Daisy McCrackin, vocals and guitar Alain Johannes, multi-instruments, producer, "The Rodeo Grounds" Stefanie Schneider and Caroline Haertel, producers of the
soundtrack album, "Til Death Do Us Part" from 29 Palms, 2009,
with Steve Muhic recording and engineering.
For more info please visit Facebook Fansite Daisy McCrackin
or daisymccrackinmusic.com.
Influences
Dylan Thomas, Billie Holiday, Nick Cave, Alain Johannes, Anthony and the Johnstons, Natasha Schneider, Dolly Parton, Gillian Welch, The Grateful Dead, Bob Marley, Cat Stevens, Jacques Brel, Aimee Man, David Bowie, Jen Turner, Elliot Smith, Tom Waits, Edith Piaf, Joan Baez, Melany, Prince, Henry Wolfe, Kate Bush, Leonard Cohen, Lennon/McCartney, Mia Doi Todd, Eddie Brickell, Serge Gainsbourg, Cat Power and Adi Da Samraj.
"There is something so comforting about McCrackin’s voice and lyrics, but at the same time they are quite haunting. This dichotomy no doubt comes from how close they hit home. Her melodies are still simple and at a quick listen, so are her words. However it is in this simplicity that McCrackin’s vulnerability and self-awareness lie. The songs are honest and raw, not at all trite, which is incredibly refreshing considering the newer folk music out there.
Track after track, I was captivated by the music, the lyrics triggering my own memories. McCrackin says, “Memories are stories that can’t be counted on.” While this may be so (and quite possibly the most simple yet profound summarization of memories I’ve ever heard), they can still bring out emotions. In this way, The Rodeo Grounds is quite successful."
-Gia C. Manalio-Bonaventura - Examiner
Daisy McCrackin was born in San Francisco and survived the earthquake of 1989.
Raised by a single, working mother in the shared company of her three brothers, she excelled at athletics and the arts early on. At 8 years old she earned a scholarship to study with The American Conservatory Theater, where she performed onstage in numerous productions. While Daisy attended the prestigious School of the Arts High School, she nabbed her GED at 16 and headed up to Northern California to live on an ashram and immerse herself in her spiritual studies. It was at the ashram that Daisy heard a friend sing a Leonard Cohen song, and was inspired to pick up the guitar and teach herself to play.
It wasn’t long before Daisy made her way to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career, all the while playing guitar, writing songs, and singing herself awake in the mornings, and back to sleep again at night, never imagining she would one day share her music with anyone, let alone the world. While she quickly achieved success as a fresh-faced young starlet, booking coveted roles in feature films, television and commercials, she soon sunk into the vacuous void of artistic starvation. Longing for creative freedom and a more expansive method of expression, Daisy ditched her acting career and took to the road. She spent a year abroad, writing her way through Europe, reconnecting with herself as an artist and a lyricist, and pondering what kind of career to pursue next.
Back in Los Angeles, Daisy moved to the fabled Rodeo Grounds arts collective in Topanga Canyon, where she bathed in the deep and salty waters of authentic expression daily. Inspired by the eclectic community of artists living by the beach, serving as a muse and creating by the moment, Daisy took up painting, and continued to labor at the guitar. Immersed in a supportive environment that encouraged her artistic exploration, Daisy wrote songs and improvised instant ballads ‘round the famed campfire, holding her fellow creatives captive while dazzling them with hilarious impromptu outpourings of quirky lyrics, sung to sweet, simple melodies. Still too shy to share her “serious” songs, Daisy stuck to modeling by day, and making her cohorts laugh by night. Finally, after an intense song-writing jag Daisy sang a somber, personal song to a close friend who advised her to quit her day job and dedicate herself full-time to music. She played her first live show in 2006, and was dubbed “an instant rock star” in an LA Weekly review, which reported that Daisy “stole the show.”
Daisy recorded thirteen live, raw, acoustic songs for frequent collaborator, filmmaker Stefanie Schneider’s feature film, “29 Palms.” The soundtrack, “Til Death Do Us Part,” marks Daisy’s first musical release, and is available on CD and as a collector’s piece in vinyl in Germany.
In June 2009 Daisy paired up with renowned musician/producer Alain Johannes of the band, Eleven, to record her first studio album, “The Rodeo Grounds,” an homage to the community that inspired her to stretch her wings and sing, and that infused her songs with the honest, aching beauty of this complicated human experience. Upon hearing the record’s first single, “Tell Her,” currently available online, legendary Grateful Dead lyricist, songwriter and poet John Perry Barlow called it “a very tight little novel,” noting her “phrasing and delivery are perfect,” and acknowledging Daisy as “the real deal.” The album is slated for independent release in August of 2009.
Between playing live and making music videos with award-winning directors, Daisy continues to write songs, learn new instruments and stretch her musical muscles. She plans to tour Paris and Berlin, where she’s garnered an enthusiastic following in the wake of the “29 Palms” release, later this year. As well, Daisy is again teaming up with Johannes to record her second studio album this Fall. In the meantime, she’s putting together a band of her musical soul mates with whom she plans to play out and about to promote “The Rodeo Grounds”, and to collaborate on her next record.
Astral Dick is a "whodunit" involving a police psychic, Cap'n, and his "paranormal guinea pig," Lieutenant Leo Fleck. Together they are investigating a string of brutal killings centered around the temple of a rogue religious cult and an artsy-fartsy, open-mic, poetry café.
EP OUT SOON ON LEONIZER Rec. 07 oct // Live @FAVELA CHIC_PARIS 16 oct // Live @CASA A CHOCS_NEUCHATEL (CH) 23 oct // DJ set @DV1_LYON 24 oct // Live @NOUVEAU CASINO_PARIS 13 nov // Live @ TBC_MARSEILLE
i miss you too. i wana c u. when my daughter is born in december, after a few months anyway we should meet up. u can meet the kids and my fiance. we will do dinner or something. what are u up to? where r u living?
Thanks Daisy, that vagina hat should belong to the Queen of England, you are uber-cool as they say out here. Yes going to fiji next week back Aug 2nd x
The Dawn of ages fills the head All illusions soon are shed In a body fully feeling. The Heart yawns from within The Spirit pushes from without, Making no room for doubt or sin. And what once seemed real, Is only Reality dreaming.