Dan Sheron (of Balto)
Dan Sheron is the principal songwriter, vocalist, and multi-instrumentalist for the American rock'n'roll band Balto.
At 21, after a failed attempt to begin a journalism career in Moscow and an overwhelming heartbreak, Dan Sheron's life collapsed. Without so much as saying goodbye to his friends or bothering to pack a bag, Dan boarded a train bound for Siberia and headed east with a child's guitar and journal that quickly filled with songs. At some point in those manic months, Balto was born, in a third-class train car, singing and drinking among strangers, somewhere east of Novosibirsk.
Dan came home and tracked those new compositions with a band made up of his closest friends. The recordings became Balto's first album, October's Road. Adventures and tours came and went - 2012 saw the release of Balto's second record, Monuments, followed by an EP Call it by its Name in 2015 and their latest full-length outing, Strangers (LP) - in 2017.
Over time, Balto transformed from a songwriting vehicle into a rock n roll band - performing a boozy, swaggering style of American music rooted at the intersection of Motown, Big Star, Plastic Ono Band-era Lennon, and Jackson Browne. Their interactive live performances have drawn comparisons to fiery indie rockers My Morning Jacket and Wilco, while Seattle-based curators Artist Home describe Strangers (2017) as "a tangle of beautiful, messy emotions, wrapped up in a sound that's warmly familiar yet brimming with soul and tiny details that are touched by magic." They continue to describe Sheron as, "a roots-rock storyteller with the heart of an Edwardian poet-full of romance, sharp observation, knowing humor, and at least a slug or two of whiskey." Songs from the new record have been featured in official playlists for Spotify, Google Play Music, Tidal, Apple Music, & Deezer, and the band has toured steadily throughout 2017, supporting acts such as Blind Pilot, the Current Swell, the Donkeys and Communist Daughter. Dan returned to Russia on tour in fall 2017, to be followed with dates in Germany and Austria in Winter 2018 as the band continues tracking their next full-length release.