Jon Dahlander’s fifth solo piano project, Searching for Solace, reflects emotions experienced since his last record, Songs for Smiler McGee. The result is an introspective collection of piano solos expressing love and loss, hope and nostalgia.
Jon Dahlander tries to play every piano he sees. While that love of the piano has caused him to be run out of hotel lobbies and bars throughout his life, it also explains why his compositions have found an audience in more than 100 countries totaling more than 150 million streams.
Dahlander became a Beatles fan before he could talk and started playing piano by ear at 5. He played trombone in elementary school band, eventually earning a music scholarship to Trinity University in San Antonio. While there, he retreated to the piano practice rooms, finding catharsis in creating songs and learning old favorites. He was inspired by Windham Hill artists George Winston, Phillip Aaberg and Allaudin Mathieu, whom he sought out to become his teacher.
The love of the piano led to 3 albums in the late 90’s for Dallas-based indie label Carpe Diem Records. In 2000, his wife gave birth to a son with significant special needs and they were in and out of hospitals often. While Jared never spoke, it was very apparent that he loved music too and his father would play for him for hours. When Jared died of kidney failure in 2014, Dahlander again found solace in the piano, eventually releasing Songs for Smiler McGee in 2017.
Dahlander’s fifth solo piano project, Searching for Solace, picks up where Smiler McGee left off, reflecting emotions experienced since then. The result is an introspective collection of piano solos expressing love and loss, hope and nostalgia.
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