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Born in Hoboken, New Jersey, the young Doc entertained Dutch sailors
at his Grandmothers saloon on the New York waterfront, playing the accordion.
In the sixties he made Chicago his home and learned the harmonica at Blues Clubs like the Checkerboard Lounge and Ma Beas on the Westside, while working as a paramedic at the notorious Cook County Jail.
After a stint in the Navy, in 1972 Doc hitchhiked through 12 Latin American countries jamming with the locals.
His move back to Chicago found him playing with Willie Kent and the Beehives. The band featured
blues figureheads Fenton Robinson, Johnnie Littlejohn and many others.
Forming his own band, Two Fisted Blues,
he made Santa Fe (New Mexico) his base for touring the Rockies to
Alaska, playing hundreds of gigs at Rocky Mountain ski resorts. He also led a National Park trail
crew, in the summers on the continental divide and played with the Summertime Blues Band at the Dew Drop Inn in Hungary Horse.
Doc arrived in Australia in 1987 via a route filled with adventures.
Here he has played with Oz blues luminaries like Andy Cowan, James T,
Fiona Boyes, Ross Williams, Jan Preston, Lil' Fi, and Kevin Borich. He’s played most major
music festivals across Australia, thousands of live performances and
dozens of recording sessions.  Doc Span performing with Ross Williams
He
has featured on many albums and released a few of his own, including the Sunnie Award winning acoustic blues CD, The Last Train, with Ross Williams. They are also published by Mel Bay USA with Blues Grooves..
Doc’s two latest recording ventures with Matthew Cang— Something for the Pain
(formerly released as Spantronics), and The Treatment - are very
exciting projects that he considers a musical continuum of his love of
the blues. Evocative, visual lyrics combined with a modern
rock, funk groove, gritty guitar and
tasty, melodic blues harmonica. They are published by Trackdown Music.
Doc
has also written an essay from his time at Cook County Jail which
appears in the liner notes along with photos of Cook County Jail.
[ You can read the Cook County Jail essay here - its linked to the main menu .
For more information go to www.myspace.com/docspanband
Apart from Something for the Pain, The Treatment and Expatriate (see main menu for more info), Doc’s recordings include:
The Last Train (available through Empire Records)
- From the Underground
- Blues Appetite
- Live In Australia
Plus many compilations and guest appearances, including 10.30 Thursdays by Andy Cowan.
iSound Site: www.isound.com/doc_span_blues
Visit Doc Span on MySpace : http://myspace.com/docspan
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