Hey, welcome back to the Dan Time podcast. This
is part two of my conversation with Georgetown
Austin area based singer songwriter, Dan Guevara.
And we're going to preview the title track from
his debut LP. This is the song, Lazy Days. And
I got to tell you the past week, two weeks, I
guess, I've been listening to this record in
the car and happy to report I've been playing
these songs. at night when it's time for my toddler
to go to sleep and he will not fall asleep. And
I just kick it off with dreaming tree and he
is lights out halfway through lazy days. His
favorite song is procrastinate. How could you
blame him? You know, and I think that's a tribute
to just the soothing, comforting quality of Dan's
vocal style. how effortlessly you just tend to
drift into this sound. You know, there's one
artist from a bygone era that Dan Guevara reminds
me of. It's not right on the nose, but if you
know some songs like Everyday, Words of Love,
Fool's Paradise, I gotta throw out Buddy Holly.
Maybe it's a feeling that I get listening to
one of my favorites, Buddy Holly. and now listening
to Dan Guevara, both Texas natives. So there
you go. Follow Dan on social media, YouTube,
Dan Guevara Music, and you can find and download
the Lost in Austin EP and the Lazy Days LP wherever
you listen to music. So enjoy this preview of
Lazy Days and let's get to the conversation.
Once again, it's Dan Guevara time. Lazy days
Paint a picture of all the skies were gray You
and me, love, slept the day away Staying in bed,
taking our time We were sleeping in such a crowd
But now it's one o 'clock And it's far too late
to turn on the coffee pot Listen to the sound
of sizzling bacon Turn on some music now and
then Dance around the kitchen and nothing but
our skin Put my eyes on you You know exactly
what There's this photo and I think it's kind
of almost like immediately iconic I associate
because I haven't known of you very long but
you with the guitar the airstream behind you
Yeah, love that whose Creative direction was
that? so I'm gonna rewind and Back to when I
was working at big so our barista at the time.
Her name is Macy I still a really good friend
of mine So like I was talking to her about the
record and well actually not the record I was
talking to her about the single lazy days because
I'm getting ready to record that single at the
time and I was like, you know, I'm thinking of
like concepts for the art of the single and I
don't know what to do like do you have any ideas
and so she got this little it was a receipt one
of the receipts and then she flipped it over
and she drew a little airstream and on the side
it said lazy days and I was like oh my god I
love that that's going to be the theme of the
song and then it ended up being the theme of
the whole record you know just yearning for those
lazy days and like just wanting to escape the
nine to five just get away from like you said
like everything that's going on in the world
and how like things are real tense right now
and like just wanting to escape that for a while
and just like live in in bliss and just enjoy
the beauty of the world and the moment that you're
in like that's that's really the whole concept
of the record and that's why it has the airstream
on front so cool As far as the songs that seem
to be going over well live, which ones do you
play on stage? Here lately. Oh man, so I play
almost all of them live honestly, like I think
the only one that I That I don't play live much
is Dreaming Tree like I'll throw it in there
every now and then but for the most part I play
like the whole record live almost all the time.
I just I love it I'm really, really proud of
the record. It's so much fun to play. I got to
say, as far as like all the songs on the record,
the one that's the most fun to play live is Fevered
Moon. I love that song. Oh, nice. That's the
one I missed. It's all good. It's toward the
end of the record, if I'm not mistaken. Yeah,
the penultimate track, as they say. Yes. Nothing.
It's a werewolf, actually. That's what I tell
people. It's about a werewolf. and it's a love
story and it's like basically this guy like turns
into a werewolf at night when the moon is full
and he's wanting to run away with the love of
his life but he's worried that he's going to
like tear in the pieces of the werewolf and the
the chorus says howling to be with you howling
to be with you and i even howl a little bit at
the end of the song of course you have to yeah
Tell me about when you performed on the local
Fox affiliate and that experience. Was that your
first introduction as far as getting your music
out on broadcast TV? Yeah. Oddly enough, that
was actually the second time technically that
I had been on local access TV. I was on this
other local access show called Uplate Austin.
