Daniel Glen Timms is a Louisiana-native musician with roots in Americana and southern rock, melded into country pop rock with crossover appeal into several genres, including roots rock, alternative country, folk and adult album alternative. In 2004, when DGT moved into an apartment in New Orleans where he had spent much of his youth, he had no idea he would be evacuating his favorite city in front of Hurricane Katrina. Like any good songwriter, he wrote about his experience before and after the storm hit the Big Easy. The song, Ode to New Orleans, has captured the feeling he felt from this experience.
Daniel, who was born in Winnsboro, Louisiana, but lived in Monroe, Shreveport, Baton Rouge and New Orleans, has created a unique musical flavor in his music. At age 14, he got his first guitar as a gift from his mother. As his friends said afterward, he took to it "like a duck to water." He started learning by ear all of his favorite songs from his favorite artists, like The Beatles, The Eagles, James Taylor, Led Zeppelin, Hank Williams, and many others. By the age of 19, he had formed his first gigging band. After spending a few years playing honky tonks in Louisiana, Daniel picked up and moved to Los Angeles in his early twenties to pursue his music career.
Soon after reaching California, Daniel landed house band gigs at the Blue Saloon and La Valentino's in North Hollywood and Universal City. He soon realized that playing cover songs in the bars was not satisfying his insatiable appetite to write and record original music. With the music business in Los Angeles being dominated by rap, punk, rap rock and punk pop, Daniel's acoustic-driven roots rock was not in vogue and the major labels were not interested in his style of music at the time.
Upon realizing that his style of music was not what the labels were looking for, Daniel had two choices, to change his style to fit into what the labels were selling or to get a straight job and continue to work on the music that he felt in his soul. So he decided to work long hours at his day job to make money to get the equipment he needed to record his songs that he was writing at night and on the weekends, and at every free moment he had to spare. Daniel found a small cabin in the hills near Topanga Canyon and began building a small studio in his garage. For ten years at the cabin, he played, wrote and recorded music, honing his writing, guitar playing and producing skills.
Daniel's musical vision came into focus during those years at the cabin and upon obtaining some decent recording gear, he recorded a ten-song demo and submitted it to several publications, as well as, college and community radio. His demo received much critical acclaim, including the highest-rated rock review of the year from Music Connection Magazine, the music industry magazine on the west coast. This recognition brought with it interest from a few major labels, however, it was at a time when the labels were shrinking and the music industry was being turned upside down and morphing into what it has become today. These changes in the music business turned out to be a good thing for this independent artist, and for others indie artists like Daniel. These changes gave rise to the indie music market that currently exists, which is where most of the good music is coming from these days.
Daniel kept writing and recording music for the love of music and decided to start his own independent label to see if he could widen his audience through the internet and guerilla marketing. He was able to put enough money together to record a low-budget album (The Highway Home, 2004) at Artisan Sound Recorders with a band. The quality of the songs were strong enough, that he decided to do a limited release to commercial radio stations from around the country, with an emphasis on the south, where his roots were and where he knew people appreciated his style of music. The reaction from radio to this independent album was excellent and his music received airplay on over 30 commercial radio stations and numerous community radio stations. The Highway Home also received sparkling reviews from several publications throughout the U.S. and in Europe. Daniel was also invited to do on-the-air interviews and performances at several commercial radio stations and a few television shows.
Following the success of his first independent release, the tenacious DGT, set his sights on recording his next album, which would be the culmination of over twenty-five years of work on his music. Daniel was fortunate enough to engage a world-class backing band to record his new songs on the new release (La La Land, 2007), including Gregg and Matt Bissonette on drums and bass, with Brett Tuggle on organ, piano and keys. In a recent interview, DGT said, "My life as an artist and musician feels like an epic journey, with life struggles and spiritual enlightenment. These songs and this album are me down to the core. I was able to express myself in lyrics, music and vocals in a way that I have dreamed of since I first picked up a guitar. No matter what happens now, I know at least I have created something that expresses my artistic vision. Like every artist, I would like to expand my audience, but the process alone and the place where I am now feels like I have reached the top of a mountain. I know there is an audience that enjoys my style and I hope my music finds its way to their ears, minds and hearts."
Daniel was in Nashville mixing his new album and realized what a great place it is to live for musicians and songwriters, and recently decided to relocate there from the desolate music scene of Los Angeles. "I am excited about living in the South again. I am a Southern boy at heart. I find the people and the music to be authentic and real. I will be closer to my family and living in a place where the music industry still cares about guys like me." The new album is set for release in late spring. Listen for it at a radio station near you. |
|
Contact Artist
Add to Profile
Add to station