Dan Sullivan and Chris Hillier met in the most unlikely of places... a middle school men's room. [Insert your punch line here] They were both first year school teachers in Round Rock, TX. Dan was originally from Missouri and Chris from Nebraska. They quickly realized they knew some of the same folks from the Lincoln, Omaha and Kansas City music scenes. The Detentions were born and they played their first official gig for a faculty Christmas party. For over a decade now, The Detentions have been helping folks "retire one weekend at a time" playing their blend of Country/Rock/Coastal/Americana they call Rockamole.
Growing up in the Midwest, Dan and Chris had a broad range of musical influences such as Kiss, The Police, and The Beatles to Gordon Lightfoot, Jim Croce and John Mellencamp. After moving to Austin they became inspired by the likes of local songwriters such as Robert Earl Keen, James McMurtry, Jerry Jeff Walker and Walt Wilkins. The Detentions began writing songs from their personal experiences playing in Central Texas and the Gulf Coast region. As an acoustic duo, The Detentions rely on bold truthful lyrics, memorable melodies and air tight harmonies to move their listeners. Their first album, Rockamole, was released in 2010 and included fan favorites "Paper Bag Coozie", "Salty Dog," and "Whatcha Gonnna Do Boy?" The Austin Songwriters Group nominated "Salty Dog" for best country song of 2012.
The Detentions performed as a Regional Finalist at the 2012 Kerrville Folk Festival for their songs, "Smoke and Beers" and "If This Guitar." They've also opened for Texas legend, Joe Ely and most recently for Nashville Hall of Fame Songwriter and eight-time CMA musician of the year, Mac McAnally. The Austin Songwriters Group nominated "Smoke and Beers" and "Where I Wanna Be" for best country song of 2013. Both of those songs can be found on their self-titled second album, The Detentions, which was released November 2013.
In October of 2014, their song Coast was put into heavy rotation on Radio Margaritaville. [channel 24 Sirius XM] And two months later, their song Sunburned joined Coast on Radio Margaritaville.
After a successful "Sunburned" tour in the summer of 2016 to Las Vegas, New Orleans, Detroit, Chicago, Orlando, Kansas City, Lincoln and Mexico The Detentions were crowned the Trop Rock Music Association's "Duo of the Year."
Building off their momentum they launched their "Just Coast" tour in the summer of 2017 and again brought home the TRMA "Duo of the Year" award. Not too shabby for a couple of school teachers by day and happy hour heroes come 5 o' clock.
Listen to “Coast” Now!
Listen and Download Music by The Detentions CDs Here!
To attend this house concert, RSVP on our Facebook page
Must be over 21 years of age to attend
Bring your own beverages and chairs
Bring a snack to share (not required)
Donation of $20 per person goes directly to the musician