The Lt. Dan Band is a cover band

Cover band

A cover band , is a band that plays mostly or exclusively cover songs. New or unknown bands often find the cover band format marketable for smaller gigs, and these bands may be known as a wedding band, party band and function band. A band whose covers consist mainly of songs that were chart hits is...

 founded by Kimo Williams

Kimo Williams

Kimo Williams is a Chicago based musician, composer and professor who plays with a number of bands including and the Lt. Dan Band. While he is best known for his work with the Lt. Dan Band, Williams has worked on a number of other projects including: award-winning photography, releasing four CDs,...

 and Gary Sinise

Gary Sinise

Gary Alan Sinise is an American actor, film director and musician. During his career, Sinise has won various awards including an Emmy and a Golden Globe Award and was nominated for an Academy Award. In 1992, Sinise directed, and played the role of George Milton in the successful film adaptation of...

 who have worked together since a Steppenwolf

Steppenwolf Theatre Company

Steppenwolf Theatre Company is a Tony Award-winning Chicago theatre company founded in 1974 by Gary Sinise, Terry Kinney and Jeff Perry in the basement of a church in Highland Park, Illinois. It has since relocated to Chicago's Halsted Street, in the Lincoln Park neighborhood. Its name comes from...

 production of A Streetcar Named Desire. The band is named after the character Lieutenant Dan Taylor, whom Sinise portrayed in the film Forrest Gump

Forrest Gump

Forrest Gump is a 1994 American epic comedy-drama romance film based on the 1986 novel of the same name by Winston Groom. The film was directed by Robert Zemeckis, starring Tom Hanks, Robin Wright and Gary Sinise...

. Sinise has said in interviews that many people know him by sight as "Lieutenant Dan" rather than by his real name.

The Lt. Dan Band has grown from the occasional jam session and Chicago-area gigs to performing for charities and non-profit organizations including the USO

United Service Organizations

The United Service Organizations Inc. is a private, nonprofit organization that provides morale and recreational services to members of the U.S. military, with programs in 160 centers worldwide. Since 1941, it has worked in partnership with the Department of Defense , and has provided support and...

 and Operation Iraqi Children

Operation Iraqi Children

Operation International Children is a charitable program created in 2004 to send school supplies to Iraqi children...

, the latter of which was co-founded by Sinise in March 2004. They frequently visit military bases in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

and abroad.

Sinise is a passionate supporter of troops and is now involved in building a memorial to America's three million living disabled military veterans, at whose opening the band is expected to play.