Okay, we are back at you today, the Dan Time
podcast. Moving forward here, always trying to
have a new guest every week. Well, I do have
a new guest every week, but I love for it to
be a surprise. I don't do any promotion a day
or two ahead of time. It's just every Sunday,
here's your surprise new guest. And way back,
I guess, the early episodes, I put a disclaimer
out that I don't have just any old Dan on the
show. for the sake of having an interview, I
kind of comb the various corners of the world
or the internet. And especially with singer songwriters,
if it's something that I connect with, and first
of all, there has to be a buy -in from the guest
that they get the joke, they like the concept,
then we go forward with it. So, Dan Time, for
those of you who have never listened to the show,
it is frequently me talking to other Dans. or
Daniel, or the family of names, as I say. If
we expanded out a few months ago to Dana, we
had our first Dana guest, Dana Wiley from Edmonton,
Alberta, Canada. Please check out her catalog
of music. There's always, she's always got some
really interesting and eclectic projects going
on. But, you know, I talk to people with different
names or someone may have just one silly Dan
story, or there's just people from the network.
But today, Dana Perry is my guest. Madison, Wisconsin
based Evo folk artist. She's been making music
passionately for 30 years and for over the past
15 or so years focusing on guitar and songwriting.
Dana has released seven albums total. Now three
of them are probably the most accessible that
you can find on your streaming platforms and
we'll get into a couple of them today. Now and
again released March of 23. and tunes on the
battlefield. But Dana is a 15 -time winner at
the Madison Area Music Association Awards, Acoustic
Guitars of the Year 2019, Folk Americana Performer
of the Year 2020, and Best Female Vocalist 2021.
Dana, thank you so much for being on the show
and sharing your story today. Of course. Thanks
for having me. How are things in... Oh my gosh,
I can't believe I'm doing this. I'm the guy that
doesn't like to talk about the weather, but I'm
in Pensacola, Florida. You're in Madison, Wisconsin.
What does the first week of May look like up
there in Madison? Oh, it's beautiful, of course.
We look forward to it every year. The winter
this year was incredibly mild compared to what
we usually have. So it felt like we definitely
had an early spring. Yeah, everything's in full
bloom. We had some heavy rain, but it's needed.
It's beautiful, of course. Perfect time of year
for Madison. Now... Didn't know that that was
kind of be a lead -in for one of the songs that
I wanted to highlight But we'll bounce around
a little bit on the episode here past present
and future but on the song Everything is moving.
I love this. I love when artists do this They
call out their hometown of their current locale
and you sing Oh Madison how I love this town.
There's plenty of room to grow and love is all
around so it sounds like you have set your roots
there in Madison and tell me a little bit about
the area and the scene and Yeah, I really have
you know it's it's interesting. I've lived here
probably Going on 12 years now, and you know
my partner and I are we're kind of wanderers
You know we live on we kind of live on the road
from time to time and you know a friend of ours
was born and raised here in Madison and and had
said you know he was into my music and he's like
you know madison would really love your music
and you would just love madison music and we
were like well let's you know let's go check
it out well see what it's like you know so i
did a string of open mics here for about a week
and yeah the response was great and i love that
there was so much accessible music this was probably
about 20 2013 so yeah maybe 11 years somewhere
around there and uh it was amazing there was
open mics every night of the week there was such
great talent great musicians a really eclectic
taste of music, which I really loved. And I went,
you know, this might be the place to be. Let's
hang out. Let's just, you know, we'll spend like
a year or two here and we'll kind of soak in
the scene, then we'll move on. But fast forward,
you know, 11 years. We're like, OK, it's we just
really we really kind of fell in love. And the
music scene is definitely a big part of that.
I do I do a lot here. I wear many hats and I've
been in town a long time. So and it's been a
really supportive, nurturing place to be. Isn't
it great how that happens and they the community
takes you in you take all of it in and you start
meeting meeting like -minded folks and Absolutely.
Absolutely. That's how you know, you found a
good spot now when you were Growing up or your
birthplace and where you were when you were five
or ten or fourteen years old What were some of
those? Where'd you live back then? Oh, I was
originally bounced around. My family moved around
a lot, but mostly in like northern Illinois,
kind of Lake County, kind of that area, stone's
throw from the Wisconsin border. So I kind of
grew up there. And then I went to college at
Western Illinois University, which is more southern.
I lived there for maybe about a couple, I went
to college and then I just kind of had nowhere
else to go. So I was like, oh, let's, you know,
stay here. We'll just. And, you know, I kind
of started writing songs there around in my college
town. And then, yeah, bounced around for a while
and then moved to Madison in 2013. So stayed
pretty active with music in Illinois and stuff,
but didn't really find my group until I officially
moved here. I know you've made your mark on that
area. Have some of the players that have appeared
on your previous records, are those people that
you've picked up along the way? And are those
all good friends or is it sometimes just someone
that's like available to? play on the record
or are these people that you have relationships
with? Oh, that's a great question. Yeah, that's
a great question, actually, because there are
plenty of really talented session musicians and
really all over Wisconsin area and the Midwest
in general. But there's definitely a lot of great
hired guns, as we would say, for sure. But I'm
lucky enough to have found some people that are
pretty consistent playing with me for several
years now. Jenna Jonas being one of them. We've
been together almost 10 years. She's been my
drummer. Pretty exclusively, I think I might
have just lightly jammed with a couple others
for fun, but whenever it comes to shows and albums
and stuff like that, it's always Jenna Jonas
on drums for sure. And I was lucky enough to
meet her through working with Madison Girls Rock
Camp and we connected there. And yeah, it's been
a really beautiful relationship with her for
sure. And Dan Kennedy was an addition about halfway
through. I'd say it's hard to say. Dan's one
of those guys that just kind of comes into your
life and you feel like you've known each other
forever. that you can't remember when you met.
