His first recording, an album called Follow the Sun, was released in 2000, on his 70th birthday.

[1] His great-grandfather was a sailor from Jamaica in the West Indies, and his great-grandmother a chief's daughter from New Caledonia.

[1] Dan's singing came from family, friends and associating with talented musicians in his multi-cultural maritime working life, creating a fusion of music from Australia, Melanesia, North America, Africa and Polynesia, notably the Thursday Island "hula" style.

He was a regular performer at Thursday Island's local hotels and a community musician for decades.

[7][8] In its citation on awarding Dan the Australia Council for the Arts Red Ochre Award in 2005 for his outstanding contribution to the development and recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander arts and culture, the Council claimed he was a charismatic and consummate performer who blended traditional Torres Strait Islander and pearling songs with jazz, hula and blues.