Dan Crane

Dan Crane is a writer, musician, air guitarist and recovering hedonist. In 2003, Crane realized computers were boring and that he should become a freelance writer. Since then his writing has appeared in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Elle,... more »

Dan Crane is a writer, musician, air guitarist and recovering hedonist.

In 2003, Crane realized computers were boring and that he should become a freelance writer. Since then his writing has appeared in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Elle, Nylon, Slate, Blender, Esquire, Paper and Real Simple. He is also a world-class air guitarist and the author of To Air is Human: One Man’s Quest to Become the World’s Greatest Air Guitarist (Riverhead, 2006). The book was awarded five out of six stars by TimeOut New York who said, “In To Air Is Human, Dan Crane (nom d’air Björn Türoque) does for the air-guitar world what George Plimpton’s gonzo-journalism Paper Lion did for football....”

Of his air guitar skills, Blink and The Tipping Point author Malcolm Gladwell once said, “Björn Türoque is so good that people with real guitars now have contests to see who can do the best imitation of his air guitar imitation.”

Crane is featured in the award-winning documentary, AIR GUITAR NATION, in which the New York Times referred to him as “Bill Murray trapped in the body of Sid Vicious.”

Crane spent the summers of 2007 and 2008 on a forty-eight foot tour bus with US Air Guitar. He was the host and emcee of sold-out competitions in numerous cities from The Key Club in Los Angeles to Irving Plaza in New York. He’s also hosted events in Athens, Greece, and hosted the 2008 Air Guitar World Championships in Oulu, Finland—the first time a non-Finn has been asked to emcee the event.

Joined by his air guitar alter-ego Björn Türoque, Crane has lectured on the art of air guitar at the Experience Music Project in Seattle, WA, Columbia University, and the University of North Carolina. For contact information regarding booking Dan/Björn, please see the Link page.

Crane also plays bass and sings in a faux-French rock band called Nous Non Plus. Their first album was on the CMJ top-10 for four weeks, peaking at #6. Their latest album, Ménagerie will be released in January of 2009.

He has also composed music for film and television, including the musical score for Air Guitar Nation, The Cool School (PBS, Fall 2007), Hollywood Home Movies (A&E, 2005), How to Eat Your Watermelon in White Company (and Enjoy It) (2005), and The Third Date (independent short, 2003).

Dan lives in Los Angeles with his air guitar. « less