The road parted and I came back to New York City, alone. I only had one idea and it was to be something. I held onto this belief through all the changes and all the ups and plenty of downs. I kept the road open and continued to dream while always taking on and facing everything head on. Not in my wildest did I think I would write and compose the music that came from my wild adventure. It happened. From one failed musician to the next somedays I had had enough but then I remember what it took to get here. A disastrous heartbreak and crazy changes I had ended up in a place that once made me happy. Now I could decide my road, I no longer was held captive by him. Years later I would understand more clearly what this actually meant. I was a free bird, soaring with a deep connection to a passion that needed nurturing. I was curious from the jump. It wasn't enough to say, I had to do.
When I was low I said I wanted a beautiful product to come from this hardship. As we wrap up our first album entitled "To Be Sown" I couldn't be more proud. The title comes from the start of a beautiful flower, first you must drop a seed into the ground. With proper care, watch it grow. Very much represents the journey I have been on. It didn't happen overnight, however frustrating that is I planted my seed and I continue to watch it bloom. No one said it was easy and it most certainly is not but this shouldn't discourage you. Make peace with how familiar this feeling feels when you yourself continue to grow.
I love that people get an idea (seed) however outrageous it may seem to others. Life I believe is one big adventure and the more you water and give light to the seed things will continue to bloom. You watch it unfold before your eyes. People didn't evolve by sitting in complete comfort and routine. They used the imagination that they had as a child and believed in something. Its very powerful the thoughts you keep.
To Be Sown is my first album released under Dani Erin and the final product is beyond any hope I could have had. All 10 songs were done in under 3 takes and preserved to reflect our current ability musically. No Autotune. In a world full of highly produced music I am proud to say that the talent on this record really shines because its real and because its honest.
Tuesday, August 27, 2013
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
Album #1
Next week marks the recording of the first album. I wasn't proud enough to record an album until it was perfect. I wanted to record music I would want to listen to and its finally ready. In under 2 years I went from saying I was a musician to being a real one. I remember recording vocal clips without a band and what it felt like to sing alone. Now its more beautiful then I could have ever hoped, it is time to put to rest songs that represent such a tragic yet transformative stage in my life.
I can finally say that every song on this album brings me such joy and pride. I have yet to feel that until now. I had a lot of musician leave never understanding where I wanted to take my music. I felt heartbreak to the harshest degree and yet decided even then to take something ugly and make it beautiful. Every word, every note more pretty then the next. I passionately believe that when you continue on through hardship you will eventually come to a clearing. You will be given such a gift as long as you still believe. Never wavering in the sight of hopelessness. Continuing on even though you will at times feel like you stand alone. You will always stand alone when it comes to the art of believing. No one cares as much as you do.
With the album to be recorded next week and released to the world soon I am hopeful and excited. It has been a journey of many ups and downs but I wouldn't change not one thing. I have learned lessons along the way. I have been shown many truths and for that I am forever thankful.
Heres to the first album and having it be recorded without smoke and mirrors. The Ray Charles way of recording live and in under 3 takes per song.
From Dani and The Mad Men to Dani Erin featuring The Jimmy Valentin Trio where it was once a idea to an actual thing.
-Dani
danierinmusic.com Bringing back real original music.
live rehearsal-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ctp5G3y-6Dw
live session-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awQJ8f3N7DM
Monday, July 15, 2013
The Little Drummer Boy
I remember when I didn't even have a drum, only the inner thump of my heart seem to make my voice sing. I never did sing from the mind always from deep within. I do music today for that only reason. How could you sing a note if your heart isn't the conductor? This is the most basic idea, an idea that is missing in modern music. Really in any profession. The easiness is the easy part but the deeper hidden message takes years of searching.
The drum beats and it wants you. Although I love all instruments my love affair is very wild with the drums. If I don't have that element it all falls apart. I learned this lesson very early on when I studied music intimately at a jazz club for months on end. I dazzled in how I never could in a million years play them, I admired whomever could take on such an instrument. The heartbeat. Steady like the rhythm yours has right now. So contagious is makes you move. Music should always move you. Drums move the music so much that it will make you tap your toes without your mind knowing. The energy it vibrates makes you feel like your chest cavity is about to find another heart. A beautiful thing.
