Dan Raza Introduces Us To Five Artists
You Should Get To Know From London, England
Dan Raza is one of the mainstays on the London singer-songwriter and folk roots scene. He has been praised by artists such as Chris Farlowe, Slaid Cleaves, Mary Gauthier and Jackie Oates and had a song included on Neil Young’s ‘Living With War’ website.
His distinctive approach has won him a following across the UK and abroad as he has taken his songs on the road performing solo and opening for Joan Armatrading, Badly Drawn Boy, Alejandro Escovedo, Cara Dillon and The Sadies, amongst others.
Of mixed Indian and British origin, Dan grew up in the Home Counties and moved to London in his late teens where he has since been based.
Dan’s eponymous debut album was produced by Charlie Hart (Ronnie Lane, Ian Dury, Eric Clapton, Mose Allison).
The self-produced follow up, ‘Two’, was released in 2017 and features his band, The Shrouds, as well as appearances from Geraint Watkins (Van Morrison, Paul McCartney), BJ Cole (Dolly Parton, Martin Simpson), Steve Simpson (Eric Bibb, Ronnie Lane), Frank Mead (Albert King, Eric Clapton) and Mosi Conde (Mory Kante, Salif Keita).
Dan also hosts the popular radio show 'Spirit and Roots' which can be listened to here on The Sound Cafe podcast page, it also airs around the world on multi-award winning Blues & Roots Radio, and K2K Radio in London. Dan Raza is dedicated to sharing the music of the best songwriters out there - both old and new. Each episode features a special guest live in the studio playing their songs and opening up about their creative process and the music that has inspired them. Guests have included Ron Sexsmith, Joe Newberry, John McCutcheon, Emily Moment and many more.
Facebook: www.facebook.com/SpiritandRootsRadio
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We asked Dan to introduce us to five artists we should be listening to, Dan found it extremely hard to narrow down just five from the London area, so he gave us a bonus artist, and will follow up sometime in the near future with part 2 of his choices.
PETER CONWAY
Peter Conway - singer songwriter, poet, musician, producer and spiritual philosopher, is a modern day renaissance man. Weaving words and music, of depth and meaning, to create original tapestries in song.
After being dropped by Decca Music in 2009, Conway decided to became a self releasing artist, that has gone on to become an independent success story. With already nine of his songs featuring in eleven original motion pictures, including the blockbuster ‘Friends With Benefits’ and the award nominated British independent 'Pleasure Island', that features three of his songs, along with numerous other online projects, his music has become a go to source for film makers and music supervisors, due to the gravitas and emotional depth in his honey soaked vocals and the cinematic quality of his compositions. Along with the film industry Conway has also gained the attention of a number of iconic brands over recent years, including Porsche, who recently featured his latest single 'Shine On (Instrumental) in one of their latest films 'Going The Distance - with Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter
From his critically acclaimed records to his stand out live performances and solo acoustic tours, Peter Conway with his signature style, unique unforgettable voice and song delivery, is celebrated as being deeply emotive, with a sound that is both soulful and rootsy.
Peter Conway is an independent artist in the truest sense. With an organic word of mouth following and fans in over 50 countries, he is moving hearts, minds and souls the world over.
Peter has recently been in the recording studio and will be releasing his new song 'Modern World' later in the year.
TRENT MILLER
It’s not all sweetness and light though: the past four years have seen Miller navigate his way through a difficult divorce, as well as conquering his various other demons, and this is reflected in the lyrics. Musically, the album is considerably richer, its sonic timbres sighted midway between the melodic folk-pop of The Byrds and the ethereal shimmer of the Cocteau Twins.
Born and raised in the countryside of north-western Italy, fuelled by dreams of rock’n’roll, Miller made his way to London as a youth, joining the just-blooming Americana circuit. Carrying with him the dual influence of the Beats and darkly troubled songwriters like Gene Clark, Jeffrey Lee Pierce and Thin White Rope’s Guy Kyser, he made his recorded debut on the album Hidden Desert, a tribute to the latter much missed Northern Californians. Releasing his debut Cerberus himself, he later signed up with the recording arm of highly-regarded underground magazine, Bucketfull Of Brains,
HANNAH SCOTT
Hannah Scott draws much of the inspiration for her music from her affinity with Italy. A year living and working on an olive press in rural Tuscany in her late teens provided the backdrop to her early work and she has found her musical home with creative partner Stefano Della Casa who she met in London but may well have met years earlier when passing through the train station he was working in!
When they began making music together, they realised they had an amazing connection, despite very different backgrounds: Stefano had a troubled early adult life, while Hannah was lucky to have a happy upbringing. Hannah has had her own difficulties following the recent diagnosis of a form of arthritis which causes severe joint pain and fatigue. Both artists firmly believe that their musical collaboration has provided an outlet to support each other through difficult times.
Hannah’s music has been heard in hit TV series, Grey’s Anatomy, and has been played regularly on the BBC with releases supported by Dermot O’Leary and Bob Harris on BBC Radio 2 and Tom Robinson on 6 Music. She’s also been featured by MOJO, The Guardian and Clash Magazine. Recent live highlights include opening for Madeleine Peyroux to an audience of 2000 at Edinburgh’s Festival Theatre and travelling across Ireland with Paddy Casey to open shows for him in Dublin and in a tiny Irish speaking village near Galway! Her arresting live performances have also earned her support slots for artists including Seth Lakeman, Cara Dillon and 10cc and she has twice travelled to New York festival “Mondo NYC”, receiving PRS Foundation funding and running a successful crowdfunding campaign to fund the trips.