As a fan of a wide variety of popular (and not-so-popular) music from the 1950s (and sometimes even earlier) up through the present, one of my bucket list projects for years has been to put together a list of my 100 favorite songs of all time. At some point I decided that, once I got around to figuring that out, I could put it out on a blog, for the infinitesimally small proportion of the Internet world that might be interested. So, here we are. While the Top 100 will be a major focus, I also plan to post on a variety of other musical (and occasionally non-musical) topics, in which you may or may not be interested. (If a particular posting doesn’t ring your bell, you’re only a few clicks away from a dancing cat video on YouTube.)

Friday, April 22, 2016

Owen Danoff


 
I’ve never been a fan of musical talent shows (or any other form of reality TV, for that matter). If I ever watched American Idol during its recently-concluded run, it was by accident, and I certainly haven’t gotten into Survivor or any other shows of that type.
 
I am, however, watching The Voice on NBC this spring. (OK, to be honest, I’m mostly DVRing it and watching selected portions, since it can run as much as 5 hours per week.) My sudden interest is because Owen Danoff auditioned for the show, and I had seen him perform twice (the first time being in the living room of a friend from Westat) and had been really impressed. I guess the quick take would be a folk-pop singer-songwriter – maybe think John Mayer without the bad behavior.
 
Although Danoff currently lives in New York City, he does have a lot of Washington area connections. He’s been an Artist in Residence at Strathmore (and performed at their new small club, AMP) and has won multiple Washington Area Music Awards. His father, Bill Danoff, is a well-known folk singer and songwriter; he co-wrote “Take Me Home Country Roads” and subsequently was one-fourth of the Starland Vocal Band, for whom he wrote (for better or worse) the 1976 smash hit “Afternoon Delight”. Owen’s early career has been notable as much for his award-winning songwriting as his singing; so far he’s self-released one EP and one full-length CD, both with all original material.
 
The Post ran a nice article about him a couple of days ago, mentioning at the end that he would be headlining a show at the Hamilton downtown on June 30. (Get your tickets now before they’re gone!)
 
And, of course, if you’re so inclined you can vote for him on The Voice as long as he survives.
 
 

No comments:

Post a Comment