I think we met and knew of each other for a handful
of years, but we didn't really start hanging
out or jamming together. Until basically I kind
of needed a good hired gun and I just kept using
him. He kept coming back for some reason He's
so so good and he's just such a great great energy
and a great presence and great vibe that it's
hard not to default to him now You know every
time it's like obvious, you know when it comes
time for the band because I do solo I do duo
with Jenna or when I need a full band or bass
player like a solid person to record with It's
always Dan Kennedy for sure. I love Dance I don't
want to interrupt but his sound on the now and
again album. I mean every track He's got a huge
presence on there He really does and I'm so happy
about that and that's what's great about his
playing is he does such a good job of staying
So comfortably in a mix whether it's live or
recording yet at the same time making his presence
known, you know, like you're like, man, I really
love that bass line or I really love that bass
player. So he's he's really good about that fine
line for sure. And then of course, some any harmonies
that are on my album, most of the harmonies are
my good friend, Kelly Hepper. She's tremendous.
songwriter herself and puts out several recordings
and plays a lot of shows. And I always call her
my sister in harmony and she just kind of, they
just flow out of her. She's always got these
brilliant ideas and she's just willing to layer
and layer, you know, and always give me the time.
And we do live shows together too. So yeah, it's
great. I'm really lucky. Jenna's playing as well.
I really like her symbol work, some of the swells
and crashes and she can go. She's very tasteful.
You know, some of the songs call for a little
break neck. Period and she can she can get into
the high tempo and then I really like her versatility
Oh, yeah, she's incredibly versatile for sure.
Very very good because some of these songs have
a little bit of a cataclysmic portion or section
That the album now and again really really takes
you for a ride I was you and I were talking about
it before we started the call. I shared my my
first take was Well, this is great. I want to
put the invitation out here. I'd love for Dana
to be on the show and when we set it up then
I got deep into listening and You know, there's
a difference between the first listen the second
the third the fourth and all of a sudden I'm
not you know That's cool to hear that's I like
that's interesting feedback to get I don't always
you know the thing about that album is One of
the reasons it's called Now and Again is there's
several songs on there that were done with either
like a previous band, like it went out on an
album I did with a band that I had. And, you
know, they're my originals, but they kind of
went out under a different name. And then a couple
of other songs were on another album I did, but
it was super DIY. And I just don't think it sounded
that great. You know, sometimes I'm all about
that DIY spirit and several of my albums will
just stay. untouched and it's still up you know
for documentation purposes on my band campsite
and things like that to just you know make sure
because i'm a documentarian with my albums i
do it just because i want the i want the document
you know so and as a lot of us kind of journal
you know the chronology stamp yep exactly here's
that one time i wrote those songs you know And
I want them down before I forget. So one of those
things, your legacy as it were, even if it just
lives in a box for you because no one buys CDs
anymore. But I just I really felt like these
songs were really great. And I wanted. to do
them justice and I really wanted them on a really
clean top notch recording with just like top
notch musicians and I wanted them out under my
name like out from under the band name and kind
of so I can put them up on the streaming platforms
and have them more accessible because before
they were just kind of sitting you know what
I mean and not really out on the streaming things
and it's kind of hard to do that so you want
everything kind of under your name as an artist
and to make sure it all kind of goes so and I
had five brand new songs too so I was like well
I have this hodgepodge of songs and My partner
was like, well, how about now and again? Here's
some songs from now, and here's some songs I'm
going to do again. So that's kind of where the
album came from. And it kind of ended up being
an interesting hodgepodge. I was pleased with
kind of how it came out and where the flow went
with it, for sure. So songs like The Invitation
and Everything Is Moving, as you mentioned before.
or the song you mentioned earlier, those were
on a previous album that I had done that it was
decent but it just, you know, it was super DIY
kind of in -home studio thing and I just really
felt like I wanted to take them to a pro studio.
and get a pro studio treatment. I'm really glad
I did, because I think they just sound phenomenal.
And on that particular album, the lead guitar
is done by Matthew Lesniak. He plays with a great
five -piece band called Cruisin' Round. And he
was a hired gun for this project, for sure, because
I was like, I need a lead guitar player. I just
want someone who could just come in and just
rip some stuff. And then, you know what I mean?
And he did, man. He wailed for sure. So I was
really lucky to have him for that album in particular.
So and then, of course, Toons on the Battlefield.
You know, my friend Dustin, he was my studio
guy because we did that album at Wyrmglas Studios
or I'm sorry, not Toons on the Battlefield. What
was it? I'm mixing them up. Dan Kennedy has played
lead guitar in at least one of my albums, too,
because he's just that guy. He plays bass. He
plays guitar. He'll sing your heart out. He's
just great. There's the Kill the Rockstar EP.
Yeah, that's right. That's right. So Reclamation
was the DIY album. And I did lead guitar on that.
I was still kind of learning. And I think it's...
Cool for what it is, in my own opinion. But Dan
Kennedy Wales, you know, and Matt Wales. And
I just really wanted someone who Wales to play
on the invitation and to play on everything is
moving. So I'm glad I did a rerecord. Ultimate
Creator is one from now and again that used to
be under an old band I was in. And I really wanted
to make sure that that song, you know, got some
rip and pro studio treatment and kind of solid
and under my name. So, yeah, I was really pleased.