Its underrated and rare when you find a solid one. I have been in the moment with many and none do what I have now felt. In fact that is beyond what is missing, musicians that feel what they are playing. So many technical musicians nowadays, "I went to NYU School of Music." I say who cares you just spent a lot of money on something they can't teach you. You know how to play an E Minor but do you know how to feel truly like deep in your soul what an E Minor feels like. Don't get me wrong there is a technical side that is needed but its not everything. When you have been around all types of musicians this you get to understand. More importantly it is something you can not teach. It comes from your favorite record, it comes from a deep inner pain and it comes from study. Then you hear it, then you feel it and then it changes who you are as a musician.
To me it all goes back to the drums, even playing your inner beat and listening to it. We aren't robots, we are emotionally invested. Lesson learned, I choose to only play with cats like that. I have been with them both and I rather feel the drums play and to have the feel something kinda music.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=dc3JKUw_GrQ
-Dani Erin
The drum beats and it wants you. Although I love all instruments my love affair is very wild with the drums. If I don't have that element it all falls apart. I learned this lesson very early on when I studied music intimately at a jazz club for months on end. I dazzled in how I never could in a million years play them, I admired whomever could take on such an instrument. The heartbeat. Steady like the rhythm yours has right now. So contagious is makes you move. Music should always move you. Drums move the music so much that it will make you tap your toes without your mind knowing. The energy it vibrates makes you feel like your chest cavity is about to find another heart. A beautiful thing.
Its underrated and rare when you find a solid one. I have been in the moment with many and none do what I have now felt. In fact that is beyond what is missing, musicians that feel what they are playing. So many technical musicians nowadays, "I went to NYU School of Music." I say who cares you just spent a lot of money on something they can't teach you. You know how to play an E Minor but do you know how to feel truly like deep in your soul what an E Minor feels like. Don't get me wrong there is a technical side that is needed but its not everything. When you have been around all types of musicians this you get to understand. More importantly it is something you can not teach. It comes from your favorite record, it comes from a deep inner pain and it comes from study. Then you hear it, then you feel it and then it changes who you are as a musician.
To me it all goes back to the drums, even playing your inner beat and listening to it. We aren't robots, we are emotionally invested. Lesson learned, I choose to only play with cats like that. I have been with them both and I rather feel the drums play and to have the feel something kinda music.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=dc3JKUw_GrQ
-Dani Erin
Sunday, July 14, 2013
Next Chapter
I continue to treat music as a progress. All great things,unfold. It changes and you love it enough to continue with it even when it brings you to your knees. Evolution of music is a constant and I believe this next chapter is pretty epic. I started out singing into a mic with no instruments, just my voice and now I have a pretty badass band behind me. Couldn't really ask for more. Hope you enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
And my personal favorite
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
-Dani Erin
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
And my personal favorite
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
-Dani Erin
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
I know it.
I know it
For it is coming
The way it flipped my life down
I thought then it could only go up
The only truth you could have gotten
was in me
You have a relationship with false
Ins't shocking
Now the day almost fall upon you
You think you will see me
I think I could even remember what yours looks like
The way you wore your Black Keys t-shirt
You silently remember me
How could you forget?
The lessons you gave me
The lessons you gave me
Would't make me love you even if I could.
The directions
Our paths crossed
Only roads to change us
Be better
Stronger
More full of light
More hungry for love
Sometimes it did, most times it did not.
I would change nothing about it
For I know one thing and one thing only
For it is coming
that I know
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
The Moment.
I think its all about the tiny little moments, they all add up. Being present completely and not anticipating the moment but being there as it happens. Watch it unfold because it was the first time and your only time. Routine and time work to control but how much of life actually can be under that. I see moments, these tiny little moments and without them my story would be different.
