My brother Danny was one of the most funny and musically talented people I have ever come across in this lifetime. When I think back to all the times he made an entire room burst out into hysterical laughter, or the times I saw him play his guitar and captivate an entire venue and fill a stage with his presence... it was pretty clear that Danny had something special.

From a young age, he started taking classical guitar lessons. By the time he was a teenager, he was playing at a professional level. I remember when we both still lived with my parents, he would play upstairs in his room on his little practice amp. Listening to his musical progression over the years was astounding.

Comedy-wise… he honestly could have been on Saturday Night Live. For quite a number of years, he used to do these hilarious improv stand-up routines at our local watering hole. It was always really funny and seemed very well put together, even though he was coming up with most of it right on the spot. His brain was so quick, sharp and innately, spontaneously, naturally funny. Dan was a wild man and he had a wild sense of humor. He just had this sixth sense for making people laugh like no other.

But with his genius came his demons, as you always so often hear. What once was recreational fun turned into hard drugs and eventually became a serious drug addiction that ended up costing him his life. In his later years, he had been in and out of treatment. In his last year, he checked himself into a mental hospital and doctor there told him that he had been living with undiagnosed mental illness (bipolar disorder and clinical depression) for the better part of 20 years. That made so much sense because as his brother I always knew that he was tortured inside of his own head. Drugs gave him an escape from the pain that nobody else could feel but him.

Danny's passing left a wound with me, my family and my friends that has never truly been healed. Eight years later and it still always feels like something is missing. His death was the true catalyst and the inspiration for Ghost Hawk and everything I've done since that day.

Danny's great love of birds (in particular Red-Tailed Hawks) was so strong that he had multiple hawk tattoos. The hawk was his spirit animal and it's certainly become mine as well. That love started at a young age during our formative years spent hiking and camping in the woods with our dad. Danny was true the inspiration behind the Ghost Hawk name. Read more about our story here.