It's fun. It's a lot of fun. Dana I like I like
talking about an artist back catalog whether
it's a musician or anybody that creates things
and I feel like you have a message in your music
that I feel like you're trying to share or impart
on people that to just get out there and Create
if you've got the urge you got the edge and don't
worry about doing something that maybe isn't
as sparkling clean and perfect and that You won't
be a little, not to say embarrassed about, I
mean, five years or six years like, you know,
I think we live in this age, especially with
social media, where all the pictures have to
be perfect. And it's no, let's take that picture
again. Let's get another absolutely perfect portrayal
of us in this moment. And I think there's a lot
of pressure maybe on people to just not put out
something that's a little rough around the edges.
Yeah, I'll agree with that. I'm always one of
those though that kind of you kind of look back
it's kind of like looking back on yourself when
you were a kid and you're kind of innocence and
naivety and maybe little mistakes that you made
or little but now as a grown -up you kind of
see that as beautiful you know like that was
so I was I was cute I was innocent I was naive
but I did this cute thing and like you know and
now that's kind of beautiful I was a beautiful
mess and that kind of got me to this, you know,
grown up or whatever, kind of where I'm at. consider
yourself, you know, so if you look back at yourself
like that, but I look at it kind of like that,
you know, so, you know, as musicians especially
too, if you are fortunate enough like I was to
make music from a really young age, you know,
maybe you might catch a recording of when you,
you know, quote unquote, first started out and
it's rough and it's out of tune and it's this
and you're a little pitchy or you're, you know,
you know, the song's kind of bleak or it's simple
and it's just nothing and you wouldn't do anything
with it, but there's got to be that part of you
that's like... That's beautiful. Like, listen
to that. That was me just starting out. I was
just getting my feet wet. I did it myself. I
didn't wait for anybody. I didn't, you know,
I didn't make anything dependent on anything.
I just did that. And I really appreciate where
that is. So I think that's one of the reasons
I kind of do celebrate that kind of stuff, just
because I see beauty in it, I suppose. And I
see, you know, accomplishment in it. And I see
it as good time markers, you know, and good and
just personal journey markers, so to speak, to
just show where you are and where you're going,
where you're at. And where you've been, you know,
so yeah, totally I'll be on that with on board
with that for sure. That's wonderful. I think
there's in life, you know, sometimes you just
let it fly. And like you said, you can look back
and snicker a little bit at a time period of
something you did, you wore or just oops. You
ever get around people that look at them, you
know, older folks that see pictures of themselves
from 1988 and they say, oh, my gosh, look at
my hair. Look at that. sure i was wearing oh
fanny pack all right yep absolutely yep totally
so and that's beautiful you know and you could
say you were there so and then particularly for
musicians uh you know artists of all kinds for
sure but uh musicians i think it's uh particularly
easy to kind of self judge or self even just
self -examine too much, you know what I mean,
like kind of unhealthy ways, you know what I
mean, that are kind of not really serving, you
know, kind of really not moving forward at all.
And it's important to just keep doing it and
keep doing it no matter what it sounds like,
no matter what it does. So a lot of my songs
are... You know for all kinds of creators I suppose
and all kinds of people on any kind of a journey
But they tend to resonate with music makers for
sure which I guess makes sense because that's
kind of Coming from a music maker, you know,
it's kind of generally what I can't help but
write about so And you teach as well. You're
a guitar instructor Yeah, primarily I coach with
international nonprofit organization called girls
rock camp. They're in several states and there's
likely a couple girls rock camps in Florida,
I'm sure. A lot of states all over the country
have them in a couple countries in Europe. I
think there's a girls rock camp in Brazil. Yeah,
it's a phenomenal organization. Madison's, I
think, is one of the best, of course. I'm biased,
but I think Madison's is just a really tremendous
camp that's staffed by all professional female
musicians. And we take girls ages eight to 18.
They don't have to have any experience whatsoever.
And we spend a week and we teach them how to
be in a rock band. or any kind of band really
they learn guitar and bass drums keyboards vocals
they form bands they write an original song together
and then they record in a pro studio and then
they get up at a you know one of the major venues
in town and play a big showcase for everybody
and it's a really really great time very rewarding
experience um so primarily i teach and coach
guitar with them but i've got a couple students
i see in private too yeah it's so cool um as
i get older you know you see If you have a talent
like you do, you can be so transformative in
a young person's life that expresses an interest
and maybe it's an instrument. That's got to be
a very satisfying part of what you do. Oh, absolutely
it is, absolutely it is. And if you're lucky
enough like I am to have been with them for a
long time, for over a decade, I plugged in with
them pretty quickly when I moved here. And I'm
fortunate enough to coach every session and we
do three sessions every summer. So probably every
summer we're churning out about around 150 kids
who have taken the program. Um, each summer.
So for 10 summers, like that's, I don't know
how many kids and we have a lot of kids that
come back every summer for sure. But, uh, it's,
it's really fascinating to see after 10, 11 years
of it. Uh, I have kids that I've taught, you
know, at 12, 13 years old, eight, as young as
eight, nine years old. And now they're in college
or in the, or they're recording their own albums.
They're forming bands, they're music majors.
They're kind of taking it into their, into their
adult years too. And it's, yeah. That's crazy.
That's crazy. Well, I want to highlight a couple
of songs here on now and again. And I don't know
if these are some of the older ones or current
current batch, but on the invitation. Yeah, I
love this line because we're we're programmed
with a default setting to believe that we're
always defective. And then you just come out
and declare I'm done being defective. default
setting Oh, to believe that we're always defective
I'm done being defective Oh, this is an invitation
Can't hold back, don't run away I'm done with
disillusions Running rabidly on a train of vivid
pictures that is not my own So convincing as
reality, but I can feel That one was kind of
a goose bumps. moment for me when I heard it,
I think on the third listen, I was like, Oh,
wow, I love that. I kind of feel that when I
sing that line, I think it's kind of what that
kind of what that line was made for, I guess,
is just that kind of the song in general is kind
of, I don't know, I would say a lot of times
when I introduce the song, I say I kind of look
at, you know, the human brain as a computer to
be programmed and reprogrammed. And I think a
lot of times we As we grow older, we kind of
look back and we look at the way our brains function
and thoughts we have or behaviors we have and
we go, man, you know, I just, I don't think that
was me. I don't think I did that. I think that's
my dad's voice or I think that's my mom's voice
or it's my school's voice or it's the news or
it's, you know, society. I think someone programmed
that into me. You know, I don't think that's
mine. And I think a lot of times you can accept
what I would call an invitation. to program yourself,
you know, to kind of recognize that that's just
that's not yours. You know, you might have just
taken hold of it because you had nothing else.
