(8/20/07) Danny Haller Moves to Nashville

Article appearing in the Nashville newspaper, The Tennessean,on May 9th, 2007, entitled "Upbeat banjo fits Hermitage man perfectly", by Andy Humbles who writes, "Danny Haller, 47, was born blind, yet taught himself how to play banjo and has become one of the more active players around town since moving to Hermitage last March. What I really enjoy about the banjo is playing a rip-snorting instrumental. It's up-tempo, happy, upbeat."

Haller's blindness, which he's had since being born three months premature, isn't an off-limits subject. If you don't bring it up, he will, often with a joke. "My wife left town but left me the car" is among his many one-liners. "It's just me. Sometimes to break the ice, sometimes to make people laugh, but also because I'm happy."

Haller and his band Driving Blind has been scheduled to perform at the 2nd Annual Bluegrass Festival in Madison, TN, May 11-12. "People that can see can't play the way he does" said Lonnie Jones, owner of Larry's Grand Ole Garage, in Madison, and the promoter of the Madison Bluegrass Festival. Haller said of his blindness "It forces you to feel the music a little more than maybe someone who can see. It forces you to listen to the dynamics.

"When playing bluegrass around the Fredericksburg, VA area became more and more difficult and bluegrass virtually disappeared from the radio, my wife and I realized we needed to be in a place that was filled with musicians serious about the music. We knew where we had to go- the place with 14,352 guitar pickers, playin' since they was babies, gettin' work before they're two".


So Danny and his wife and musical partner, Inez moved lock, stock, and banjos, from Fredericksburg, VA to Nashville, TN to follow their Bluegrass Dream. When asked the reason for their move, Inez says "to be where the music is". But Danny says, "I heard Ronnie Milsap is looking for a bus driver".

(7/27/07) "Hawkeye" Danny Haller's Radio Show "Bluegrass State of Mind with Hawkeye Danny Haller" can now be heard weekly on Short Wave, starting Friday, July 27, 2007 on WBCQ 7.415, and every Friday, at 6:00 p.m. (ET Eastern Time.)

Danny records and produces his show on CD at his home studio in Hermitage, Tennessee, from his private record collection, and sends the show  to WBCQ, in Monticello, Maine, for transmission on Short Wave Radio.

Tune in and listen to one solid hour of the best in traditional bluegrass - the old "legends" and the "soon to be legends".

E-mail me your request and I'll be happy to play it for you - or just let me know if you  enjoy the show.

BLUEGRASS IS ALIVE AND WELL!

(12/1/04) An outstanding review of Danny Haller's CD, "Meet Danny Haller/Driving Blind" appeared on the home page of iBluegrass.com magazine (from December thru February '05) entitled DANNY HALLER -A DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH.

Some excerpts: "It is very rare in the experience of a reviewer to come across a musical treasure - a diamond in the rough - a new talent that is as yet undiscovered by the rest of the bluegrass world"..."from the very first track,sung as a duet with his wife, I felt an excitement about their sound together and thought to myself "shades of Wilma Lee & Stoney Cooper"..."Danny's exceptional hard-driving banjo picking shines throughout the record, playing banjo on all tracks, and bringing that 'soul' into each song..." "I highly recommend "Driving Blind" as a refreshing new addition to traditional bluegrass music's wealth of musicianship that speaks to the heart and touches the soul...I guarantee if you love traditional bluegrass, you will love this CD."

(11/3/04) GREAT NEWS!! The Bluegrass Channel of MUSIC CHOICE, a national cable TV FREE music service (also available on Direct TV), has played 2 songs from Danny Haller's CD "Driving Blind" on a rotation basis, with personal information about Danny and his band.

This is an extremely exciting development and a validation of the acceptance Danny's CD is receiving from fans and radio stations from as far away as Montana, Oregon, and Canada!

The song "We'll Keep Bluegrass Alive" is an original by Inez Haller, written when a D.C. public radio station took drivetime Bluegrass off the airwaves with no warning. The other song being played from the CD is "What About You".

XM Satellite Radio has also given Danny's CD some airtime, playing Shenandoah Breakdown and Little Liza Jane.

Let us know if you've heard it! Thanks.

(2/20/04) An update of the article, BLIND BLUEGRASSS, by Michael Zitz, appears in the February edition of BLUEGRASS UNLIMITED.

(1/25/04) See the article about Danny in The Free Lance-Star.

Be sure to visit the Gallery to view the Multi-Media Presentation by Photographer Reza Marvashti for musical video of Danny's CD release party at Border's Books, Fredericksburg, VA.