Dani Wilde
Barry Middleton (BM) interview with Dani Wilde (Dani) - May 2010
an album that really showed me off at my best; especially the vocals… and I wanted the songwriting to really be enhanced by the production. I wanted it to be a mixture of all my old blues and soul influences with a more contemporary edge inspired by the likes of Alanis Morrisette and Joss Stone. I really feel we achieved all of this. I was lucky enough to have some great musicians play on the record including Van Morrison’s Horn Section and Pete Wingfield on Piano. I can’t wait for the world to hear it!
BM: Do you think Blues is making a comeback?
Dani: Yes… there is a new generation of blues artists on the British blues scene now. Artists such as myself, Joanne Shaw Taylor, Oli Brown, Ben Poole and Will ‘Harmonica’ Wilde! What I’d really like to do though is cross blues over to a mainstream audience. Joss Stone did it with soul and Jamie Cullam did it with Jazz… It’d be great if I could do the same with The Blues!
BM: What were your first experiences of the Blues?
Dani: My Dad brought me up listening to all the old Chicago players; great artists like John lee Hooker, Muddy Waters, Little Walter, Howlin’ Wolf and so on…. I always loved all these great musicians but when I was about 14 years old, I went to Bishopstock Blues Festival in Exeter and for the first time I saw young contemporary blues women singing the blues… I saw Deborah Coleman, Sue Foley, Shemekia Copeland and Susan Tedeschi…. Susan Tedeschi was the one who really blew me away. I decided right then I wanted to follow in her footsteps!
BM: Who were the influences on your musical career?
Dani: My Dad really encouraged me with my music. He’s not a musician himself, but he’s a big Blues and Soul fan. As a guitarist, I find Peter Green (in his Fleetwood Mac days), John Lee Hooker, and Buddy Guy most inspiring… They are by far my favorites. As a vocalist I was always much more inspired by soul singers. I love Donny Hathaway, Sam Brown, Sam Cooke, Otis Reading, Shirley Brown, Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson. They have all greatly influenced my music.
BM: What’s next in your musical career?
Dani: I’ve just recorded my second album for Ruf Records. It’s called ‘SHINE’ and it will be released this coming August. The album was produced by blues legend ‘Mike Vernon’. It was such an honor to work with Mike. He’s been my hero since I was a child and has worked with so many great artists such as Peter Green, Freddie King, and even David Bowie. I wanted to make
BM: Does singing the Blues come from experience?
Dani: In a way… I always sing better if I can relate to the song. But as I said, as a vocalist my main influences are soul singers. In my live show, I sing a slow minor blues that I wrote called ‘Abandoned Child’. I sing it on behalf of children in the slums of Embu, Kenya… I sing it because otherwise they would not have a voice… They would not be able to voice to the western world the poverty that they endure every day… Now that’s the blues… when I travel out to Kenya and meet street children with HIV, abandoned and sniffing glue in the slums…these children live the blues. I try to use music as a tool to raise money so that I can help better the lives of these children and give them an education. My fans make this possible… At all my gigs they are so generous with their support and donations. Thanks to my fans, I am able to help children who so desperately need our help… and of course, when I am out in Kenya I teach them all about Blues and Gospel music… Check out this link of the children singing Big Mama Thornton/Elvis’ Hound Dog with me! http://www.facebook.com/l/27b9d;www.youtube.com/watch?v=mt-7gx02C_A
BM: What was the first gig that you played and who with?
Dani: I played small pub gigs in my early teens but the first professional gig I played was opening for Steeleye Span’s Maddie Prior at The Wyvern Theatre in Swindon when I was 17 years old. I played acoustic guitar and sang some of my own songs along with John Lee Hooker’s ‘Boom Boom Boom’ and Bob Dylan’s ‘The times they are a changing’ with rack harmonica around my neck and my brother accompanying me on an African hand drum called a Djembe. My school music teacher Bill Badley, who is a famous English Lute Player very kindly got me the gig…It was a great opportunity for me and the audience really enjoyed the show.
BM: What makes a good gig for you as a performer?