You didn't know how else to do it. You know,
we all kind of don't know when we're growing
up. So it feels like we're kind of programmed
in a certain way to think certain things, behave
certain ways. And you kind of find out, oh, man,
I don't think that's me. I feel like if I had
a choice in that, I would not have done it that
way. You know, so. That's kind of what the song's
about in general is just kind of you know working
with default programs And kind of inputting something
new kind of taking control of the motherboard
as I as I say Yes, and and it's so great that
you Insert that in the song. I think people need
to hear things like that that maybe tap into
something deep I remember I can remember back
to say second grade and I had this feeling like
Don't know if it was something's wrong with me,
but something about me feels different. I don't
feel like I'm like the other kids I don't I didn't
feel like I was Completely unlike them, but it
was this feeling and then it carried all through
high school And for a long long time and yet
there's a lot of adults out there. Maybe Somebody
like you listening to the show right now if you're
listening and you've always been carrying this
feeling that something that you're defective
Tap into what Dane is saying there. It's It may
be I think you say I'm done with dissolutions.
I think that yeah, I think part of songwriting
for me is Like kind of a lot of times identifying
kind of what's what's wanting to come forward
and Then saying the thing that comes forward
so like and that's a big part of it for me as
someone who kind of uses You know songwriting
as a mantra you know, kind of prayers, for lack
of a better term, you know, kind of here's what's
going on, here's how it smells, here's how it
tastes, here's how it feels, and then here's
what I'm going to do, like here's what I'm going
to do as a result, or like here's what I want
to do, or here's what the truth is. A lot of
times I'll do that kind of in a chorus, you know,
so for, you know, kind of recognizing the default
programming of feeling that there's just something
defective, you know, and just realizing it's
a program, you know, the saying, especially loudly
for me, I'm done being defective, is I think
what unleashes the power of a song when you write
a song, or what can unleash the power of a song
that you write, kind of having these bold statements
of what you want, so to speak. A lot of my songs
kind of have these bold statements of what I
want or what I would like to see, I guess. And
then a song like The Great Alone, one of the
verses, there was a time when I scribbled, one
dozen suicide notes for the world I leave behind
one to my love one to my best friends one to
my family so that leaves nine more and you say
and then there were nine addressed to me who
would have known that I could write about pain
so eloquently so truthfully and yet I kick and
scream and try to fight whenever evolution comes
for me what a powerful confession there how did
this song come about was it an emotional process
writing the song Yes. I mean, it definitely was.
I mean, first of all, I love that you got all
the lyrics right. That's great. It's rare when
someone reads the lyrics back and gets them right.
That's awesome. I tried. No, that's great. And
you did really well. That's awesome. And it's
also kind of, you know, I don't know. I think
that a lot of times it's important to hold space
for the things that are just really, really heavy.
you know really heavy and I mean just really
heavy and I think sometimes you know we a lot
of times try to put a sav on it you know we kind
of try to we don't want to talk about it or we
don't want to you know or I want to do something
about it. you know, especially if it's with things
like, you know, just the extra thoughts that
you don't want to have or the extra painful things,
the things that are really painful, that's really,
really just in there, you know, and I think it's
really difficult sometimes to be okay with being
in that place because it feels torturous, you
know, and we want out, you know, and I think
a lot of times the emotion of the fears and the
sadness feels like torture in itself and we want
out, you know. But I think that when you actually
meet it and you embrace it and you hold it, you
know, you kind of end up seeing a mirror, so
to speak, you know, things kind of all your answers
kind of look you in the face, as it were, if
you're kind of allow yourself to meet it. I suppose
if that song kind of reference, I suppose that's
how I would put it in a general sort of nutshell.
I mean, and it was just a time in my life where
I really needed it. I needed to, there was too
much, you know, really horrible things going
on and, and I was struggling so hard, but I...
needed to hold space for the beauty of where
I was kind of like we were talking earlier, you
know, when it's kind of a mess, you know, and
as an adult, our messes are really messy. They're
extra messy than when they were when you were
a kid. And but we still kind of experienced them
as children, I think, like the thing inside you
is a child that's experiencing it. And it kind
of feels that way. So I think that, you know,
that song for me kind of holds space for that
child to just kind of it's OK, you can feel that
that's OK to feel that write it all out. sing
it all out but at the same time like we're always
everything's constantly moving you know and that's
kind of part of the inspiration of that other
song is everything's in constant motion so be
still you know cry that's okay. And there's an
evolution constantly happening, no matter what
you're doing. So it's either going to move forward
or you're going to die. And that's kind of how
all things are. And if you're not going to die,
you're probably going to get through it. And
it's weirdly nihilistic, kind of weirdly dark,
but kind of comforting to me. Well, I'm not going
to die. Well, it hasn't killed me yet. So I'm
probably going to get through it. I'm not just
going to sit on this couch for 40 years. So something's
going to move. That's kind of what it does for
me anyway. Well, I think Dan's bass line opens
the song and it kind of guides you into it. It
made itself known and I promptly threw it up
and out in every which way And then I left myself
alone right there, crying, shivering, naked,
feeling strong, feeling blessed in my true form
you My gosh, and you know the funny thing about
that was I so that was one from the reclamation
album It was an earlier album and on that one
Jenna Jonas actually played bass and drums on
that one and She came up with that lick. Oh,
wow We just loved it so much that we asked and
we're like Dan Do you mind just like Danifying
that lick and just like adopting that for you
and he totally not only embraced it but then
like had some Dan embellishments for later in
the song too, and it was so good. I'm like, you
know, I think we need just, this song's just
all about bass. And I, you know, and I asked
him kind of last minute. And I was like, I know
we're just kind of playing straightforward here.
