It may be generalizing. Hopefully it isn’t offensive. But let’s face it: Dan Dyer has one hell of a soulful voice for a white guy. It’s a soulful voice for anybody. But for a white guy?! Close your eyes and you’re likely to picture something more along the lines of Al Green or Stevie Wonder or Sly Stone than some east Texan around 40 years old. But this is Dan Dyer’s gift – a voice oozing soul along with deeply introspective, serious songwriting.

Dyer was born and raised in the small east Texas town of Tool. He was given a guitar at age 5 but didn’t learn to play until he was 18 and had moved to Austin, Texas. It was there that he began to study music seriously, attacking the guitar, and exploring his until-then untapped singing and songwriting powers.

While attending Texas State in San Marcos, Texas, Dyer formed a band, Breedlove, with guitarist Tyrone Vaughan (son of Jimmie Vaughan), drummer Jason White, keyboardist Ezra Reynolds and bassist Josh Dawkins. The group developed a dedicated following and released Reach Out in 1996 before disbanding in 1998.

From there, Dyer moved to New York City and began writing commercial music jingles, having songs placed in marketing campaigns for Budweiser, Chevrolet, Dr. Pepper and Campbell’s Soup. While there, Lenny Kravitz, who had just begun a Warner Bros. imprint called Roxie Records, signed Dyer and produced his What Lies Beneath record in 2004, the first release on the label. Kravitz co-wrote four of the songs with Dyer and also played guitar on the record.

After touring for a year behind What Lies Beneath, Dyer moved to St. Louis and started a family. In 2007, he returned to Austin where he’d reunited with friend David Boyle, who recorded and produced Dyer in his converted-church studio for the self-titled Dan Dyer. The record was released in 2008 on Fat Caddy Records. From the chain gang-inspired sound of “Love Chain” to the gospel-tinged “I Walk On Gilded Splinters” and Stewart Copeland-esque syncopations of “Play On Little Children,” Dyer and Boyle weave a diverse fabric that extends beyond conventional musical boundaries.