which is really, really cool. The producers of
that show are super nice and all the crew. Basically,
the way that I got that show was my good friend
Morgan Obenhaus, another local singer -songwriter
from the area. She was scheduled to be on the
show, but she got sick. And so she reached out
to me and she's like, Hey, I'm supposed to be
on up late Austin this weekend. Are you interested
in covering for me? Like I told him about you
and it's yours if you want it basically. And
I was like, absolutely. And so that was my first
TV appearance was back in 2021. I believe that
was November of 2021. And then I got the Fox
seven gig through a booking agent that I worked
with named Tammy Miranda. from Austin and so
she was able to schedule that for me and it was
perfect timing because I was just releasing Lazy
Days and I got to talk about it and it was really
cool. But I had to play my song Lost in Austin,
not off of the record. I was like, I have to
play it. I'm in Austin. This is Fox 7. I have
to play it. That's the one that everybody screams
for when I play shows. They've lost in Austin.
Lost in Austin, yeah. That that's the one that
you'll probably it'll be hard to get away from
that song that that one's gonna follow you It
is a good way to get away from that But that
that that is probably my second favorite song
play live I gotta say that just because like
that's the one that gets people dancing too and
stuff and I love that I live for that How much
fun is it when you you get to play some of these?
All -ages shows like when I was about 22 to 25
or whatever I Didn't really like the all -ages
shows quite frankly. I was like I kind of like
for this to be You know an adult audience, but
the older I get I I really love seeing Kids get
into music. I was in an all -ages show all -ages
show with our local music hall last week or the
week before and it's fun just seeing guys who
are clearly like 18 or 17 and they're just having
a great time because you don't I Feel like I
had experiences That kids or even teenagers they
don't get the same way that yeah that we did
back in the late 90s early 2000s Yeah, how much
fun is it when you see that in the crowd? Would
you see like the younger a group getting into
your songs? Oh, I love it It's just it's so much
fun like one of my favorite things is whenever
I get couples up and the couples start dancing
and Like I'm playing a love song whether it's
one of my songs or just a love song and they're
just into it And I could just tell they're having
a moment Yeah, I'm like part of that like just
like being able to create that for them. Like
I just I love that I love it. It just like something
about it just like lights me up inside, you know
I just feel like I light up if that makes any
sense Absolutely, and I really love I got to
tell you the thing I love the most is when older
couples get up and dance Oh, yeah. That happened
a couple of times and that's very touching, you
know. Yeah. What a special. I always have kids
like kids always dance that they love my music.
Yeah, my music. Yeah, I was I remember taking
my youngest or four and three or, you know, almost
four, almost three birthdays coming up. But I
took them to see a singer songwriter last summer,
I think. And they loved it. It was kind of, and
I just sat back and watched, because I knew this
was basically their first time seeing a live
performance. Yeah. And just little kids, music.
Music is just such an enriching part of our lives.
