Owen Danoff -- On & On & On

A big shout out today goes to the multi-talented singer songwriter Owen Danoff for exceeding his Kickstarter goal of $15,000!!!

Owen and his supporters raised $19,391 by June 30 and now Owen has the money to record his debut album this year!!!  In fact, he's already started work on his album.  This past weekend, he and his rockin' band went to NYC to spend time in a recording studio putting down music tracks.

 

I write about this today because it is truly exciting and yes, healing, to watch someone who I have know since he was a baby find his passion in life and then follow it.  It's healing because it is renewing and energizing to see Owen or anyone else commit to their talents and continue to work hard at developing and mastering them.

 

Everyone has a talent and everyone does something a little better than someone else.  It doesn't matter how old you are or what phase of life you are in, there is always time for you to develop and follow your passions. 

 

If you are not familiar with Kickstarter, it is an online resource dedicated to funding creative projects.  Films, games, music, art and technology, Kickstarter allows the person proposing the project with a funding goal and deadline to have complete control over it.  Kickstarter offers an online platform where people can pledge money directly to fund a proposed project to make it happen

 

Here, in Owen's words, are some of the reasons why he wanted to record an album:

"Music is about how it makes you feel, and I know the feeling of having a friend in a favorite album when there's no one else to turn to. I know the feeling of listening to a song that's so in tune with the world around you that you can't help but dance a little in public, or close your eyes and soak it in. I know the feeling of sitting on a bus or a plane for hours, and putting in headphones to let music steal away the time.

 

Those feelings, those connections we have with the music we love, are magic. If you give me the chance, I will do my best to create that magic for you."

 

If you haven't heard Owen Danoff before, I have posted a video of him and his band singing a song a wrote called, "On & On & On."  I liked it from the first time I heard it.  It has a driving beat and I love the lyrics.

Here's to Owen's debut album and may good luck continue to follow him and his band "On & On & On" as he goes about creating his magical music for us.

"Loved You First" Cover - Owen Danoff

Music can change my mood in an instant!

If you are anything like me, you probably have songs in your iPod that you listen to only when you exercise and those songs are probably different from music that you play when you want to relax or just chill. 

I think from the moment we are born we are sensitive to sounds and how those sounds make us feel. 

 

Listening to music can be therapeutic and soothing; truly a stressbuster.  I believe that music can truly heal your soul.  Or it can get your creatives juices going and help to push you through a project.  I think we are definitely hardwired for sound.  That's the only way to explain why when we hear certain songs or even certain sounds, it can instantly bring back memories and transport us to the time and place when we first heard it. 

 

You can't explain why you connect to a singer's voice.  You just like it the first time you hear it.

 

That's the way I feel about Owen Danoff's voice.  I first heard him singing with a group on a clip that a friend sent me.  There were a few places in the song where he sang by himself and I didn't know it was him until I asked.  I liked his voice right away.

 

Owen Danoff is a young Washington, DC singer songwriter, a multi-talented artist who is starting to make a name for himself in the music industry by writing songs and playing gigs in New York City, Boston, Nashville, Los Angeles and of course, DC.  He is a graduate of the Berklee College of music and a 2012-2013 artist in residence at the Strathmore Music Center (www.owendanoff.com).

 

Check out this jammin' cover of  One Direction's "Loved You First" that Owen recently cut with the also multi-talented singer Mike Squillante.  Mike is in the middle playing the guitar and doing vocals and is accompanied by Adrien Godat on bass.  You can also find this on YouTube: