Described as a singer/songwriter who paints a diverse sonic and lyrical landscape, showcasing a broad diversity of musical influences, Dan Garner is a veteran of the Blues Festival circuit as well as the Shreveport, Louisiana music scene, having played on practically every stage in the city, from clubs to casinos. His work has been compared to Nick Drake, Michael Franks, Paul Simon and Leonard Cohen meets Guy Clark.
Dan was an apprentice for thirteen years to the late legendary pre-war bluesman, JesseThomas, recording and performing with him until Thomas’ death in 1995. Dan played with Thomas in venues and festivals across the country, including the New Orleans Jazz Festival and the Long Beach Blues Festival. Living Blues magazine referred to Garner’s work on the release of Thomas’ "Lookin’ For That Woman" as "well attuned." That description inspired the title for the Blue Goose Blues Records release of Dr. Cookie & Louisiana Dan’s "Attuned To The Blues". Through various labels, Garner has produced eleven releases, which span the genres of acoustic blues, rockabilly and gospel. In addition to documenting some of the vanishing music traditions of Northwest Louisiana, "Louisiana Dan" Garner has also produced music for commercials and jingles in the Americana tradition. Currently Garner works for The Tipitina’s Foundation of New Orleans and performs with Cookie & The Kingcakes, THE PATIO DADDY OS, The Velvet Swivel Rockers and as a solo singer/songwriter with a mission to keep the music traditions of Louisiana alive and well. He has recently contributed a chapter to the University Press of Mississippi's "Shreveport Sounds In Black and White" a history of music in North Louisiana and will make his Network Television debut on the series, "Sordid Lives" which airs July 23rd '08 on The Logo Channel.
"25 Things" is his first solo release and "The Second Album" is his second.So, Chris Alexander(aka Mister Christopher), of "Why The Hell Not Music" comes to me and says, "We're doing a big release party at the Warehouse on February 9th....wanna put out another CD?" I sorta had a few tracks leftover that didn't go on the "25 Things" CD and a few other songs that I really wanted to record, so I said, "WHY THE HELL NOT?!!" Next, Derrell Stephens came in with a demo of some songs he was going to pitch up in Nashville. "Whatcha think?" he asked. I'm not much of a judge of country music, but I loved the production. "Ummm, where did you record those songs?" I asked.
Turns out, it's a great little studio up in Nash, Texas (right outside of Texarkana...check my top friends for their site) called Smart Productions. Derrell (also in my top friends) put me in touch with them and time was booked! Next, I assembled the "A" team: Mark Griffith on lead guitar, Rick Willis on bass guitar, Jim Obrien on drums and Cookie Garner on background vocals and percussion. Our stalwart band headed north where we met Matt Whattley, who engineered, mixed and mastered 5 of the newer tracks on the CD. He seemed to really get what we were going for, and I believe he delivered!! So now the ALBUM IS OUT and I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed making it!! ...This is the fun stuff!!
..
