People/Places
Den is first and foremost a people person who is deeply moved by the smiles and sorrow that make up human life. No human event is too great or too small to end up in a Den Hollinden song. This focus on human emotion is what allows Den's music to transcend genre and earn fans among the ABC (Anything But Country) crowd.
  
Den is a fiercely patriotic American of German descent with just a wee bit of Scottish, thanks to Den's Great Grandpa Leonard. You can hear Den's German roots in "The Bungalow Bar Song" and a Celtic influence in "They Don't Serve Sterling." (Sterling is the brew of choice back in his St. Henry home town and maybe other places where you can't buy Shiner.)
 
Den's earliest influences came from the people he grew up with in his native southwest Indiana--people from places with colorful names like St. Henry, Birdseye, Paoli, Santa Claus, Dale, Tell City, Holland, Ferdinand, Huntingburg, Jasper, Terre Haute and Evansville, as well as nearby Henderson and Louisville, Kentucky. It's people and places like these that provide the raw material for songs like "St. Henry Christmas," "Christmas in Huntingburg," "The Basketball Song," "How 'M I S'posed T' Have a Merry Christmas," "Girls of Holland, IN" and "Old 124." Den's original premise for writing these songs was that the life blood of this great country of ours isn't all concentrated in a place called Nashville; it flows through all the veins--even the tiny ones, and some times especially the tiny ones!
Others have inspired Den musically in a more direct fashion over the years: Larry Doll and Kristi Miller helped Den fine tune his singing. Glen Menke hooked Den's voice up to an oscilloscope one day in physics class and told him there was something special there. Art Stillwell taught him to play guitar. Robyn Lehmer inspired so many of Den's songs that she earned the title the muse. Alfredo Serra supported Den's music when few others would. Finally, there have been a host of singer/songwriters (Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton, Tom T. Hall, Alan Jackson, et al) who showed Den the magic in music and made him exclaim, "I wanna do that!"
Den's travels--both inside and outside the USA--have shown him lots of new sources of inspiration. One of the biggest is the Clear Lake region of the great state of Texas. Den was influenced greatly by the Texas concept of the singer/songwriter who writes all his own songs and sings 'em like he means 'em. Texas is also home to some of Den's greatest fans. Even the short list reads like a Texas atlas.
Another Texas inspiration is Den's brew of choice, Shiner Bock. Shiner has found its way on numerous occasions not just into Den's fridge but also into his music. "They Don't Serve Sterling," "Right For You" and "Who's Messin' Up Your Red Hair Tonight" all mention this wonderful stuff. Even if you don't partake, it's still great for cooking. (Please remember to cook responsibly!)
Another of Den's homes away from home is California. Den once lived in 29 Palms--known lovingly to Marines as the Stumps, and the most direct route to recreating Den's early music with Alfredo on acoustic 6- or 12-string is to fly Den into LAX to LA-LA Land. It's always fun to get together with Al, Cim and kids...not to mention the good Cardinal Mendoza.
As a matter of fact, Den will be in Los Angeles this coming February 10th for the GRAMMY awards. Den's schedule will be tight, but he looks forward to meeting as many of the California crew as possible and also any fellow artists who will be there at the Staples Center for the event.
Two trips to nothern Norway and towns like Harstad and Bogen introduced him to a people who were more like those in his native St. Henry, Indiana than anywhere else he'd been. As he got to know the people, he also got to know the music and learned much from performers like Åge Aleksandersen, Maj Britt Andersen, Sissel and Sweden's Pernille Wahlgren.
Den's Korean adventure provided even more musical surprises--like the evening he awoke to the music of "El Condor Pasa" only to trace the source to a local Korean band playing in the hotel lounge.
Our military who provided the international travel also provided an up close and personal understanding of those who defend our country today. This knowledge of the bravery of our heroes inspired songs like "Somebody Over There," "Broke Stuff," and "I Am a Soldier Too."
While serving as a United States Marine, Den participated in Just Cause that liberated Panama from Manuel Noriega and Desert Shield and Desert Storm that liberated Kuwait and defended Saudi Arabia.
After returning all the way back to the United States after Desert Storm, Den redeployed to the Middle East--this time to Iraq--to participate in Provide Comfort, an operation designed to give the Kurdish people some relief from Saddam Hussein's aggression.
Den Hollinden is proud to have fans "Down Under" where he is an
international professional member of the Country Music Association of Australia (CMAA).
Den's music can be heard on radio station 88.9 WYNFM, Melbourne, Australia.
In honor of his Aussie fans and others he shares with Australia's favorite music group the Wiggles, Den is currently writing a musical tribute to the Wiggles choreographer and sometimes Henry the Octopus, the extremely lovely and likeable Larissa Wright. Once the writing is finished and the song recorded, Den hopes to release it to Aussie country radio; so, stay tuned!
If a singer/songwriter ever "ends up" anywhere, that place for Den would be the Washington, DC area. As all Washingtonians know, that place is actually three places--Virginia, DC and Maryland, and nobody is ever actually from there.
DC is the first place (other than singing in Choir at Southridge High School back in Indiana) that Den felt part of a musical community. He receives tremendous support and inspiration from the other members of Songwriters Association of Washington (SAW,) Washington Area Music Association (WAMA,) and the DC chapter of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS)--the Grammy people. After many years of feeling long overdue for a song inspired by the DC area, Den recently wrote "How To Be a Country Star (In DC.)"
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