Dan Fallon Band brings their brand of fun to Lakes Region music scene

LACONIA — Dan Fallon was tired of making a frequent commute from his home in Massachusetts to New Hampshire for work, so one day he drove up, and kept on driving. It’s been about five years, so it’s safe to say, "Dan Fallon’s not turning back."

Financial professional by day, musician by night, Fallon and his merry band of bards are quickly making a name for themselves in the Lakes Region music scene and, he hopes, far beyond. 

At Gunstock Mountain Resort on June 25, The Dan Fallon Band headlined the Best of the Lakes Region Celebration, bringing their brand of fun and high-energy musical performance to a crowd of several hundred on a perfectly sunny New Hampshire evening. They won silver in the contest's Music Act, Group or Duo category. 

A five-piece that night, Fallon and another vocal lead called Emily Strese belted out renditions of Maroon 5’s “Sunday Morning” and Sublime’s “Doin’ Time,” tactfully leaving their mark, making them their own. 

Originally from Malden, Massachusetts, but more recently living in Andover, Fallon took an unconventional route to find his new home in Laconia.

“I just started driving to all the towns, and I did it every weekend for a while, because there was nothing to do during COVID. I went all the way up to the border of Canada, just checking things out,” Fallon said.

“I pulled into a gas station in Tilton and the person was so nice to me — the people were so nice compared to where I was from.”

Not long after that experience, he moved up to the lakes, and since then he’s secured a foothold in the Granite State music business.

The band features something of a rotating lineup, but Fallon, Strese, Bryan House on brass, Andrew Morrissey on drums and bass player Abe “the Big Cheese” Hughes generally round it out.

“I’ve been playing instruments since [I was] a very little kid, and it kind of just kept going,” Fallon said in an interview. “I like to do covers, but I like to make them our own — I like to put our signature on everything and make it as fun as possible for everyone, and that’s a condition from birth. I’m pretty sure I was born with that kind of thing.”

Working in finance during the day, which Fallon said is a great career, can be stressful. Going out to blow off steam, and offering a way for him and for those around him to decompress, makes playing in the band a pretty great gig. The Lakes Region plays host to lots of venues for live music, and Fallon said he landed in the perfect spot.

“I do find that it provides a lot of balance to my life, and to a lot of the people who will come out,” he said. 

But working professionally in music isn’t new to Fallon — he’s been writing music for many years, often for the organization Sounds of Love, which writes custom songs for children with serious illnesses or who are in hospice care. It’s a charity effort. 

“I’ve been doing that for a long time,” he said.

“I want to feel connected with people when I’m playing and that’s what I share with Bryan and the band. If they don’t come in that way, they come out that way — we’re here to make friends, that’s really what it comes down to.”

Since moving to Laconia full-time, Fallon and his band have been busy. They’ll be playing at the Town Docks in Meredith on Sunday, July 27 — he said they love playing there — and frequently play other Lakes Region venues like Whiskey Tavern in Laconia and DOX on Winnipesaukee, even performing at BankNH Pavilion in Gilford a few times. They also play weddings; Fallon said they’ve got one just about every weekend through July.

Anybody interested in learning more about The Dan Fallon Band can visit facebook.com/DanFallonMusic.