Danny Michel may have been nominated for some of the country’s highest music awards.
But it’s his charity work as well as his promotion of fellow artists that have given the celebrated songwriter a broader platform.
Michel, who has landed nominations for Junos and a Polaris Music Prize for his album Black Birds Are Dancing Over Me, has helped to collect more than $70,000 through his Ocean Academy Fund, which offers scholarships for the Caye Caulker Community School in his beloved Belize.
Michel was in the Central American country five years ago to volunteer with the school and, later, to cut his Black Birds CD with The Garifuna Collective.
Still, Michel’s mobile web series, Dan’s Space Van, has gained him attention on a different level. The show is filmed in a customized 1978 GMC Vadura — airbrushed with a Star Trek theme — that aims to showcase the work and style fellow musicians.
In addition, Michel hosts School Night Mondays at The Dakota Tavern in Toronto and features top names in the industry.
Michel said the multiple storytelling projects allow him to better study his craft “and up my game constantly.”
This year, however, was a game changer when Michel dropped Matadora, a 10-track collection he recorded and mixed in his home studio in Waterloo; the feel of Matadora contrasts sharply with Black Birds, offering more of an internal reflection.
Next week, he’ll present songs from the new CD as well as older tunes from his catalogue at a Coquitlam concert.
It’ll be a solo event, which he says gives him the freedom to improvise. “It also gives me the chance to play what I call the ‘campfire versions’ of the songs: Stripped down in their original form.”
• Tickets to hear Danny Michel on June 8 are $35/$30/$15 via the Evergreen Cultural Centre (1205 Pinetree Way, Coquitlam) at 604-927-6555 or evergreenculturalcentre.ca.
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CONTEST
Email [email protected] for free tickets to the Danny Michel concert at Coquitlam’s Evergreen Cultural Centre on June 8.
