Dan Spitz (born January 28, 1963) was the lead guitarist of the thrash metal band Anthrax from 1983-1995 and 2005 to 2007. He is the brother of former Black Sabbath bassist Dave Spitz. In 1995, Spitz was fired from Anthrax, due to a severe disinterest in playing guitar. In the meantime he opened his own watch repair shop and converted to Messianic Judaism[1] (which is seen as a form of Christianity to both Jewish and Christian groups). He and his wife Candi have four children, two daughters (Adrianna and Julia, born circa early 1990's) and two newly born twin boys named Brendan Alan Spitz and Jaden Michael Spitz. On April 1, 2005, Anthrax announced an Among the Living reunion, and Spitz was reunited with the band. They embarked on a world tour and released a DVD with footage from those performances. Following the end of the reunion tour, Spitz left Anthrax once again. He has since been replaced by Rob Caggiano, who was Anthrax's lead guitarist immediately prior to the 2005 reunion. Spitz was originally known for his use of Jackson Guitars (he was famous for his custom Jackson Randy Rhoads guitar with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles painted on them). But most recently during the Anthrax Reunion tour he has been an endorser of Paul Reed Smith Guitars. Paul Reed Smith has created a special "Spitz" head stock (a first for PRS) and a new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles rendering was painted on this new guitar by tattoo artist and painter Linton Ginther (aka JR) of SlushBox Before playing in Anthrax, Spitz was a lead guitarist for another local thrash metal band Overkill and also Thrasher, at which time he shared the stage with bass virtuoso Billy Sheehan. Spitz stands at a very short 5 feet 1 inch. He does not appear to be offended by "short jokes", as his bandmates joke about his small size commonly (his nickname within the band is "Mini-Tower").
