While growing up in Vancouver, songwriter Dan Mangan immersed himself in his parents record collection, paying special attention to albums by Nick Drake and the Beatles. Folk and pop thus became two of his biggest influences, and Mangan combined both genres while writing his own songs as a teenager. At 20 years old, he made his solo debut by releasing an acoustic EP, with the full-length Postcards and Daydreaming following two years later. Postcards and Daydreaming was later released in America, leading Mangan to increase his touring commitments and widen his fan base. In 2009, he returned with a second album, Nice, Nice, Very Nice, which landed on the Polaris Music Prize shortlist. Mangan followed up two years later with the Juno Award-winning Oh, Fortune, showing the troubadour's matured songwriting and arrangements, and produced by Colin Stewart (Black Mountain, Cave Singers). Club Meds, Mangan's fourth studio album and first to be released under the Dan Mangan + Blacksmith moniker, arrived in early 2015. ~ Andrew Leahey