Dan Johnson and his Expert Sidemen have been hosting revues of Americana music in their hometown of Albany, NY since early 2011. Their sound reflects the broad diversity of music they have helped bring to town in their role as host band: vintage jazz, bluegrass, honky-tonk, western swing, alt country, anti-folk and more. Their debut album, “Sleep on the Way,” evokes the music of Steve Earle, Hayes Carll, and Townes van Zandt, showcasing the band’s rich and lustrous sonic palette featuring pedal steel, accordion, mandolin, banjo, bass, drums and guitars.

Dan Johnson is a writer who began his musical career as a poet. Taking his lead from the Beats he explored Eastern religions and traveled widely throughout the United States and Europe. In his travels he came across The Basement Tapes by Bob Dylan and the Band, an album which became a touchstone for him as a musician. He spent time in the late 90s in Cambridge, MA, where he became interested in bluegrass music and the songwriter scene in Boston. In 2002 he to