heard throughout the house as he played them constantly.
His love of music continued, and he began to take guitar lessons with Carle Henry,
Jr. who was a talented piano player and taught music at Greely High School. It helped
that he lived next door!
In High School he started going to parties with his classmates where guitars were
brought out and Dan began to quietly join in with his. A garage band followed and
eventually his first band Empyre. Dan played guitar and sang backup vocals, Brian
Johnson was on guitar and lead vocals, Jim Hodgdon played bass, and David Dorr
was on drums. These Greely students played at events all over the area until graduation
when David left for the Air Force and Jim went to college.
A new band called Cornerstone was formed. Cornerstone was a Northeast regional
touring band hailing from Maine. They performed a mix of top 40 and original pop music
from 1982-1992. They were known for professional musicianship, strong vocal
harmonies, and energetic 80's style stage shows with large audio, lighting production
and even pyrotechnics. They covered music from Styx, Toto, Yes, Steely Dan, Jefferson
Starship, Duran Duran, Little River Band, Bryan Adams, Huey Lewis and the News, etc.,
meanwhile writing and performing original songs in similar styles.
The founding members in 1982 were Larry Crowley (guitars and vocals) , Brian Johnson
(lead vocals and acoustic guitar) , Dan Merrill (guitar and vocals) , John Hasenfus
(bass, vocals and sax), Dana Cobb (drums and vocals) and Bob Leblonde (keyboards)
Their first gig was on Sept 17, 1982 at Bangor Community College.
Cornerstone is probably the best-known band to most local people. They played
throughout the Northeast and Atlantic Canada. There were 2 box trucks and 4
support members, so it was a big production when they played. They opened for
national bands like 38 Special and Foghat among their other adventures.
Dan had a lot of time to do other things during the day as the music was generally
played at night. He learned to ski, grow hops, brew beer, bake bread, golf, and plant a
garden during that free time. He also married Belinda, had two daughters Jayme
Kate, bought a house, and became active in his church where he completed their
pastoral education program.
Eventually, the Cornerstone members called it quits. Dan changed from the large band
to performing to a more local audience with a variety of small groups. He played with
Brian Johnson in a duo called Plus Johnny. During this time Dan and Brian had the
opportunity to play with Barney Martin at Bayley’s Campground and Barney formed
Coos Canyon, their trio would become the house band at Bayley’s for many years to
follow. The Groove Kings, a band filled with incredibly talented musicians played at the
Frog & Turtle in Westbrook, Simon Apple from Pennsylvania, with the help of a
songwriter Dan met, asked him to come down and audition for their lead singer position.
They performed many times together and held fundraisers for CF for many years. Sons
of the Beach was a staple on the patio at the Brunswick in Old Orchard for 30 years
ending their rein in 2021, Dan currently plays in a duo with the very talented sax player
Darren Whitney, and he also does solo gigs everywhere.
He played acoustic guitar and folk music in Kerrville, TX where he won the “New
Folk” songwriter’s award in 1995. Dan sang “Magic and Memories” with Joan
Kennedy which was part of a gold record album in Canada in 1997.
He was Maine’s Male Vocalist of the Year in 1987 and JPF’s Male Vocalist of the Year
in 2006 after his song, “Hold Me (Like a Lover) made the Top 10 on adult
contemporary radio stations in December 2005.
He has many albums to his name including: Cornerstone Foundation (1990), Revolution
1996), Tomorrow to Yesterday (2009), Under the Song Tree with Annie Clark and Lynn
Deeves, and River to the Sea, Simon Apple 2004).
In 1990, after an introduction to Soviet songwriter Victor Reznikov, they formed a band
with American and Soviet musicians called SUS and appeared several times on Soviet
television. He wrote music and recorded while he was there in St. Petersburg. He even
played soccer in the Grand Arena in Moscow where the 1980 Olympics was held.
In addition to performing music, Dan worked teaching, song writing, recording and
producing music for several local musicians, wrote and recorded commercial jingles
(like Take it to Moody’s Collision Center), writing music, recording musicals and
performing in the theater. Dan sang at Portland City Hall on the anniversary of 9/11. He
appeared on the local Ray Richardson Radio Show several times.
He participated in the first Portland (ME) Night of Worship in 2012 along with Pastor
Amani Sebaziga and musicians and singers from churches in the greater Portland area.
He was very active with a number of Portland area churches comprised of African
immigrants and regularly performed with their worship bands. He arranged for these fine
musicians to play before a large crowd at the Good Friday Breakfast conducted by
CLIMB (Christian Leaders in Maine Business) where he was also a member.
This biography is by no means complete as you all know lots of other things about Dan
Merrill that we have neglected to include. However, it will give you a sense of this man
who is committed to his family, his friends, and his community and who needs our help
today.