dan zahn & kate moretti
Kate Moretti remembers listening to the music of the ‘40s on the radio in her family’s ’64 Studebaker. It was her Dad’s car... she had no choice. She would rather have been listening to the music she later learned to play on guitar: the songs of Gordon Lightfoot, Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs, and Simon & Garfunkel. As her musical tastes grew she rediscovered the music that she had listened to in the old Studebaker and developed an appreciation for jazz players such as the legendary Django Reinhardt.
Dan Zahn grew up listening to the music of the ‘40s when his parents would watch “Sing Along With Mitch." As a teenager, he too was influenced by the music of Gordon Lightfoot, Phil Ochs, and Bob Dylan. As time went by, he was also influenced by Tony Rice and Django Reinhardt. Over the years Dan has performed on the road as a soloist and in a variety of bands.
As a soloist Kate performed her blend of folk and jazz at coffeehouses in Northern Illinois, opening for such great performers as Joel Mabus, Tricia Alexander, Small Potatoes, and Sons of the Never Wrong.
Dan and Kate met in 1995 and discovered how similar their musical tastes were. That year they co-founded and directed the first Lake County Folk Festival, which took place in Lake Zurich, Illinois, and ran for thirteen years. Over the years Dan and Kate have performed as a duo throughout the Midwest. Playing traditional folk, blues, country swing, jazz and Dan’s originals, they have performed at such notable venues as The No Exit Café, The Hickory Ridge Coffeehouse, The Lake County Folk Festival, The Fox Valley Folk Festival and Bill’s Blues to name just a few.
