Guitar
Folk Pop Rock Metal
It has been rumored that Dan has taught over 10,000 students of all ages at the Old Town School of Folk Music through the years, both private students and group classes. If you ask him, he’ll say he’s ready for 10,000 more.
Having taught at Old Town School of Folk Music for 29 years, Dan has successfully acquired a niche of specialty classes for students to enjoy. Classes such as Fingerboard Theory, Teen Rock Ensembles, Rhythm, Lead Guitar Basics, and Intro into Electric Guitar Styles just to name a few. Dan’s love for rock bands has challenged him to create ensemble classes for electric guitar, bass, vocals and drums for specific bands such as the Pearl Jam ensemble, the Black Keys ensemble, The White Stripes, the Stone Temple Pilots, the Ramones, XTC, The Pretenders, Crowded House, The Smashing Pumpkins, The Kinks, Sleater Kinney, T.Rex, Motley Crue, Aerosmith, Mathew Sweet, Lenny Kravitz, Wolfmother, Jane’s Addiction, Sloan, Fountains of Wayne, The Pixies, Kiss, Boston, Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Soundgarden, Aerosmith, Green Day, Oasis, Husker Du, Urge Overkill, Teenage Fanclub, The Posies, Cheap Trick, Def Leppard, UFO, Thin Lizzy, The Clash, ZZ Top, UFO, Scorpions, Big Star, and many more. All these ensembles have enjoyed playing at bars around Chicago. Some students have even started their own bands after meeting and playing with other students in Dan’s classes.
Dan is a guitarist with nearly 40 years of study in such styles of music as jazz, rock, classical, punk, blues, and metal among others. He began Suzuki violin training at the age of four in Fort Wayne, Indiana and was selected into the All-City Youth Orchestra in middle school and in high school. Dan attended several Suzuki violin camps in Indiana and Wisconsin as well as the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp for guitar and violin. He even performed in front of Dr. Suzuki himself.
Dan is a recipient of The Old Town School Of Folk Music's 2019 Distinguished Teaching Artist award.
He studied bluegrass fiddle with Arvel Bird from Glen Campbell’s band and had his first professional gig paying bluegrass fiddle at the age of twelve. Dan was accepted to perform violin with the All-City High School Orchestra of Fort Wayne in 1989 and 1990. He was the only guitarist selected for the All-State High School Jazz Big Band of Indiana in 1990. Dan Fulkerson has also studied jazz with monster jazz guitarists such as Frank Gambale, Scott Henderson and Mick Goodrick at the National Guitar Workshop.
With a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Performance on the classical guitar and a Jazz minor from Ball State University, where he was the only freshman select into the Ball State’s top Big Band where he remained until graduation. While performing in Ball State’s Big Band, the band recieved national recognition and performed in Mobile, Alabama for semi-finals for best collegiate big band in the US. Dan has toured and performed in 35 states, playing the blues with Studebaker John and the Hawks. He’s performed all over Canada (including the Montreal Jazz Festival) and even in the country of Turkey. Dan has performed on stage with Judy Collins, Jamey Aebersold, Pat Dinizo of the Smithereens, and Nash Kato of Urge Overkill. Dan has opened shows for Robert Plant, Susan Tedeschi, Koko Taylor, Magic Slim and more. He has also had dozens of gigs performing in front of thousands in India. Currently Dan performs Bach, Mendelssohn, Vivaldi, and other Classical nylon stringed guitar music for weddings and other events as well as gigging around Chicago as a guitar and vocalist in bars and at parties. He also writes and performs in a successful power pop band entitled Unibrow. His band has played at the Metro, Double Door, Empty Bottle, Schuba’s and Martyrs. Unibrow's latest album was engineered by the legendary Steve Albini (Nirvana, Cheap Trick, PJ Harvey, Pixies, Page and Plant).
Dan is unfortunately unable to offer make-up lessons for missed private lessons.
Get in touch with Dan at dfulkerson@oldtownschool.org.
Education: BFA Music Performance/Jazz Theory, Ball State University, Indiana
Started at the Old Town School in May of 1997