I agree. And I'm so glad that at that crossroads
that we were talking about earlier in the episode
where you just had the bad experience with the
guy that just took your money and ran. That could
have been, the world may not have heard of Dan
Guevara. And he soldiered on Thanks again. Yeah,
it's definitely I felt very like when I was able
to just kind of like piece everything together
and put it out into the world Still it was very
empowering Yeah, I gotta say cuz I felt so low
and then when I was able to do that and turn
something like Bad into something very good like
something negative into a positive I just felt
like very empowered and i'm really glad that
I I did because like I said lazy days would have
never Happened I would have never written any
of these songs probably probably would have just
hung it up, you know Wow, what a what a batch
of songs folks, uh, you can follow dan on really
any social media platform or most of the big
ones Dan gavora music on instagram and i'll list
these in the show notes as well I'm also on YouTube,
TikTok, and Facebook, DanGabaraMusic, and I got
an official website on the way. That's in the
works. Awesome. Dan, how about just a few Dan
time questions, silly stuff or whatever. Sometimes
they don't ask this question because it's so,
I don't know. When did you start going by Dan
was it a choice was it given to you was it? What
is it? When'd you go from did you were you born
Daniel and then like me? Yeah, so I think It
sounds really really funny. But the reason that
I actually went from Dan from Daniel to Dan is
because my last name is like really really long
and so I thought like hey if I shorten my first
name I could fit a little bit more in so that's
why I started going by Dan with my music and
then like a lot of my friends called me Dan and
I was like well I prefer Dan anyway so so ever
since I did that I just everything I put out
it's pretty much I go by Dan. Unless it's like
my driver's license or you know something official
like that and it just Daniel, you know, you know
You know Dan I've never heard it put that way
as far as the name is long enough the surname
So why not just shorten that's kind of what I
was getting after Yeah, you know my last name
my last name ends in the L sound So I mean I
was Daniel McArdle and it's like yeah that was
that was actually part of it But I didn't think
about it Until you brought that up. Yeah. Yeah,
that's funny That's funny and how it's kind of
like similar why we we did that, you know, yeah
Okay, here's a question I don't usually I don't
ask this one all the time because I don't want
to put people like on the spot What's your favorite
record, you know, but like do you have some and
this is okay if you have a long pause Mm -hmm
favorite artists or influential records that
you know, you still love you still play them
home and then So like the Beatles are always
and forever going to be a big influence. Elvis,
Elvis Presley. I love it. I loved his energy,
just like Elvis's energy and like how he could
just captivate everybody with his energy, the
way he danced and just like how passionate he
was when he performed. So it was always the Beatles,
Elvis. And currently, like there's a band called
Camp from Ohio. And they're a bunch of kind of
Americana, Southern rock type boys, indie rock
guys. But they have a lot of banjo in their music,
and they have a lot of mandolin and stuff. And
they've been a huge influence to me, as well
as Shaky Graves from Austin, Texas. He's a huge
influence to me as well. He's the reason I play
with the tambour toe on my foot, is because of
Shaky Graves, because that's what he did starting
out. So oh wow, I'm so glad I asked some good
wrecks there Yeah, but those are big big influences
on me for sure and then Dan are you still a chef?
I know you're a self -professed foodie and yes,
tell me about that part of your life and yes,
yes, so yes, so the The answer is yes. I am still
a chef. I work at a retirement home here in Georgetown
and I cook lunch and breakfast every Monday through
Friday and on the weekends I gig I love my shift
because I Get there super super early. I'm out
early I could stay up late on the weekends after
my gigs and just kind of like have lazy days,
you know on the weekend is nice Unless I'm like
I do but I do things a lot on the weekends to
like I run around do stuff But um, and as far
as being a foodie, I just like I've always loved
like food truck Culture, I love the Food Network.
Like I said earlier, Gordon Ramsay was just in
Georgetown at a couple of restaurants here that
I go to and he completely like renovated them,
changed the menu and stuff. I love his stuff.
I got to go to Italy with my wife on our honeymoon
and we got to try like amazing, amazing Italian
food. So I'm just, yeah, I love all the food
basically. And the culture, love the culture,
love history as well. Okay, and then well, I
always have to wrap up these episodes and I'm
like man we could talk for hours But anyway Dan
what about I? Read that your mom bought you your
first guitar. So she yeah, she probably saw something
in you at a young age It just took took time,
you know to get this engine going talk about
doing your mom and your relationship and closeness
and She plays on the record. You got her Like
you said, she was kind of nervous about doing
that but talk about you and your mom and your
relationship there All right. So it's funny because
like my mom And I like we've always had music
in common and and we love like we just have really
goofy senses of humor Like we love british culture
and humor a lot. So we're like really big monty
python fans. We love mr bean That's like totally
our humor and then of course like we love the
Beatles basically all things British we love
and like old mysteries and stuff and basically
so I I have extreme ADHD like I'm always pacing
and I got to be doing stuff around the house
and so keep myself busy And I was always growing
up, I was always tapping out tunes on the table
or stomping my feet. And so my mom was like,
we need to get him playing an instrument. And
I told him, I was like, well, I want to play
percussion. And my mom's like, well, you know,
percussion sets are a little harder to come by.
What about the drums? And I was like, OK, cool.
