He’s been making noise for some time, building to a crescendo this fall at the Canadian Country Music Association Awards (CCMAs), and Dan Davidson is anxious to show country fans in all corners of the country what the buzz is about!
Davidson, the Edmonton native, is on his way to the Brentwood Community Centre to play for anxious fans Saturday, Sept. 30. His latest single, Found, is his first certified gold record, and sat at number one on Canadian country charts for much of the summer, quite remarkable for an independent artist.
But Davidson tells BarrieToday more indies should be enjoying his kind of success.
“I think as long as great songs get equal consideration -- regardless of label affiliation -- then independents have a shot at making their mark! Luckily in Canada, for the most part, there are some great people at the helm in radio that believe that a great song rises above expensive marketing campaigns and politics.”
The 34-year-old Davidson tries not to stick labels on what he does.
“I try to not dig into ‘what’s hot’ in country when I can help it. I always want to focus on doing what is natural to me; what MY version of country music sounds like. I’m a firm believer that musical personality is the thing that makes artists last.
Dan grew up playing in rock bands, having fronted a combo called Tupelo Honey, but believes it’s not that much of a transition to country, especially coming from out west.
“I grew up listening to my dad’s music on long drives to the cabin in Manitoba. We’d sing along to Willie (Nelson), Lyle Lovett, Blue Rodeo and Johnny Cash!”
He adds what he did with Tupelo Honey lent itself well to the country idiom.
“I always found I was watering down the natural ‘country-isms’ in my writing. As the band started to wind down, I started letting those walls down more and more. When I decided to make the jump and start writing for a solo project, country was the natural style that came out.”
Davidson embarked cautiously on a solo, tossing ideas around with producer Jeff Dalziel, and a few folks in the country world, research he says has paid off handsomely.
“After having some talks with artists like Brett Kissel, Dallas Smith, Small Town Pistols and others, I got the encouragement I needed to jump in and release a single. Two years later, here I am with two CCMA nominations and a gold record!”
Dan admits Simcoe County is still kind of foreign turf.
“I did do a CRAZY show with Chase Rice at Mavricks in March last year on St. Patrick's Day. It was one of the wildest shows I've ever played. People in that part of the country LOVE country music. It’s been so cool to see the people of Simcoe County singing along with me at shows. I honestly can’t wait to get back out there.”
And, no doubt, to get people used to his next single, Say We Did.
After Brentwood, he’s off to Nashville for a week working with great talents like Jason Blaine, Deric Ruttan. From there, I get a little family time in Palm Springs for a week. After that, I'm heading to L.A. to do some more writing. We kick into high gear with live shows again in January.”
Dan Davidson plays the Brentwood Community Centre, 9926 County Rd. 10, Saturday, Sept. 30, with the Rob Watts band. Doors open at 5 p.m. with the show kicking off at 6 p.m.
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