And I don't think I want to leave guitar on this
one this time. I kind of just want to hear the
bass move around, you know? And of course he's
just, he nailed it. It was so pretty. I was so
happy. Yeah. There's such a warmth and a depth
to his sound. And when you hit the chorus in
the song, I think this is, Maybe my favorite
song on the album. I don't know. It's either
this or the invitation But I think the chorus
is the best one on the album You hit one out
of the park and over the second fence or whatever
the old fence I mean because it kind of builds
it and the music keeps on playing whether I can
hear it or not I like the seven billion stories.
So this is like everyone on the planet, right?
Everyone everybody's singing at once and oh the
great alone show me how to see that No one can
sing this part, but me this one got me a little
emotional. I think I actually kept kept the cheeks
dry, but it got to me that was one of the things
that kind of like I was saying earlier is just
kind of you know, the world's in chaos like everything's
in constant chaos and you're just like kind of
in it you know and no one's going through what
you're going through but you you know so that's
kind of where that and for me i had this kind
of transformative moment where i just kind of
embraced you know what i mean fine this is what
i am i'm sad i'm alone i'm you know and i just
i felt my heart open i guess i felt my heart
that It ended up being called like a capital
a alone and that's why I called it the great
alone Yeah, because when my heart opened I just
I I felt like I was everything, you know, like
I I went okay I'm the only thing here then I'm
totally alone, right? So and I just felt I don't
know It's just this transformative moment where
I felt my heart open and I felt my sense of alone
Just kind of expand out into the room and then
out into the neighborhood and out into the city
and I kind of Weirdly paradoxically almost felt
more connected Somehow, you know like well, we're
all alone. That's there's seven billion of us.
We're all Kind of have this feeling of alone,
but we're all here together. So maybe it's just
one big great alone, you know, right? We're all
just kind of doing it together as best we can,
you know, and it's gonna get weird from time
to time But it's also gonna get really pretty
so, you know, just kind of have to take it as
it comes So I'm glad you like that song. Oh,
I love it. Can't wait to hear it again, you know
this afternoon. I just Guys if you're listening
to this show and you haven't and You know, you
can always put in a podcast on pause So I like
to say this sometimes pause the episode look
up Dana Perry if you're on Spotify Apple music
wherever get this thing in your catalog Get it
queued up. It's been the next hour with the record
and come back to this conversation I don't care,
but you got to hear what we're talking about
here now also really like the tunes on the battlefield
album and Some of these songs are particular
to the time period. Yeah which some people I
think are still feeling the effects, the aftermath
of the pandemic and everything like that. But
I got to say the opener and the closer, I think
they call the penultimate track all come out
of this, the collaboration. It speaks to what
people were going through at that time. But I
think people still need to hear that song. You
know, it's really interesting you say that. Somebody,
I just randomly mentioned a very similar thing
to me really recently. And I hadn't had anybody
kind of bring up that song in a minute, but they
had just kind of gone across it recently and
went, you know, I still need to hear that song.
And you know, what's great about that one is
I, you know, like everybody else, I kind of shut
down and cried into my laundry pile for like
a month. And then I kind of, you know, it's like,
what am I going to do about this? You have to
do something, you know, I have to do something.
I can't just sit. I got to do, you know, what
do I do about this? And, you know, as a musician,
you know, we were kind of deemed in essential,
not essential for a little while. But at the
same time, we felt there were so many people
that felt like they really needed music right
now. Right. So that's kind of where the whole
album came from in general is just kind of speaks
to what it's like being a musician during a pandemic
and kind of going through pandemic stuff. But
you know all I was like no man let's let's you
know we need a song we need a song that some
kind of hope something that says hold on let's
just you know let's let's just hang in there,
you know. And I thought it would be great to
connect with other songwriters that I really
admire and songwriters that really inspired me.
So Kelly Hepper, of course, I mentioned her earlier.
She's a big part of that song. And my good friend,
Kevin Mason, is a big contributor. He's a phenomenal,
probably one of the most prolific songwriters
I've ever known. Fantastic guy, too, and just
really, really genuine soul. So he did a bit
a lot of work on that album. And of course, Jenna
Jonas and Dan Kennedy. Travis Ziegler I think
threw down on that album. Sam Ness, the wonderful
Sam Ness. Yeah, it was a big collaboration for
sure. But I was just like, just talk about it,
man. I'll throw it together. Like everybody write
a little something or come up with a little something
and I'll piece it all together somehow. So like
verse one or whatever was Kevin Mason. And I
think I wrote the chorus and my friend Kelly
Hepper helped with some musical stuff. And my
good friend, Maggie Shays provided some. the
round, you know, kind of idea for the round at
the end, which was really cool. So yeah, it was,
it was really healing to work on. And of course,
I'm, I don't know if you have checked out my
website at all, but there's a video of it. We
did two, we did one where it was all just kind
of, it was a kind of a collage footage of musicians
in live stream and in quarantine, because that's
what we were doing during that time. So it's
just kind of, especially if you're local to Madison,
you get to see a lot of Madison local music celebrities,
as I call them, you know, like kind of prominent
bands in Madison are good, you know, radio folks,
kind of people that are in the Madison music
scene. kind of all participating in the video.
