"Sun in Mind" Players
(in order of appearance)

Dan Seamans
Sonya Hunter
Dan Foltz
Erik Pearson
Ben Street
Chris Cheek
Noah Hoffeld
Wendy Allen
Desmond Shea
stand-up bass
vocals, acoustic guitar
drums
electric gtrs, vocals, banjo
stand-up bass
saxophones
cello
back-up vocals
buttons, knobs, faders, percussion
Dan Seamans
stand-up bass

Dan Seamans is from Washington, DC, where he grew up playing electric bass and pedal steel guitar in garage bands with his friends. He came to California to go to college in Santa Cruz, and has since spent the years playing jazz and improvised music in the San Francisco area. These days he can often be heard with drummer Tom Hassett and saxophonist Phillip Greenlief in the Lost Trio, or found enjoying the outdoors with his family. He's also currently working towards a graduate degree in public policy at U.C. Berkeley.

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Dan Foltz
drums

Dan Foltz left his Indianapolis home for Boston as a spry lad and earned himself a BFA at Berklee School of Music. He went on to play plenty of music in the Bay Area -- recording with the likes of Lavay Smith and Alex De Grassi, touring nationally with rocker Linda Perry and singer songwriter Shelby Lynne, and playing about town with Jim Peterson, Jenny Scheinman, Scott Foster, and Jon Evans in the wonderful five-piece, Giant Trio. He currently can be found lending his trap-set talents in various ensembles around the Bay, and teaching drums at the San Francisco Community Music Center.

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Erik Pearson
electric guitars, vocals, banjo, toy piano

Erik Pearson grew up in Easton, PA - former home of “Sing Out” magazine, which is fitting for a guy with such a huge repertoire of old folk songs. He has a degree in composition from Oberlin College, and lends his open-minded multi-instrumental support to many Bay Area rock bands (e.g. Mushroom and Billy Talbot), singer-songwriters, and dance troupes. Erik can often be found on stage creating banjo and guitar soundscapes for internationally acclaimed storyteller Dianne Ferlatte. “Water,” his album brimming with self-penned folk-rock gems, can be purchased at CDBaby.

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Ben Street
stand-up bass

Sonya first met Ben Street in Brooklyn at a musician's softball game. She was able to recruit him for some playing a bit later, and was very pleased she did. At this writing, he couldn't be found for bio info, but from her memory and some info on the web, she's pretty sure he was raised in Portland, Maine, went to a music school his father teaches at, and has since been playing with -- both in N.Y. and around the globe -- an array of ensembles and jazzniks, including Joey Calderazzo, Kurt Rosenwinkle, Kenny Wolleson, Sephardic Tinge, and the so-soulful Little Jimmy Scott.

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Chris Cheek
saxophones

Raised in St. Louis, Missouri and schooled at Webster University and Berklee College of Music, Chris Cheek’s background began with a healthy dose of blues and jazz. Now based in New York City, he’s toured with Paul Motion, recorded with Kurt Rosenwinkle and Argentinian composer Guillermo Klein, and is a member of the Bloomdaddies, a jazz-fusion band in the rawest and funkiest sense. In addition to appearing on nearly 50 albums as a sideman, Chris has 3 releases of his own available on Fresh Sounds Records.

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Noah Hoffeld
cello

Noah Hoffeld is a true Brooklyner -- born and raised, and living there now within its famous melting-pot/arts district, Williamsburg. A Julliard School graduate, his Classical training has led to solo and chamber recitals as well as orchestral performances in the Europe and the U.S. He has a flair for Eastern European folk explorations, but he's not loyal to any one genre -- his inventive playing has landed him work with the likes of Pete Seeger, John Cage and pianist Brad Meldau. Noah's currently playing in a variety of constellations - both as an accompanist and composer.

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Wendy Allen
back-up vocals

Wendy Allen hails from the piedmonts of North Carolina. She remembers camping out at bluegrass festivals with her parents as a child but her musical training has been more Bach than Bill Monroe. When not designing hats and clothes she works as a hired gun for bands like The Court and Spark and Paula Frazer, singing backup and playing keyboards. She recently contributed several folk traditionals to an album by Conrad Praetzel called Clothesline Revival and is putting together her own album of folk tunes and spirituals from North and South Carolina called The Low Country.

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Desmond Shea
buttons, knobs, faders, percussion

Dez, audio wizard, Mr. Bartender, call him what you like -- he's a multi-talented musician/engineer raised in S.F. on a big diet of Abba and David Bowie. Desmond Shea started engineering at the age of 16 as a sidebar to playing in bands, and has made a career of it ever since. His recording credits include Diamanda Glass, the Court and Spark, Tarnation/Paula Frazer, Virgil Shaw and Matt Lax. Recent highlights include playing trumpet on the new Residents album and recording 11 singers in a 6' x 6' room. He's been known to call his mainly-analog, Mission-district studio "the National Curiosity Company."

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