Daniel G. Harmann:  Sparse And Lush

                Don’t be afraid to refer to Daniel G. Harmann as a bit of a choirboy.  After all, he really was one, once upon a time.

                “I was in choir early on, and started playing guitar towards the end of high school,” Harmann says, of the origins of his songwriting and performing career.  “I had some songs that I wanted to share with my friends and family, and that’s how Failures in Motion (his debut EP) came about. I knew that I wanted to work with Graig Markel (Tagging Satellites), and he agreed to take on the project. Then he offered to release it on his label, Recovery Records, which was a total honor. Working with Graig is an incredible experience.

                It should come as no surprise, then, that Harmann’s debut full-length album, The Lake Effect, released in April 2004, also features a great deal of assistance from Markel. 

                There’s been some noticeable growth in Harmann’s music even in the short time between the EP and the full-length.  “It was an evolution,” he says. “I had a bit more time for pre-production with The Lake Effect, and that really enabled me to pull the right pieces together. I basically knew who I wanted to do what, and where. It really just grew from there. All in all, I think that I ended up with a good balance of sparse and lush, which is exactly what I wanted.”

                When the phrase “Sunday morning music” is used to describe the song, “Location Is Everything,” from The Lake Effect, Harmann beams…well, inasmuch as one can beam via E-mail.  Like a proud papa, he explains that “the thing with my songs is that no matter how rocking they are, or how weird the structure may be, they still manage to be accessible. It’s also a challenge to make something that will not only be great background music, but will also catch a person’s ear at just the right moment.”