Eleven Reasons Dan Achen Was Cool

Former Junkhouse member and producer Dan Achen has died.

The Hamilton, Ont. musician and owner of the city's Catherine North Studios passed away after suffering a heart attack while playing hockey on Monday (March 15) night.

Achen not only played guitar in Junkhouse, but is related to one of Canada's greatest contemporary singer/songwriters and produced some of this century's most well-received Canadian albums.

Rather than dwell on the sadness of this man's passing, we here at CHARTattack would prefer to celebrate some of the things that made Achen awesome.

Here are 11 reasons why Dan Achen was cool:

1. Achen formed Junkhouse in 1989 with singer/guitarist Tom Wilson, bassist Russ Wilson and drummer Ray Farrugia. They released three albums —  1993's Strays, 1995's Birthday Boy and 1997's Fuzz — before splitting that same year.

2. Junkhouse had several hits throughout the '90s like "Out Of My Head," "Prayin' For Rain" and "Big Brown Turtle."

3. Achen ran the revered Catherine North Studios in Hamilton. He bought the converted church in the city in 2000 and turned it into a beautiful recording studio. He kept its stained glass windows and the pipe organ. Achen operated the studio with his friends Duke Foster and Michael Chambers.

4. Achen was Feist's uncle. That's awesome enough in itself, but...

5. Feist got her start at Catherine North, and recorded her first demos there. The studio had such an influence on her that when it came time to record 2007's Juno and Grammy Award-winning The Reminder, Feist wanted to record in an environment similar to Catherine North.

6. Ex-Rheostatics singer/guitarist Martin Tielli's 2001 solo debut, We Didn't Even Suspect That He Was The Poppy Salesman, was recorded at Catherine North. The Michael Phillip Wojewoda-produced (Barenaked Ladies, Ashley MacIsaac) album was mostly cut live off the floor.

7. Kathleen Edwards laid down part of her 2008 Polaris Music Prize short-listed Asking For Flowers album at Catherine North.

8. The Marble Index's 2006 Watch Your Candles, Watch Your Knives sophomore album was recorded at Catherine North with producer Scott Shields (Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros).

9. American singer/songwriter Josh Ritter's 2006 The Animal Years album was partly cut at Catherine North.

10. All of you Dallas Green superfans owe City & Colour's Bring Me Your Love to Achen. Green co-produced the record with Achen, who cut it at Catherine North. Achen is also credited with performing "stomps" on that album.

11. Finally, from Brodie Schwendiman, of Hamilton's Casbah Lounge: "He was one of the few who still subscribed to the attitude of 'Let's go out and see a band' without needing to know who the bands were. He simply followed the music wherever it led him."