Dan Lavery is a professional musician who has been nominated for two Grammy-awards as part of the band Tonic

Tonic (band)

Tonic is an American rock band that has earned two Grammy nominations to date. The band was formed in 1993 by Emerson Hart and Jeff Russo. Later members have included Dan Lavery, Kevin Shepard, and Dan Rothchild. Signed to a recording contract in 1995, the band released its debut album Lemon Parade...

. Lavery joined Tonic after the band had recorded Lemon Parade

Lemon Parade

Lemon Parade is Tonic's first album, released in 1996. The album has sold 1,300,000 copies to date, and reached platinum status in the United States. Tonic released a live EP with enhanced material called Live and Enhanced based on the success of this album...

, and has been a part of Tonic ever since. When Tonic went on hiatus in the 2004, Lavery embarked on songwriting for motion pictures, such as work inspired by the film The Passion of the Christ. Lavery also began playing bass guitar for musical group The Fray

The Fray

-Literature:*Fray, a phenomenon in Terry Pratchett's The Carpet People*Fray , a comic book series by Joss Whedon**Melaka Fray, titular character of the comic book series-Music:*"Fray", a song from the album 14 Shades of Grey by Staind...

 in 2007. Lavery is currently working with his fellow Tonic band members on a studio recording scheduled to be released in 2010.

Lavery graduated from Lawrence High School

Lawrence High School (New Jersey)

Lawrence High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school in the Lawrenceville section of Lawrence Township, in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States, serving grades 9-12 as part of the Lawrence Township Public Schools. LHS was built in 1967...

 in Lawrenceville, New Jersey

Lawrenceville, New Jersey

Lawrenceville is a census-designated place and unincorporated area located within Lawrence Township in Mercer County, New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States Census, the CDP population was 3,887...

 in 1984 and the Rutgers University

Rutgers University

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey , is the largest institution for higher education in New Jersey, United States. It was originally chartered as Queen's College in 1766. It is the eighth-oldest college in the United States and one of the nine Colonial colleges founded before the American...

 School of Engineering in 1990. During his time in college, he played in a band named "True." Lavery and his fellow members of True (minus bass player Dave Nitti) traveled to Los Angeles to try to become professional musicians. They were discovered by Paul A. Rothchild

Paul A. Rothchild

Paul A. Rothchild was a prominent American record producer of the late 1960s and 1970s.-Early years:Born in Brooklyn, New York, Rothchild grew up in Teaneck, New Jersey and graduated from Teaneck High School in 1953....

, who had managed musical acts such as The Doors

The Doors

The Doors were an American rock band formed in 1965 in Los Angeles, California, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, drummer John Densmore, and guitarist Robby Krieger...

. The band True was short-lived though, breaking up. Paul Rothchild's son Dan happened to be the original bass player in Tonic. Dan Rothchild left Tonic in 1996, and Emerson Hart subsequently asked Lavery to join Tonic.