So the first one was there. And then there was
a year, one year later to the date, we were able
to kind of slowly start gathering again. And
we went ahead and had the original songwriters
and original contributors do a live shoot of
the song. So both those videos are up on YouTube.
Yeah, it's just a kind of a everybody come on
in here. Come in for a hug. And people just need
to hear that again. I like just even the references
to I miss having some change in my pocket I think
a little jingle in the pocket because you're
not going to a cash register transaction experience.
And yeah, yeah One of my favorites was my friend
Kevin Mason. He said I'm Kind of tired of washing
my hands and I don't want to change my pants
That kind of stuff but I was like, oh that's
great. You're so great. There's some really funny
lines and quite a few of these songs even on
now and again, but I think there's one, I think
it's on, I'll come out of this, this would have
me, I think it's like a modem or router reference.
Sometimes you gotta unplug things, wait 10 seconds
of silence and plug it back in to get it to work
again. Oh, that is so awesome. Yeah, I was pretty
proud of that one. That is a personal favorite
quality of mine for songwriters is when they
can put a little touch of humor into some heavy
duty subjects. Yeah, you gotta, you gotta. Dana,
you've had the experience of playing some festivals
and small venues. Do you change your approach
much when you're playing in a little corner of
a room versus now you're playing in an open -air
setting? That's a good question, actually. That's
a really good question. I think a lot of musicians
probably agree that reading the room is everything.
I think that it kind of depends on the space
and the setting. Some for the most part of my
pick my set list just kind of based off what
I'm in the mood to play But once in a while depends
on the show like if I know that I'm gonna be
Kind of background music as it were a certain
gig, you know It's kind of a three -hour while
people are eating sort of a thing a bar setting
you know, certain festivals or certain patio
shows, you know, for different outdoor events,
you know, I might, you know, I'll probably throw
lots of covers in there and that kind of stuff
where I'll play, you know, kind of keep it some
of my more upbeat stuff. Whereas like if I'm
in kind of a more intimate listening room setting,
I might bring out some of the heavier stuff,
keep it more original. Because, you know, of
course, as an original artist, you're always
trying to get those songs out there first, you
know, rather than your wagon wheel cover. You
know, you're trying to just kind of get the get
an audience for those songs more than anything,
so you really take advantage of those. But I
also, a lot of times when I get approached for
different shows, I let them know, you know, kind
of, what are you looking for? Do you want, you
know, a solo? Do you want a duo? I can bring
my percussionist with me, or are you looking
for a full band, kind of big rockin' thing? So
certain, depending on the gig, it might just
be me kind of in a corner, all intimate style,
or it might, you know, be a full band on a big
stage, kind of festival setting. Which usually
I'll try to keep my... I might have one or two
kind of pretty songs in there, but for the most
part when I have the full band It's just so fun,
you know, so usually I'll keep a pretty high
energy set for that do you ever have people walk
up to you and ask you to play a song and You
oblige but you just don't have the heart to tell
them look Get a little more creative. Maybe I've
been asked to play that 500 times surely there's
something in that artist catalog that you'd love
to hear besides The number one hit or I do often
feel that way mostly because I'm really bad at
taking requests like I Might play, you know,
so like I'll play You know, I do Janis Joplin,
me and Bobby McGee, right? But then all of a
sudden they're like, do you know Patsy Cline?
Do you know this other song by Janis? And I'm
like, no, I mean, I know of that song, but I
don't know it. And I'm not always solid. My cover
songs are more fillers. Sometimes, I guess sometimes
when the drinks are flowing, it gets a little
later in the night, people feel like, oh, I could
just go up and approach that person between songs.
They're just playing whatever, so I don't have
to. Now, of course, if someone's requesting an
original song, I will always oblige, just because
it's cool that they requested an original song.
But if I do happen to know it, I do get really
excited. Like, hey, I know that one. I could
totally play that song. But sometimes I'll get
requests, and I'll be like, ah, sorry, I don't
know that one. I'm a big Honey DeFranco fan,
so I know like 20 Honey DeFranco songs. But you
got to be kind of... way into the independent
feminist folk catalog to really appreciate a
dozen Ani songs. I had some friends, we may be
around the same age, but I worked in a music
store in the kind of 99, 2000 time period and
we had some Ani diehards. Oh yeah, I was going
to say you probably had Ani for sure. Her fans
are no joke. They're a hardcore bunch. Well,
Dana, we could keep going and going. Here we
are. It's the spring of 24. Are you always writing
songs? Yeah, that's a good question, too. I mean,
I wouldn't say I'm always writing. I definitely
That ebbs and flows, you know, I try to put out
an album a year at least an album every other
year I will say it sounds kind of weird to say
but everything I have written is recorded I don't
some artists, you know have hundreds of songs
and they've recorded I've just never really kind
of been one of those for some reason They don't
always come as free flowing as that, you know
I mean I can but I just don't right So I kind
of curl up with them a little bit longer, but
I've got a couple things I'm, you know, sort
of, quote unquote, kicking around the office
that I've kind of working on. I'm hoping next
year by next year, you know, I'll have something.
