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1 total messages Started by Art Laurent Sun, 24 Jun 2012 04:35
Daniel Link Casts A Spell With Book Of Shadows
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Author: Art Laurent
Date: Sun, 24 Jun 2012 04:35
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From the moment Daniel Link released his latest CD Book of Shadows
(May 25, 2012 at precisely 4:48 PM) KBAC 98.1 FM, “Radio Free Santa
Fe” has been playing his song “The Spell” virtually every day for four
weeks. A most appropriate song for The Land of Enchantment, from what
DJ Yon calls “a fabulous new Santa Fe artist.”

Book of Shadows is the first CD for independent singer songwriter
Daniel Link in seven years. This latest recording endeavor finds Link
at the height of his creative and expressive powers with a collection
of songs that peers deeper into the artist’s soul than any previous
work to date. Not to mention the most honest; Seven White Moons is
Link’s first politically correct tune with the proper pronoun usage
for a contemporary gay man. Although not trail blazing by today’s
standards, nor is the song intended to serve as activism, but like
every other song on Book of Shadows it speaks to Daniel’s geographic
and fundamental internal changes.

Launching his career in Austin, Texas in the late ‘90’s, Daniel Link
established himself as a regional favorite among an impressive line-up
of Austin’s most formidable musicians… sharing the bill with Bob
Schneider, Ruthie Foster, Jon Dee Graham, the late Steven Bruton and
Sara Hickman. Link’s “almost too close for comfort” lyrics paired with
his spot on pop rock melodies made him perfect for Austin…not really
folk, but somewhere between alternative country and southern rock…a
sophisticated songwriter with an instantly recognizable voice. His
following loves him. And critical acclaim for Link’s work ranges from
The Austin American Statesman: “Link is an accomplished tunesmith”, to
Billboard: “The humanity displayed here is accessible to anyone who’s
ever felt left of societies center. And the music is potent enough to
work for those who simply want sweet melodies and memorable hooks.”

But five years after his 2005 release Color of Rain, Link and his
partner Ralph Lopez relocated to Santa Fe, New Mexico to care for
Lopez’s elderly mother. It was in Santa Fe where Link was discovered
by Grammy nominated singer songwriter Vince Bell, who invited Daniel
to be his sideman. After a brief tour with Bell to Texas headlining at
Houston’s Anderson Fair, Vince introduced Daniel to Jono Manson.

“I knew from the very first meeting with Jono that we would work well
together” Daniel says, “we both had an intuition about each other, and
pretty much decided to move forward without really knowing very much
about each other’s music…it was more about the vibe we had together.”
Once pre-production was underway, it was clear that Link had found the
perfect producer in Jono Manson…who’s organic approach to recording
was well matched with Daniel’s most expressive batch of songs and
vocal performances to date.

“I started writing songs for this project shortly after arriving in
Santa Fe...the first being Last Day of Winter which was written on the
last day of winter in 2010 and recorded on the last day of winter in
2012...just two days after my aunt died, so the emotional power is
very present on that song.” Other stand out tracks include Saving
Grace, a power house rock song written for a friend of Daniel’s who is
Wiccan...which informed Daniel’s decision to call the album Book of
Shadows. The lead single Save Me A Place is the only track not penned
by Link; it’s actually an obscure track from Fleetwood Mac’s 1979 Tusk
album written by Lindsey Buckingham. “I wanted to pay homage to the
band that inspired me while at the same time include Vince Bell and
Catfish Hodge who are both heroes of mine. This song seemed like the
perfect vehicle to honor them all. And it’s also a great companion
song for The Spell.”

The focal point on Book of Shadows is lyric content and vocal
performances. The traditional pop rock formula of big guitar solos is
not present on the majority of the disk by design. As a musical poet,
Link defines himself and his musical brand on Book of Shadows like
never before...this album won’t be compared to other artists...it’s
clearly Daniel Link.

Book of Shadows is available at iTunes, CDBaby and Amazon

Email: daniellinkmusic@gmail.com
Website: http://www.daniellink.com
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