So I picked up the drums at 14. And then after
I had been in a couple of bands and had some
drama in the band, we split. I had been kind
of messing around with the guitar. a little bit
like my mom's guitar and she ended up getting
me a guitar and I started writing songs when
I was around 17 and that's kind of like how that
all of that came about and um like I think I
told you earlier like how I was like real sheltered
as a kid like my mom would actually take me and
my brother to shows in Austin she would like
drop us off with our friends or whatever and
that was like her outlet and and then she would
stay there at times with us It made my brother
there like at the the original emos in Austin
and like my mom is there and there's like all
these people with tattoos and like different
colored hair and stuff and she's there and she's
just enjoying the music She's just loving it.
So I love that about my mom And my dad he's he's
a not musical but he's a big Beatles fan Yeah,
he loves the Beatles. So we have that in common.
He loves Amy Winehouse. We have that in common.
So Man, my dad, not to get off on my story, but
I don't know if a lot of dads are like this,
but I'm always trying to get my dad back into
music because it's like, I remember him playing
some of these old records like Marvin Gaye. I
remember him playing Marshall Tucker band and
old Bob Seeger records. And so there was like
music playing in the house. And then it's like,
when I go see him or we hang out, it's not really
central anymore. I'm like, Hmm sometimes a couple
times a year. I'm trying to like Introduce him
to artists that he might like actually some stuff
through this show. I'm like you need to listen
to this Yeah, yeah, that's cool, man kind of
like reignite that that Love for music that he
he once had yes, or maybe just throw on a record
that reminds him of Growing up like you said
like listening to Marvin Gaye or you know, uh
-huh. No the greats like that You know just like
throwing it on for steve miller band like throw
that on I bet he would like that too, you know
He probably had no idea and now I know like when
I play music in the house That maybe my kids
are gonna remember it my oldest being seven because
like I remember hearing The fire down below from
bob seeker. I remember can't you see from marshall
tucker? It's like these there's a few of these
standouts Yeah Yeah, and it's like I could still
remember like that evening in the living room
and the turntable and he didn't know that but
so music is so powerful and I was actually Dan
I was playing because a time capsule when you
listen to it it takes you to different periods
in your life and you think about that time and
the way life was at that time and the way things
were and I love that and you think of different
moments in your life that you had with different
people, you know And that's what makes life worth
living is the people in your life and the moments
you have with those people. And I just love that.
That's that's why I love music so much. It's
just beautiful how it takes you back in time
like that, you know. Yeah. And like you said,
with the Beatles, do you ever experience this
with music where you had a song that meant something
to you a decade ago and then now you listen to
it and there's like a new relevance? Yes. The
meaning has shifted a little bit. Yes. Honestly,
when I listen to the song, Dancing in the Dark,
I get a different feeling from it. He's singing
about how basically he's tired of being in this
small rundown town. Georgetown's not rundown,
but it's like he's wanting to just break out
and explore the world and just break free. That
vibes with me so much. Yes. I'm just like, yes,
I have that same urge. I want to like I want
to explore the world. I want my music to explore
the world and people to hear it. And I want to
play for different people and different audiences
from all over. You know, I'm glad you said that,
Dan, the image of you in the Airstream. And it's
like I kind of associate that now, Dan Guevara.
It's like you're ready to shoot out at a moment's
notice. Yes, exactly. Exactly. That's that's
what I want. That's the goal ultimate goal So
I'm local currently but I'm slowly spreading
from central Texas outward So I've got branches.
Let's just say that I'm spreading all over Texas
right now and hopefully out one of these days
to a state near you Wonderful. Well, Dan, I'd
love to have you back maybe around the next time
that you've got a new record Don't know if yeah,
are you always writing or do you have periods
of on the calendar? Where you dedicate to writing
or do you are you always scratching out lyrics?
So that's the thing about writing. It's weird.