Dani: A nice friendly audience is always a good thing… I also love venues that have a great sound system. If the PA and Monitors are top class then as a vocalist it makes the gig extra special. It’s really nice when the sound on stage is really glossy and professional… A good soundman can also make all the difference.
BM: Female blues singers feature highly in your early blues experience, when and where?
Dani: There have always been great female blues singers throughout the generations… from Bessie Smith and Lucille Bogan, to Memphis Minnie, Koko Taylor, Etta James, Bonnie Raitt, Sue Foley, Deborah Coleman, Shemekia Copeland and Susan Tedeschi. I was brought up listening to female blues artists from the 1920’s right up to contemporary present day artists. They are all my role models.
BM: What other instruments do you play?
Dani: I started off on drums… but you won’t catch me behind a drum kit any more. I can also play a bit of Harmonica… but more like Bob Dylan than Charlie Musselwhite. I can play a little bit on most instruments, such as mandolin and piano etc but I always preferred guitar to write songs on and most of all I just love to sing sing sing!
BM: If you had the opportunity to play with any blues artist dead or alive live on stage who would it be?
Dani: I wish I could’ve had the opportunity to play onstage with John lee Hooker. As for an artist who is still alive… definitely Buddy Guy… I love him! I’d also love to duet with Susan Tedeschi; she’s a big hero of mine! … Oooh, or Bonnie Raitt!
BM: Why do you feel that young people are not as attracted to the Blues as much as other Genres?
Dani: I think it’s marketing… I think if a big major label chose to invest in the likes of myself, Joanne Shaw Taylor or Oli Brown and put us out there in front of a young audience, then they would probably really enjoy it! A lot of young people don’t really know what blues is… Or their only experience of it is of a friends Dad attempting to play like David Gilmour at the local pub lol… I think if the songwriting, vocals, and guitar playing are of a high standard, then there is no reason why a younger generation wouldn’t appreciate blues if it was marketed to them!
BM: What other styles of music have you drawn inspiration from?
Dani: I love Funk, in particular Sly and The Family Stone and Chaka Kahn and Rufus. There are some funkier songs on my new record including a funky cover version of The Rolling Stone’s ‘Miss You’. I also love Bob Dylan… I love protest songs and songs that have a lot to say such as Bob Dylans ‘Hurricane’ or soul songs such as Curtis Mayfield’s ‘We the People Who Are Darker Than Blue’. A lot of my favorite music came out of oppression and a need for people to express themselves so that they could join together and overcome hardships… Marvin Gaye’s ‘Whats Going On’ is another favorite album of mine… When I teach music to children in the slums of Kenya, I hope they will be able to use music to express themselves so that they can come together and help each other through the hardships that they endure.
BM: Who is your favourite young act on the British blues scene?
Dani: My brother Will ‘Harmonica’ Wilde… and I’m not just being biased because he’s my brother! Will is incredibly talented. He’s a great singer and songwriter who also plays great harp and guitar. He is a real inspiration to me. Check out his website http://www.facebook.com/l/27b9d;www.willharmonicawilde.com He is about to record a new album which will feature Chaka Kahn’s Bassist ‘Roger Inniss’ and Van Morrison’s keyboard player ‘Pete Wingfield’.
BM: What was your first guitar and how many do you own?
Dani: My first guitar was a three-quarter size acoustic guitar from Argos. It actually belonged to my brother and I was learning drums at the time but somehow we ended up swapping and for
many years before Will started playing harp for me, he was the drummer in my band. He also drummed for me at a gig in Germany last year when my usual drummer hurt his arm in a car accident! My second guitar was a Tanglewood… a big white chunky thing that I never really got on with. Now days I’m a Fender Tele kind of girl… I feel that I’ve really found my way with telecasters and I don’t intend to play anything else any time soon.
BM: If you wasn’t a musician (in a band) what would you be doing?
Dani: I would work with children… probably as international an aid worker in less economically developed countries. I would also one day like to get my MA qualification in ‘Music Therapy’ and work with disabled children in the UK and overseas.
Thank you Dani for a great interview.
Barry Middleton
Nottingham Blues Society
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