All About Me :)

Hi there fellow music lover!  

My name is Danielle Taylor and I'm a total California girl through and through :) I love the sunshine, the trendy weirdos at Starbucks and of course, the sea of highlighted hotties that line the coast!  

My music reflects my generally cheery disposition and I hope it brings a little joy into your day! … the whole "whistle while you work" thing is real ya know ;)  

Anyway, I know you're here to learn all about my musical journey so I'll get right to it!  

I've loved music forever ~ did the little kid thing, sang disney songs and all that ~ so it was only natural that I'd try to be a little songstress myself one day. The very first tune I ever wrote was when I was 5 years old. (It was a crap song for sure, but I was all kinds of cute in my attempts to be impressive) I wrote the song for my Dad .. it was called "Today Is The Day" … I had a little wonky Casio that looked like this:  

It was my favorite for such a long time! And it's really what got me into performing music. As I got a little older, my Mother decided it was time to really learn music. She gave me my choice of instrument and I chose the clarinet. I took a few lessons, learned to read music, and pushed through my academic life as a band geek. Every once in a while though, I'd wish quietly that I was in choir instead. I loved singing so much… but every time I'd take a chance; talk to a chorus leader or theater director, I was told that I was "such a good clarinetist … I should stay in band."   … so that's what I did.   

I played the clarinet for over 16 years … never brave enough to step out and try singing again.   

When I was about 19 I finally started lamenting to friends that I'd always wanted to be a singer. I was working a boring 9-5 job and wished I could do something more. A great friend of mine connected me to a producer gent and that's really where it all started. I went to the producer's house, sang him a few songs and took every piece of his advice. He said, "You need to learn to play an instrument. Tons of girls can sing. You need to write and perform to stand out."   

Being ever so eager I leapt at the opportunity to finally be a singer. I tried playing the guitar… but that was too hard and frankly… it hurt my fingers. I didn't have the patience. So… I came back to the piano.  

I got all kinds of sneaky and creative about learning to play it too. I couldn't afford lessons so every couple months I'd have my piano tuned. The fella that came would tinker for a bit and then play amazing little riffs that I would pay crazy close attention to. The second he left my apartment I'd start trying to do whatever he'd done ~ trying to copy every note in his little riff.  

Eventually I was ready to put a band together. We were a bunch of Craigslist misfits but somehow we managed to muddle through. :)  

I recorded my first EP titled 'Don't Turn On The Light' in Ventura, CA and was fortunate enough to catch the attention of Don Grierson (former SVP of Epic Records) who agreed to mentor me. I learned so much from him about writing and performing… meeting him was really a godsend.  

That same EP also landed me a bunch of opening or "direct support" gigs across So. Cal. To date I've opened for:  
 

Ari Hest Dick Dale
Jonny Lang Aaron Carter
Steve Tyrell Leon Russell
Colbie O'Donis Marc Broussard
Wilson Phillips Marc Cohn
Howie Day David Cassidy
Jon Ondrasik Lisa Loeb
Striking Matches Crystal Bowersox

The last magical thing that EP did for me was open the door to meeting Erich Talaba who agreed to work with me on a newer, fancier EP titled, 'The Chase.'  

The Chase EP was released on March 31st, 2015 through a distribution deal with SonyRED ... which was all kinds of fantastical! A few months later, in August 2015 I signed my first ever batch of Sync Licenses! (In case you don't know what those are ~ I pretty much got my music onto TV ... tons of different networks like: TLC, OWN, E!TV, Oxygen, VH1, Showtime, Discovery and Bunim Murray/MTV)  which I was super excited and geeked about!!   

As cool things continued to happen, hard work was always riding me like a cute piggy ? (teehee ~ piggyback ride) I spent the first part of 2016 writing and performing like a crazy lady until I finally had the right stuff to put into the world.   

In August of 2016, I released my first full length record which I've titled '1440'!! I love all of my music, but right now, this record is the bees knees for me! I wanted to release it in a sneaky way so I hosted a big fancy event in downtown LA. We did it all speakeasy style ~ with a password and everything! It was a blast showcasing the new songs to some of my favorite fans! If you missed it, don't worry ~ you can still buy the record and wiggle your toosh on your home turf!!   

Now the most exciting news is that my music is on SIRIUS XM!!! Hoot hoot! I'm meeting all kinds of people from around the world that've heard me through Sirius so it's definitely been the cat's pajamas! If YOU want to hear me on Sirius - go to any one of their Facebook pages and REQUEST your favorite song :)   

Anyway~ please stay tuned, I'm always moving forward so I'm sure I'll have more news for you soon!!