It's like it's spontaneous so like when I wrote
dear Anthony for instance like I was just in
the front yard raking the leaves and I just thought
of I thought of the line The very first part
of the song dear Anthony. Hope this song brings
us back together because I was thinking about
my friend That was really struggling at that
time and he was just heavy on my mind when I
was working in the yard and then I just started
all these words just started coming out and then
I got the We had talked about the line earlier
about like happiness is From my own song. I know
happiness is like a fading memory of an old friend.
Yes Yes, so that came to me as well when I was
working in in the front yard and and I found
that A lot of my songs come to me when I'm at
work for some reason, like I come up with ideas
on the job when I'm like cooking and stuff or
when I'm working out the yard. So that's when
I'm inspired the most. And I've actually had
a couple of songs come to me when I'm in the
middle of the night and I had to wake up and
record it. And so I've done that, too. So there's
just like different moments. And when I try to
sit down and plan it, it just never hands out
the way that I wanted to. Yeah. One more one
more thought on dear Anthony here, and I don't
know if this is what you were getting at but
I Because we most of us have had friends that
you want to help them you want to be the olive
branch, but you You've tried you tried multiple
times and it's just they've got to take that
first step I feel like in this song that you've
you've gotten some kind of signal from him where
you know, your effort is going to be received.
I think it says, this is almost over. Hope you're
ready to take flight. Just reignite your dying
light. Like you've got just a little something
from him to, to say, Hey, you could, you could
pull this off, see the storm behind your eyes
and feel your pain, but, and remind them, I'll
walk with you through the flames. I listened
to lyrics and it was that. Was there some meaning
there where? He kind of gave you or you sensed
that there was a call for help Yes. Yes, there
definitely was a call for help. Like my friend
had told me like like I said, he was At the end
of his rope. He's really really struggling and
he was like telling me he's like Hey, I have
a plan and i'm like, no No, no. No, this can't
be happening. Like I just everything inside of
me just like was like, no, I gotta keep reaching
out to them. I gotta keep talking to them. I
gotta keep, I just can't give up on them. I just
felt like I had this urge that I had to keep
talking to them. I had to keep encouraging them
and just like be there for them, you know? And
I really feel like just him sensing that and
feeling that and like, and it wasn't just me,
like it was like his family too that got involved
and we all kind of like came together and we
like. just started really loving on him and encouraging
him you know that you know like there's so much
more to life and life is beautiful you know like
you've been through you've had a lot of hard
knocks but it's not over you know like i could
still tell that he has spark in him and he wasn't
like ready to give up a hundred percent but he
like was thinking about it yeah that's what was
there you know so but uh yeah i think that's
That's more or less what I was envisioning when
I when I wrote that part of the song I just I
like this type. I like this type of song in 2025
I know the record came out in october, but You
know again speaking to what what life is like
now. It's really easy to get kind of uh siloed
and you know, just hang out not with your friends,
but maybe with your phone and not reach out to
people and put your arm around your body anymore
and like check on people it's like I really don't
want to say that that's going away but it's I
love this song right now because it's a reminder
that part of life is is being there for people
yeah at least trying you know if you feel like
that somebody needs you and you and you've got
something you can whether it's your talents or
your Empathy, you know if you've got something
there to share with people to help them through
a struggle That's a I think it's a big part of
our existence is being there for other people
Absolutely. Yeah, and I feel like people just
knowing that they're not alone Just like having
that knowledge that you're there or like you're
present with them and the room and you're there
for them if they need anything just like having
that Reassurance that they're not alone in the
world because I feel like so many of us we feel
very alone in the world. And I feel like this
time and period of time that we live in, there's
a lot of division. And I feel like people are
just feeling like they're really feeling that
right now. And I feel like if anything, we just
need to come together. Yeah, that's one of the
that's one of the reasons that the song it's
amazing how like old songs from the past, like
from the Beatles, like we were talking about,
come together to be so relevant now. You know,
all you need is love. Like that's universal,
you know, I want to hold your hand like it's
just like that's timeless. That's why the Beatles
such geniuses, because it's like their work is
like it could fit any time period. You could
relate to it any time in your life. You know,
it speaks to your soul continuously. You know,
and that's the music that I love. You know, yeah.
Oh, I got to go listen to the Beatles again.
