Danny Django
"Django" is from the European Gypsy vernacular meaning "I awake". Surely the last few years have been an awakening for me on many levels. Jamie Anderson at the indie-music.com webzine says in a January 2007 article that I "sound like Tom Petty but have the versatility of Neil Young." I always thought Tom Petty sounded like Bob Dylan (both are great) who sounds like Woody Guthrie. I see myself as Woody Guthrie with digital capabilities. I guess it's all come full circle in some sort of Cosmic Wheel way. Nonetheless, I like the word "versatile", and love Neil Young. In a very beautiful and odd way I've been allowed, blessed really with being connected to doing the thing I love - Music. Recording my music and performing places is what I love. Mostly I enjoy meeting and talking with people everywhere I go. My good friend Richard (also known as Ricardo Del Sax), owner of the famous Bar & Restaurant Peaceful Henry's in Guffy,CO that I play at sometimes, defines my music as "luminous folk". While I was on tour last spring (2006) in Washington State I played a few of my songs for a unity church congregation. The last song I played was "Beautiful People", the pastor went on for about five minutes telling the congregation how much he enjoyed the song, how the "insightful" lyrics reminded him of something Bob Dylan might write. Well, I hope my songs are "versatile", "luminous" , "insightful" and it's never bad to be compared to Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Tom Petty or the Beatles for that matter. I want to thank all of you for supporting me by your help that is not always monetary. Your kind words, letters and response at live events are inspiration I draw from daily.This is why I intend my music to be like the first light at dawn. A sudden burst of luminous color that divides the night and the day. A couple of years ago someone had said they saw the movie "A Beautiful Mind" saying to me that I "reminded her of the main character in the movie". I said, "wasn't that guy both a genius and deeply disturbed" and then asked, "Which one am I ?" She then answered, " Both of them , really". I'm about Peace, Love and Understanding and the Common Good for all of Humanity and the Environment . It may sound like corny hippiedom. I mean this from the best part of that time and all times really. Beyond the darkness of our condition nipping at us most of the time, it's appears to me so positive to think about us all getting along, solving our problems constructively, listening to each other and being quick to forgive. All of the peace and love movements through history were correct at the core. Maybe they got ripped apart by the bad side or inside, maybe this is how they lost relevance, I don't know. I do know that the "values" of Peace, Love, Understanding and to strive for a Common Good probably need to become more relevant today. Right now I think it is hard for us to collectively overcome the hypocracy in our times. My goal is to write songs that are interesting and well thought out musically that convey strong poignant points lyrically. With this in mind, I released my first CD independently titled "Soul Traces". A little personal run down on the songs is as follows: "New York City" is a song about New York City written by someone who has never been to this great city. Written as a satire, it is intended to make fun of our tendencies to stereotype people and places. I'm hoping to not become the self-absorbed grown-up in "The Other Side" as I write this Bio. "Livin' A Life Lie" has incredible psychadelic guitar sounds. "Beautiful People" is a song that comes across well at gigs- everyone is beautiful. The next three songs show my concern for the worlds current events. The next three are love songs. "You Saved The World" is about my grandpa. "Soul Traces" is an introspective look at life's dichotomy of simple complexity. My wife/soulmate/genius/artist/photographer, Claudia, did all of the artwork on the CD. She says that the design is "allegorical to the title and the songs contained there-in". Personally, I live in Colorado Springs and have performed these songs and others on many occasions to packed clubs and some radio airplay. The response to the songs has been overwhelmingly positive. I hope you will enjoy this collection of songs as well. My musical influences are vast to say the least. People say I sound like Tom Petty. Despite this, I'm a Classically trained musician that studied Classical Guitar at the Western Illinois Universty leaving with a B.A. in music. Thank you Dr. Elizabeth Wehrman! I also studied Music Theory and Composition at the Graduate level. My first years were spent listening to the music my parents were into, such as Bob Dylan (speaking of which I really dig his friends Al Kooper and Mike Bloomfield), The Byrds, Herman's Hermits, The Lovin' Spoonful, The Seekers, Simon & Garfunkel, Arlo Guthrie, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon, The Seekers, John Denver, The Eagles,etc... As I grew older I also began listening to The Who, The Doors, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, The Police, The Grateful Dead, E.L.O., The Mamas and the Papas, Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Lenny Kravitz, Sheryl Crow, Jewel, Dave Mathews, Lisa Loeb, Avril Lavine, Bob Marley, 3 Doors Down, The Wallflowers, Jethro Tull, Incubus, Linkin' Park etc...I've always loved great music, from a Fernando Sor Waltz to the incredible Guitar style and technique of Jean (Django) Reinhardt. I've always been fascinated with the incredible power that the language of music can create. I'm proud of this first CD "Soul Traces" and of my new CD "Cosmic Wheel". The new CD "Touch The Sky" was really fun to record in my basement as well! I hope that people will enjoy listening to it as much as I enjoyed writing and producing it. Please feel free to contact me on my e-mail at anytime with questions or feed back you may have. Thanks Again - Danny.