Dan Beaver – The Goods Featuring Eric Foster

Jimmy’s is a classy throwback restaurant just off the shores of Lake Michigan in New Buffalo, Michigan. Signage with water treatments, dark wood floors and wall coverings and a refusal to stock Red Bull in order to maintain a semblance of class within the clientele, the high-end establishment is a fixture for Chicagoans who escape to the Duneland wonderland on the weekends.

It also happens to be the second home to my financial adviser, Jelly. It’s as if he can channel the spirit of Frank Sinatra between his Scotch drinks.

Jelly’s like my black-sheep younger brother I can’t quite get right but I can’t help but care about. He knows the staff at Jimmy’s and most every other establishment by name and will hang out with them once the establishment closes for the night. The ladies are adorable and the men are his brothers. One in particular – Dan Beaver – was the reason we were meeting today.

Who is Dan Beaver?

To my surprise, the svelt, fashonable bartender soul is an accomplished blues men who swims in music. After first watching his father play the harmonica as a child, Dan’s wanted to do nothing else and he chases the dream night and day. He’s traveled the world, met and played with most all the greats and has even made the cover of books based on Chicago blues. He’s chasing the dream, day by beautifully sorrowful day.

Dan and his Dam Blues Band yes, without the N – beaver joke has a new album out of covers and originals titled, “The Goods.” This is why I was out there: Jelly wanted me to help Dan get his album online so he could send it to a local entertainment magazine who wanted to review it. (BTW – once he puts it on grooveshark, I’ll update the link).

In between gracious regular customers, Dan was telling me about his plight to get the album reviewed and the ubnoxious charges some sites were charging to review it and he was getting little understanding of the impact. Why? His site didn’t have Google Analytics – yet, and he didn’t know how much traffic the websites willing to review the site were getting. So I said I’d help. The first thing I did: listened to the album samples on iTunes.

Besides, after all the good music me, him, the staff and the customers looked up on Spotify that evening, I’ll have stuff to listen to for a couple weeks! Especially from the former DJ who worked with the Billy Graham of Cleveland. I hope we run into him again!

Review – The Goods by Dan Beaver and His Damn Blues Band.

The Goods is definitely a throwback to the days of your. Dan shows his appreciation for trues and his network of friends – receiving collaborations from Eric Foster, Billy King and Mimi De St. Jean. He pulls covers all over the place from the legends to even more popsier blues guys like BIlly Preston & Van Morrison.

Tracks / Songs on Dan Beaver Blues The Goods.

Favorite Track on The Goods.

Domino – a great acoustic take on the Van Morrison track w/ that blues accompaniment that screams Chicago. If Van ever hears it, he’d be proud.

Least Favorite Track on The Goods.

Shake Your Hips – nothing wrong with the way he played it so much as I’m used to it being done in an uptempo way as done by Robert Randolph and the Family Band or ZZ Top.

Final Critique of The Goods.

Let me know what you think!

Last updated by Finn at August 4, 2020.