"The broad outlines of the story are by now familiar. How a certain young man from Clarksboro, NJ, one Daniel Smith, having for a time turned his back on the culture and musical milieu in which he was raised up, which is to say having (temporarily, to go off to school) turned his back on impeccable folk and gospel bona fides in the person of his father, and having left behind the aggregation of his family, a large, singing musical brood, headed out into the world to see a few things. And yet in the course of doing so this Daniel Smith realized, with the kind of suddenness that we might associate with insight or revelation, that his family was a blessing, and that he needed to sing about this family. And not only did he need to sing about his family and the faith that sustained it, he needed, again, to sing and play with his family. The year of this revelation was 1994.
"Trying Hartz samples the first decade of the Danielson/Danielson Famile/Br. Danielson oeuvre (all the years before Ships), attesting generously to the movement of the work as a whole, from proto-minimalist eccentric gospel band to prog-metal-dread outfit to music hall choir to indie rock one-man band to outsider art celebrity to family man and family member. It's a perfect starter volume for listeners who have not had the pleasure of engaging with the evolution of this unusual, surprising, and incredibly moving musical consortium. And yet: please note that no verbal account of the work can possibly summon the effect of the decade digested in this assemblage. After all, as Daniel sings, "My Lord is known by His song." Not by His press releases. The ecstatic vision of the Danielson project is the unnamable part, the impossible to describe part, and this ecstatic vision is cumulative. It's not what Daniel says, though he always says it well, it's the circumstances in which he says it, with family gathered around him, whether related by blood or not; it's the reiteration of the spiritual thematic material, a reiteration that sounds nothing like early 20th century gospel-it's far more poeticized, it's far more elemental-but which has all the seriousness and all the joy of that long ago music. Ecstatic vision. You won't get it by reading these lines, nor even by reading the lyrics. You will get it by listening to this distillation of ten years' work and the earlier albums and going to the shows. Then you will experience the humble but devious and complicated grassroots movement that is Danielson. Trying Hartz is an essential place to start."
- Rick Moody (The Ice Storm, Garden State)
Hi..my name is diane danielson white. Your music is really great. check out my sons band Mostly Ghosts! maybe we are related. come to milwaukee sometime. i will buy you a beer! how about summerfest?
Oh, Danielsons! If you should come to Albuquerque in the fall, Eva Ave & Carlosaur will open up for you! We almost did in Phoenix last time. www.myspace.com/carlosaurmusic www.myspace.com/evaavemusic
Hey guys! I've been listening to you for almost 10 years now and want you to know that I have enjoyed the music the most of any in my collection. I just finished a new album called AMEN and it would awesome if you could give some of the tracks a listen on my profile. Thanks for the years of inspiration!
Thank you for effectively blowing all of our minds Friday night. I swear, your shows rock harder than most punk shows I've been to. Dancing, clapping, laughing, stomping. Oh, what a joyful noise!
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