{{short description|American musician}} {{Infobox person | name = Dana Lyons | birth_place = Kingston, New York, U.S. | occupation = Musician, author }}
'''Dana Lyons''' is an American folk and alternative rock musician, who wrote and performed the 1996 comedic folk song<ref name="illawarra">{{cite news |last1=Fleming |first1=Ivy |title=Getting to know 'Cows with Guns' singer Dana Lyons |url=https://www.illawarramercury.com.au/story/1609083/getting-to-know-cows-with-guns-singer-dana-lyons/ |access-date=11 May 2026 |work=www.illawarramercury.com.au |date=1 July 2013 |location=Australia |language=en-au |quote=Dana Lyons, writer of the infamous Cows with Guns, is a serious conservationist behind the goofy animal songs.}}</ref> "Cows With Guns".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=tVxWAAAAIBAJ&pg=6516,8908057&dq=dana-lyons+folk&hl=en |title=Rules, reality don't coincide at City Hall |last=Bonino |first=Rick |date=March 13, 1989 |work=Spokesman-Review |accessdate=29 April 2011 |page=A8}}</ref> “Cows With Guns” was #1 for the year on Dr. Demento, #2 on the Australian Country charts, #1 in Seattle and spent six months on the Irish Top 40.<ref name="orcas" />
== Biography == Lyons' environmentalist song "Our State Is a Dumpsite", composed and performed with his younger brother Zach Lyons,<ref>{{cite news |last=Young-Metzler |first=Melissa |title=Traveling brothers push anti-nuke measure |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=pItUAAAAIBAJ&pg=3195,2553234&dq=dana-lyons&hl=en |newspaper=Ellensburg Daily Record |date=October 24, 1986}}</ref> was proposed in the Washington state legislature in 1986 as the official state song.<ref>{{cite news |last=Dillon |first=Cathy |title=Nuclear waste concerns singer |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ylghAAAAIBAJ&pg=796,4764782&dq=dana-lyons&hl=en |newspaper=Tri City Herald |date=February 14, 1986}}{{Dead link|date=July 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
Dana Lyons went on to perform music for the environmental group Earth First!.<ref>{{Cite web |last=McIntyre |first=Iain |date=2019-04-01 |title=Treesits, lock-ons and barricades: Environmental blockading in the 1980s |url=https://commonslibrary.org/treesits-lock-ons-and-barricades-environmental-blockading-in-the-1980s/ |access-date=2024-08-12 |website=The Commons Social Change Library |language=en-AU}}</ref>
Lyons is the author of the children's book ''The Tree'' (2002). Jane Goodall wrote the foreword and David Danioth provided the illustrations.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.villagebooks.com/event/bill-mckibben-5/16/14 |title=SOLD OUT! Chuckanut Radio Hour with Bill McKibben, 'Oil and Honey: The Education of an Unlikely Activist', and musical guest Dana Lyons |date=2014-02-18 |website=Village Books: Building Community One Book at a Time |language=en |access-date=2019-10-13}}</ref>
== Early life and education == Dana Lyons was born in Kingston, New York. He is a graduate of Swarthmore College.<ref name="orcas">{{cite web |title=Dana Lyons is Coming Back to the Rock! |url=https://theorcasonian.com/dana-lyons-is-coming-back-to-the-rock/ |website=theOrcasonian.com |access-date=11 May 2026 |location=Washington |date=30 April 2012}}</ref> Lyons lives in Bellingham, Washington.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.whatcomtalk.com/event/house-concert-dana-lyons/ |title=House Concert with Dana Lyons |last= |first= |website=WhatcomTalk |language=en-US |access-date=2019-10-13}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Bio – Cows With Guns |url=https://cowswithguns.com/about-dana/biography/ |website=CowsWithGuns |access-date=11 May 2026}}</ref>
==Discography== * ''Cows with Guns'' (1997) – No. 32 album Australia<ref>{{cite web |url=https://australian-charts.com/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Dana+Lyons |title=Discography Dana Lyons |website=australian-charts.com |access-date=August 23, 2022}}</ref>
==Bibliography== * ''Cows with Guns'' illustrated by Jeff Sinclair, 1998 {{ISBN|978-0-670-87890-1}} * ''The Tree'' illustrated by David Danioth, 2002 {{ISBN|978-0-9701907-3-4}}
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * {{official website|1=https://www.cowswithguns.com/}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Lyons, Dana}} Category:living people Category:musicians from Kingston, New York Category:year of birth missing (living people) Category:Musicians from Bellingham, Washington Category:Musicians from New York (state)