Composer Dana Carlile had several years of piano instruction as a child. He took up playing the piano again on his own, as a hobby, after finishing graduate school in 1980. At the instigation of friend in the late 1980s, he tried composing and was surprised that something came to him. After a second period of composing in the late 1990s, he had completed over 80 pieces of piano music and decided to have his music recorded. His first CD, "Preludes for Silence and Darkness", performed by Susan DeWitt Smith, was featured on National Public Radio’s Open Mic internet show in 2004. In 2005 he released two more CDs of his music, "The Ballet of Phantoms" and "A Lullaby for Innocence". Also in 2005, he began working with film director John Jopson developing the sound track for the film "Les Absintheurs", now titled "The Absinthe Drinkers" and still in pre-production as of 2011. In 2007 he released his fourth CD, "A Paris Moon for the Last Waltz", preformed by Naomi LaViolette.