Dan Toler, a southern rock guitar great who was part of the Allman Brothers Band family, has died after a long Battle with ALS near his hometown of Sarasota, Fla. He was 65.
A native of Indiana, Dan Toler became popular in the late 1970s as a member of Dickey Betts & Great Southern. He was featured on the albums Dickey Betts & Great Southern and Atlanta’s Burning Down. He went on to become a member of The Allman Brothers Band with Betts from 1979-1982 appearing on Enlightened Rogues (1979), Reach for the Sky (1980) and Brothers of the Road (1981).
Toler and his brother David (Frankie) Toler were members of the Gregg Allman Band in the 1980s, featuring hit album I’m No Angel 1987 and Just Before The Bullets Fly 1988 as well as a reformed version of Great Southern in the 2000s. Dan experimented with jazz fusion multi instrumentalist Mark Pettey in Sarasota in the early 1990s, recording a short demo, and performing live shows in the Tampa Bay area. Mark and Dan continue to collaborate on jazz influenced projects together.
Dan, John Townsend, Dan’s brother David (Frankie) Toler, Bruce Waibel and Mark Pettey created the Townsend Toler Band in the early 1990s, starting with a demo cut in Telstar Studios in Sarasota. This was followed by tours of the eastern United States, including shows in New York City and up and down the east coast.
He later joined The Renegades of Southern Rock. Band members included George McCorkle, John Townsend (formerly of the Sanford-Townsend Band), John McKnight, Jack Hall, Taylor Caldwell.
In 2009 Dan teamed up again with John Townsend to form the Toler/Townsend Band. Their self-titled album was released in 2009 on the European Blues Boulevard/music avenue label. The Toler/Townsend Band CD was later released in the United States by Garage Door Records and is getting National airplay.
Toler had battled amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and died on February 25, 2013
