I’ve been a songwriter nearly all my life … and that’s quite a while! When I was little it was just
making up my own words to songs I’d heard. That’s often the gateway to the hard stuff, and it
sure was for me. Now, three quarters of the way through my seventh decade, I’ve written many
hundreds of songs and released eleven albums – five on my own label and six on Berkalin
Records songwriter label out of Houston, TX.
Across those years I’ve had many influences and several excellent mentors. The first mentor of
note was my Mama who sang folk songs in schools in several countries and taught me the love
of story songs and harmonies. The second was a hippy songwriter I met when I arrived in
Lubbock, TX in the mid-70s to start college – John Darlowe Boswell, a former Navy Frogman and
hard-traveling folksinger across the entire U.S. and half of Canada for 30 years. Two other quite
remarkable Texas songwriters took me under their wings and taught me a great deal – Bill Ward
who paid attention to my songs before much of anyone else did (and produced my third
album), and renowned balladeer Tim Henderson who Bill introduced me to and who treated me
as family right from the start. Master songwriter, guitarist, performer and touring artist Jack
Williams opened many doors for me as I started touring full-time, and always has the answers I
need. And in the past few years, international folk icon and lifelong hero Tom Paxton has
become my friend and collaborator and we’ve just finished our second album together – “IT
MATTERS featuring Tom Paxton” [Berkalin Records 2025].
In our house, and in our van over hundreds of thousands of miles, there is rarely recorded
music playing – there’s so much music running around inside our heads (and spilling out of our
mouths) that Ellen and I don’t often feel the need. But once in a while we treat ourselves to
hearing a record by one of our many talented friends, and we make it to every live performance
we can. That’s where the real magic happens – musical moments of connection that will never
happen again in quite the same way.
-- Daniel Boling
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