Yeah, I know. Right. I want to throw on Abbey
Road right now. I think I won and don't let me
down. Oh my god. I love don't That's such an
underrated record or song off the right? Yeah,
I think I want to hold your hand was the first
Beatles song that I could remember from yeah
around first grade and then The first one that
I saw where it's like the Beatles in concert
was I saw her standing there And I'm actually
still I like Ringo Starr. My mom's favorite Beatles
Ringo I love his drumming style back there where
he's basically he's out of the drum stool. I
think he's like He's not even seated and he's
just banging that hi -hat and like yeah guys
if you haven't seen the way that they played
back then and how they Influence things like
going back to the first part of this conversation
punk rock And yeah, I mean all types of music
Go watch one of those early Beatles performances
it Yeah, the crowd was always just falling apart
that they a leather period too They used to rock
the leather jackets like yeah more of them a
leather. They have the slicked back hair They
had like the greaser thing going on which is
very like What do they call it now rockabilly?
Yeah, we call it rockabilly now, but back then
it's like they were like the founders of rockabilly
kind of like some of the founders just the way
they dress their Emotion behind their music Right
the attitude You know like that that rebellious
like attitude like hey like we're all clean -cut
But you know like we may look clean -cut, but
listen to our lyrics. Let's watch the way we
perform You know because they would wear the
suits, but they had like the hair. You know yes
Well Dan I have so enjoyed our conversation today
our Danversation as I say And me too. This has
been a lot of fun. Thanks for having me on the
show It's my pleasure and folks if you're gonna
be in the Austin area central, Texas area this
summer this fall Get out and and see a Dan Guevara
performance Visit the social media pages follow
him wherever you're most active and dig into
this music Lazy Days LP You're gonna find a track
that speaks to you. We've talked about a few
of them today Dan anything else that we haven't
talked about that you'd like to promote or plug
Yeah, so I have a song coming out I'm gonna be
heading to the studio here in a couple days to
record my first country song alright her country
song and It's about a really really good friend
of mine that lost her mom during kovat And her
mom's love of country music and how when she
hears country music it makes her think of her
mom And like all the good time she had with her
mom So that's that's the theme behind the song
and i'm really really excited to like dive into
a different genre and just try something different
You know shake it up. So Yeah, so that should
be coming out this summer her country song her
country song. That's right That's right before
it on spotify Andora all the streaming platforms
Well, really exciting stuff there, Dan. Yeah,
man. Yeah. This has been so much fun. Thank you
so much again for having me. This has been awesome.
Excellent. Well, again, if I reach out to you,
at least now, you know that it's not a spam message.
So if I ask you to come back on the show. That's
right. That's right. Hope to do it again real
soon. Yeah, this is great. That song all wrapped
up. Maybe we could do something. Let's talk.
Debbie Debbie terrific All right, folks. Well,
thanks for listening to this episode of Dan time
Tell a friend about it. Even if your friend isn't
named Dan or you're not named Dan again It's
just a it's a fun way to start conversation to
introduce you to a new artist and As I say over
a lot of these episodes have some fun out there.
Okay, have some fun with your life Have some
fun with your friends take somebody to a concert
and Feel the power of music. What a great guy
Dan Cavari here. Everyone is of my guests have
been terrific, but It's probably the first songwriter
where I've checked out the LP and I've just gotten
emotional, you know Because you said I'm just
trying to study and I like I like a couple tracks
So I'm trying to familiarize myself with the
songs But uh, this one really hit me hit me dan
and you're on to something and I can't wait to
see what's next Thank you. Thank you so much.
That means a lot. Thank you dan All right, and
uh, we will see you guys next sunday for a new
episode of the dan time podcast Thanks, and have
a great week But if this is just a dream If this
is just a dream Then I'll be hitting that snooze
button I love the way you give me all your lovin'
I'll never give you up, no, for nothin' No, for
nothin' So I'll be hitting that snooze button
I love the way you give me all your lovin' I'll
never give you up, no, for nothin' No, for nothin'
Oh, I just gotta find a way through this age
I just gotta find a way Back to those lazy