Neon and Shy

Neon and Shy is the music project of Dan Nosheny, multi-instrumentalist and writer of eclectic songs.  As a conservatory trained tuba player, Dan has delved into genre-bending performances with such artists as the Violent Femmes, Christian McBride, McCoy Tyner, and Laurie Anderson.  He has recorded with Gordon Gano and Brian Richie of the Violent Femmes on their solo projects, and is an in-demand studio musician in the Philadelphia and New York area.

In Neon and Shy, Dan employs the accordion, toy piano(s), and assorted keyboard instruments in his songwriting.  In the studio, he augments his sound with tuba, trombone, and assorted percussion. When it comes to live shows, it’s always a surprise as to which instruments he’ll be playing, be it the accordion, the Barbie toy piano, the set of bells from a defunct elementary school music program, or some combination of each.

His songs bridge the gap between irony and sincerity, and include such ageless themes as love, loneliness, hope, and zombies. They fluidly run the gamut; one minute he’s singing about the closure of his favorite ice cream parlor, the next he’s lamenting the lack of closure from a lost love.  There is often an absurd quality that is matched only by how absurd life can be.  While the tongue is often firmly planted in the cheek in his music, that's only because he has stored a delicious green apple Jolly Rancher in there.

In 2011, Neon and Shy recorded and released a song each month, and put them together into his debut album, I Don't Want to Be Your Friend.