that I'm ready to put out for sure. But like
I was saying earlier, I do wear a lot of hats
in town, so sometimes I don't always have extended
time like I would like, but I try to make sure
I travel. I was on the road all month last month,
and that was good for the soul to just kind of
tune everything out, do a little songwriter's
retreat, for one, to just kind of get on the
road and travel. So, and, you know, play some
open mics and play with some people. So I usually
try to tour once a year. decided not to this
year, not an official tour anyway, so tour of
open mics. But yeah, so I try to, you know, it
kind of heads and flows. Sometimes I'll just
be really flying and all kinds of stuff will
be coming out and then other times I'll just
let myself get a little swamped in my other work
and it kind of takes me away from it. But yeah,
I try to, I definitely, I'd say between all of
it, keep myself pretty busy and immersed in music
things for sure. I could see where being a songwriter
If you're not careful, you could get a little
too intense about it and all of a sudden it starts
to feel like a job. And yeah, for a lot of, yeah,
a lot of people for sure, especially if you're
trying to, you know, quote unquote, make a living
with music and only music, you kind of look at
your songs as a product and you kind of have
to churn out the product, so to speak. But I
think that that can be kind of a pitfall. mentality
sometimes for musicians and it some people it
might work for you know, that's and if it works
for them awesome I've just never been One that's
that's worked for me like that. It's just kind
of makes it worse once I make it So I make more
money when I try not to make money with it so
right How about maybe an early early influence
someone that you were listening to at 16 or 17
years old and Maybe another influence. That's
kind of the past decade Or it could be a little
mixed bag of just whoever you like a lot I probably
have to say That a couple that pop out, you know,
cuz I was I was born in 85 So, you know all the
all throughout the 90s There was a lot of kind
of forward female musicians that I really really
loved I'd have to say Alanis Morcette's Jagged
Little Pill got me through junior high all the
way and she's phenomenal and her vocals are on
fire of course and she's just loud and so she
just says it you know and just has these really
beautiful lyrics that I just are amazing so she
was really big influence in mine. I also really
loved Tracy Chapman those first two albums that
she had just folk hardcore folk. you know, that
was like really hardcore, early folk music exposure
to me. I felt like, you know, I was kind of a
mainstream kid. I didn't get a lot of exposure
to anybody that wasn't on the radio, you know.
So as far as like my introduction into like kind
of more roots, grass rootsy types of vibes, I
felt like Tracy Chapman was kind of all I was
offered at the time. So I really embraced that,
that kind of acoustic guitar, you know, kind
of stories about people kind of vibe. So I kind
of really fell in love with that. As far as later
on you know someone of course introduced me a
good dear friend of mine introduced me to Ani
DeFranco when I was in college which is you know
prime introduction of Ani DeFranco was in college
so and I of course absolutely fell in love and
introduced me to this whole world of musicians
that were not on just on the radio and even that
sounds weird and out of date people are just
like on the radio because like there was no streaming
like there was no internet stuff you know what
i mean so it was on the radio so that's what
you were meant you know so if you wanted underground
you literally had to go underground and find
tapes and like records and go to shows and do
that kind of stuff and that's what i really respected
about ani was she's diy all the way that she
built a hardcore fan base just by recording tapes
in her basement and then taking making 50 copies
and taking a hatchback and going on the road
and playing gigs and they I remember seeing her
in an interview like hey you're kind of pioneer
of DIY spirit like how did you do that before
internet and before this so it was all about
the email list just the email or all about the
mailing list it was snowman That's what I want
to see. I can't even say snail mail about the
mailing list. So she would physically mail people
for every city. Here's when I'm coming to your
city. And that's how she built her audience.
It's amazing and inspirational. But yeah, her
lyrics were so visceral. Her guitar playing was
insane. And she was just so primal, you know,
that I just I loved her. She was absolutely huge,
huge influence from that point out. So I'd say
my my style, my guitar kind of has like a really
percussive thump. to it, you know, and that came
from Ani all the way, all the way. Huge, huge
Ani DeFranco fan. So definitely throughout college,
it was all about Ani and Ani -esque artists,
too. A lot of independent music. And then kind
of started getting into kind of more roots music,
like later on, some Rising Appalachia, Trevor
Hall, Xavier Rudd, and some, you know, a little
bit of Nakos, some musicians like that that were
really starting to do a number on me, too. So.
And then of course, I always got room in my heart
for the standard blues, you know, anything standard
blues rock is always going to fill my soul. Love
it. Oh, I love it. I wanted to read some a claim
that you received from local sounds magazine.
This is from a Rick Fett. Perry's vocal range
is this is what I've discovered as well. Perry's
vocal range is wide and she can sing with breathy
delicacy or with grit stretching. to hit the
higher notes with strength and spot on pitch
while speaking with utter frankness. That's especially
on the most recent record now and again. I really
I don't know if I mentioned this earlier in the
call, but some of the rapid fire vocals, you
know, I love learning lyrics and trying to sing
along. And I like a little bit of a challenge
there, but I like it. And is that difficult when
you're you probably know these songs pretty well,
but to get out there and and sing with that.
I've just always been in love with, I just always,
a lot of that too came from a lot of being influenced
by a lot of really strong kind of female artists
like, you know, like Ani and like Alanis Morse
set and just kind of like gritty. I always loved
the grit and I just felt like. It just kind of
naturally goes there for me from a lot of my
influences, but also just because it feels so
freaking good. It just feels good to have that
grit. It feels good to sing like that. It just
feels good in my body, you know? Yes. And to
in my throat to just kind of, you know, kind
of just spit something out or just belt it out
or just yell it. You know what I mean? There's
there's a powerful feeling that kind of comes
through you, you know, like a lion in the mountains,
you know? So I mean, I'm always in love with
that first and foremost, for sure. But I'm always
in love with the rhythm of words, that a lot
of words just has natural, natural rhythms. And,
you know, so sometimes certain things will just
kind of come to me just because I appreciated
the artistry of the words themselves, you know,
and they kind of have their own little rhythm.
And if I can figure out how to get that singing
with my guitar at the same time, even cooler.
So it takes practice, but you know, it's it's
good practice. It's a lot of fun and worth it.
