Carmel resident, partner create album through internet

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Dan Lockhart and Dan Blackard have written more than 100 songs together.

However, the two have never met in person and have no concrete plans to do so.

Lockhart, a Carmel resident, said both enjoy the arrangement and find it quite productive. Blackard, who lives in Reno, Nev., and Lockhart met on SoundCloud. They released their first album, “4114,” under the name Dan X2, in October. The album is pronounced “four-one-fourteen.”

“It represents our common first name of Dan,” Lockhart said. “D is the fourth letter of the alphabet, A is the first letter of the alphabet and N is the fourteenth letter.”

Lockhart said the musical partners have a process that fits their unique skills.

“We each do the parts that best fit our skills and interests. I do the initial song development,” Lockhart said. “(Blackard) writes the lyrics, perform the vocals and adds lead guitar. I then take the track and do all the final production, mixing mastering, adding in frills. I write all of the chords, timing, changes and develop the track.”

He then sends two tracks to Blackard.

“One track has me describing the song,” Lockhart said. “I tell him the key, the timing and any oddities about the song (changing keys or time signature). In the track, I tell him verbally where is the verse, chorus, bridge and any other important information. I then send a second track that does not have this verbal dialogue. I call it an instrumental track. This is a track to which Dan can sing and add his parts.

“He then returns four pieces to me — a complete version of the song, a solo track of his vocals, a solo track of his guitar parts and the artwork to accompany the song. I add his information into the original file. I listen to it and make changes to the song to enhance the meaning of the lyrics. I sometimes add instruments or take away some instruments.”

Lockhart plays guitar, keyboards, banjo, mandolin, pedal steel, violin and viola, so he can make a lot of adjustments.

“On rare occasions, I move pieces about,” Lockhart said. “I then master it and prepare it for final production.”

The music is blues and rock-based.

“(But) we have songs that venture into jazz, pop, classical, avant-garde, country, bluegrass, new age and other genres,” Lockhart said.

The album can be found on iTunes.

Lockhart moved from Boston to Fishers in 1988. In 1996, he moved to St. Louis for two years and has lived in Carmel since 1998.


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