Acrpost: A Project of the Pacific Association of Artist Run Centres

Event Description

With nominations for three Junos, the Polaris Prize, The CBC Heart Of Gold Award and a pile of albums under his belt, Danny Michel is unquestionably one of Canada’s finest songwriters. His thoughtful lyrics & earnest performances have earned him a devoted fan base. A musical chameleon, able to slip into many genres with ease. An adventurous & fearless artist. A master at striking the right balance between unpredictability and meeting expectations, leaving you wanting more as soon as it’s over.

In 2011 he relocated to Belize. There he founded the Danny Michel Ocean Academy Fund to help raise scholarships for small non-profit community high school. To date he's raised over $70,000.00 for the school and volunteers there when he can. Later he tracked down one of his favorite bands; The Garifuna Collective, a unique Afro-Amerindian cultural group and convinced them they should make an album together. That album (“Black Birds Are Dancing Over Me”) was quoted as “One of the finest musical works of our time” by Larry Leblanc. The album landed him a 3rd Juno nomination (this time in the world music category) and a sold out summer tour of North America with The Garifuna Collective as his band.

Past critics have praised Danny’s lyrics for having “something to say" without coming off preachy. Topics range from the environment (“Feather, Fur & Fin") to big questions ("If God's on your side, then who's on mine?"). Others ask “Who’s Gonna Miss You When You’re Gone?” a song which explores karma asking “Did you live it right? / Did you live it wrong?”.

Danny is touring in support of his 2016 Six Shooter Records release Matadora. The recording is a nice mix of the creative rhythms of his last release combined with more conventional singer/songwriter concerns like breaking news, loneliness and laundry. It is a red flag which waves as an open-ended question posed by the title track: Are we all bull on the beaten days, or are we the matadora in many ways?