Well, i've i've so enjoyed the music. I uh I
can't wait to explore more of the catalog. Uh,
once again folks whatever Wherever you download
music You can find dana perry's Songs and albums
and please also visit the website. This will
be in the show notes and in the intro but dana
perry music .com and If people are interested
in, we were talking about CDs earlier, I'm one
of those guys that I kind of miss CDs. I like
the packaging, the jewel case, the liner notes.
But if people want to purchase a physical copy
of your music, is that still something they can
do? Yeah, I definitely do have physical copies.
There's a merch section on my Bandcamp page.
It's musicbydana .bandcamp .com. There's like
some paintings and some bracelets that I made.
I do some. mugs and my partner does some glass
etching. And then there's a section on there
that's got all my CDs as well. But then of course,
I always say there's multiple ways you can go
ahead and listen. Of course, you can stream and
stuff like that. I'll always send a physical
CD to anybody that wants one for free too, because
I think it's amazing that you want me to send
you a physical CD. So I will lovingly do that.
And I'll sign it too. So but if you're looking
for it to have the music but not stream, I do
digital. downloads on the Bandcamp site as well.
And you can get the whole discography at once
too. Sometimes I've had people just download
the whole discography and it gives like a big
discount and stuff like that. So I think you
can get like the whole discography for like 35
bucks or something like that. But yeah, so Bandcamp's
phenomenal resource for musicians. I personally
just, they've been great for over the years for
me for sure. But that's where it would be. Great
well people listening whether it's you or maybe
you've got a teenage son or daughter Shoot, I
love collecting records and CDs when I was younger
kind of slowed it down, but Get into it. Even
if you're Purchasing something to add to a collection
or to start a collection collecting music is
a really exciting and fun hobby Five ten years
weirdly CDs will come back for like no reason
I'd love to see it Well Dana anything else of
that you'd like to plug I got maybe maybe like
one or two silly questions, but Sure. All right.
So are you a wake up in the morning and I got
to get the coffee started before I do anything
at all or can you roll out of bed and just Don't
need the caffeine. Don't care. I'll eat a bagel
when I do. Awesome question. That's an awesome
question. That's an important question. And I
need the coffee, man. I need the coffee. I have
to. I mean, I'll do it without it, but I'm not
seeing colors yet. I need the coffee. I'll be
half asleep and make the coffee pot first. How
about on some of the just wet weather days, have
you ever had a situation where you just You're
out. You're not going to be back at the house
for a while. You don't have an extra pair of
clothes. And my gosh, my shoes are all wet. My
jacket, even my jacket's wet. What am I going
to do here? Does that happen sometimes? It absolutely
does. I've traveled and lived on the road a lot.
And I have definitely gotten rained out and rained
on and muddied and not been able to get out of
it. That's for sure. You just get dry when you
can. And in the meantime, just this is who I
am now. I'm soggy. I am wet and muddy and cold
and not happy and not happy. And then just but
I will not stay in this state. I will eventually
be dry and it will get me through. Perfect metaphor
and This could be a long story, but your best
friend in life. Is this somebody who is just
like you? completely unlike you is it someone
who I like friends and partners and people like
how they how they mix because Some of my friends
were a lot alike and some of them. I'm like Everyone
else hates this person, but we're buddies. That's
a good question too. I don't know. I don't know
that I'd say I have a singular best friend. There's
definitely a small handful of people that I consider
that I'm fairly close to. Thankfully, they know
and love each other for the most part. I definitely
have a couple of friends that I would consider
a dear friend. I know that they do not care for
each other. And that happens. That'll happen.
So I mean, we can't we can't all love everybody
to that degree, I suppose. We can love each other
as humans, but we're going to clash from time
to time. So and I think that's OK. But I'd say
the people that are the closest to me definitely
have a lot in common for sure. And and the differences
are the ones you kind of embrace and kind of
use for each other and to kind of learn and grow.
So always good to surround yourself with like
minded folk. Sometimes I found with friendships
the people that maybe are a little prickly to
the general public and But I'm friends with them
and I get them there's an appreciation there.
Some people have little ticks and Personality
quirks and they're like, you know Dan, I don't
know how you tolerate me but But I appreciate
it. Yeah, and you gotta love that. I kind of
feel like I'm that person a lot of times for
some of my friends. Like, dude, I know I'm really
intense. I just want to thank you for hanging
out. My partner and I say that to each other
a lot. Just like, I know I'm really intense.
I just want to thank you for hanging out. I think
we all have our ways about us. Dana, this has
been so much fun and thanks for carving out some
time today. I hope we could do it again. Of course.
Thanks for having me. and uh anything for checking
out the music absolutely uh anything that you'd
like to plug or promote or how people can find
you oh no not like how they get to your house
or anything but like how they uh i live it approximately
this longitude and latitude um no i i think we
cover pretty much all of it i mean everything's
on the um On the website, it's danaparianmusic
.com. I try my best to keep it updated. Not always
the best at it, but either way, whether I'm on
top of it or not, stuff that lives there lives
there. So it's got all of my music and links
to where you can get my music. And then I have
like a blog section where I just kind of do some
writings and there's some videos and fun stuff
like that. So mostly everything's there. Whatever's
not there that will direct you to where it is.
Thank you so much, Dana, and best to you the
rest of the year. And everybody listening or
I always like to talk to the listener. Hope this
was a great experience for you. Maybe you started
at point A and I've carried you all the way on
your hour drive and you hopefully feel better
about your day. And check out Dana Perry's music.
You're going to find something to love there.
OK, folks, have a wonderful week. And as always,
see you next Sunday on the Dan Time podcast.
Thank you, Dana Perry. Thank you. Gonna open
up my cells, I've got a vision of a new day