Meditation being the strongest force that holds me true to reality, it allows me to only see the moment. Sparkly and clear, brand new. Our life is made of this. Tiny dots waiting for you to connect. This might be easier said then done but let me tell you, its worth it. Theres a lesson in everything, you wont know unless you do. Its not enough to say you want something.
Moments, down to the second. Make sure in your life you stop and smell the roses. You realize what you have done and in that moment it was your best. Your very best, so there is no regret and no need to do it any differently. You always knew.
And then you get to learn something new!
-D
danierinmusic.com
Meditation being the strongest force that holds me true to reality, it allows me to only see the moment. Sparkly and clear, brand new. Our life is made of this. Tiny dots waiting for you to connect. This might be easier said then done but let me tell you, its worth it. Theres a lesson in everything, you wont know unless you do. Its not enough to say you want something.
Moments, down to the second. Make sure in your life you stop and smell the roses. You realize what you have done and in that moment it was your best. Your very best, so there is no regret and no need to do it any differently. You always knew.
And then you get to learn something new!
-D
danierinmusic.com
Thursday, June 13, 2013
Persistance.
Persistance. A word I have used, not just said but felt. We use words all the time but to apply it to your life is different. Its climbing up an imaginary mountain, with many drops along the way. If you hold dear to this word it will pull you along especially when the doubt sets in. Doubt will challenge, fear will inevitably set in. Am I doing the right thing? Am I following the right path? Should I turn around to grounds that are more familiar? Fear brought on by doubt is persistance's welcomed enemy. Both are trying to prove something very important. They are both trying to see if this is what you really want. You need both in order to be genuin.
Persistance lessens the blow that fear can have in your life. Fear can take your hand and lead you into what feels like circles. It has a deathlike grip. I have felt it and no matter how I breathe I still feel like Im suffocating. I have learned to make friends with it though. No matter how hard it gets sometimes I feel the fear and know its there because thats what makes me human. Makes us all human. For it is not sad but it is life and fear makes us authentic. We are still that 3 year old scared that there might be monsters under the bed. Its something that visits me often. I think too often we glamorize a life's journey and rarely speak of the moments that make us realize persistance. Because where there is fear, there is fear's alter ego, persistance. And thats the difference between letting fear control you and you making friends with fear and carrying on. The bigger the risk, the stronger the fear. The more genuin the life story the stronger the persistance. And they play a beautiful dance. I have seen it. They both know each others part, both understand why they are there. I know persistance will always win so fears short stay is not something I fight.
We have become a society of fast things, instant everything. I have seen that authenticity is something that grows like a seed in the ground. The real things take time. All the time they may need. Nothing good happens overnight. I think its persistance that keeps that seed in the ground, continuing to grow not trading the process in for something faster. I know that if you have persistance on your side you can do it all. If you feel it, like truly feel it you can continue on and when something like fear comes in you take it by the hand and show it perseverance, the sister to persistance.
Persistance lessens the blow that fear can have in your life. Fear can take your hand and lead you into what feels like circles. It has a deathlike grip. I have felt it and no matter how I breathe I still feel like Im suffocating. I have learned to make friends with it though. No matter how hard it gets sometimes I feel the fear and know its there because thats what makes me human. Makes us all human. For it is not sad but it is life and fear makes us authentic. We are still that 3 year old scared that there might be monsters under the bed. Its something that visits me often. I think too often we glamorize a life's journey and rarely speak of the moments that make us realize persistance. Because where there is fear, there is fear's alter ego, persistance. And thats the difference between letting fear control you and you making friends with fear and carrying on. The bigger the risk, the stronger the fear. The more genuin the life story the stronger the persistance. And they play a beautiful dance. I have seen it. They both know each others part, both understand why they are there. I know persistance will always win so fears short stay is not something I fight.
We have become a society of fast things, instant everything. I have seen that authenticity is something that grows like a seed in the ground. The real things take time. All the time they may need. Nothing good happens overnight. I think its persistance that keeps that seed in the ground, continuing to grow not trading the process in for something faster. I know that if you have persistance on your side you can do it all. If you feel it, like truly feel it you can continue on and when something like fear comes in you take it by the hand and show it perseverance, the sister to persistance.
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