Daniel Blue reflects the current musical era of Seattle’s soulful folk scene with a collection of songs sprung not just from pure heart, but another place in time, versed in fantasy, addiction, faith, and of course love.  Listeners bare witness and enter his kingdom of sound, where dreams, both breathtakingly humble and heart fulfilling, root in honesty.  Blue has spent the last four years as Motopony’s frontman, a Seattle-based hard-soul/glitch-folk band.  I realized Motopony was never going to settle down and be in a place where I could sing softly.  I had a lot to say that wasn't necessarily upbeat and rock and roll.  So for the past year I've been experimenting with writing and playing songs in a more singer-songwriter format, says Blue. Daniel Blue’s solo project has traded revered danceable tune delivery for seated, core-splitting collaborations with other songwriters including Meagan Grandall of Lemolo, Allen Stone, Jon Russell of The Head and the Heart, Mary Lambert, and more to come.  Northwest venues include Freemont Abbey, The Triple Door, Tractor Tavern, The Crocodile, Neumos, and a lot of sponsored living room gigs.  On-stage collaborations include:  Allen Stone, Mary Lambert, Kris Orlowski, Jon Russell, Wayfarer, The Cellar Door, Hannalee, Dearborn, Kithkin, and Ravenna Woods.

Daniel Blue hit notoriety as lead vocalist and songwriter with Motopony’s debut album, released on the TinyOGRE label.  With a National Tour, extensive college radio play, and several television and movie syndications, Blue’s clear vocals rolled upbeat and rock-heavy.  Daniel Blue’s music encapsulates the sound of a spiritual vagabond and the raw, primal energy of a northern grey wolf.  A mix of danger and soulful sentiment that is too alluring to stop listening to, croon Northwest’s own Kris Orlowski and Allen Stone.  Raw, primal grey wolves aside, Blue’s vocal power mixed with lyrical depth is nothing short of a romantic, mystical yodel.  Big Sur frontman Jake Hemming said, when Daniel sings it’s like a sexy pterodactyl ripping through a hot air balloon. Daniel Blue’s current work is simmered down smooth with folk-graceful wit and charm; his storytelling transcends with drive.  I was born in a valley of witches.  I was raised in a house of a priest, are not just Blue’s self-described origins but also opening lines to Valley of Witches, a song tracing his own lyrical and resilient musical beginnings.  It’s a cold water boiling, when darkness comes up from the deep.  When the tide comes a rolling, the flock is laid waste on the beach begins The Ballad of Joe Hazelwood, a song with surface exploration of alcoholism and Exxon Valdez while rooted deeper in the destructive power of shadow sides. Recently, Blue was approached by a producer and is at work recording.  The songs now require a band to play them – funny that I went to go solo and now am back with a band.  Also sort of surprising is the band who is backing me up are all the [current] members of Motopony, remarks Daniel.  The August 2nd and 3rd show will be the first, hopefully of many, in the band’s 100-year-old chapel recently acquired in Ballard.
The Ballard Church is part artist sanctuary, part performance space, prime with recording projects and rituals.  Daniel Blue is the charismatic and shamanistic new leader, where a different kind of religious experience overwhelms from the moment inside. This historic building is holy and all the while looks as if its congregation were taken by rapture, mid service, as the bibles, hymnals and a half-full guest book sit in waiting.  Left behind were Blue and his band of music makers who sing words and create pictures in sound as offering to the listeners, the new congregants.  Daniel Blue is a different sort of religious experience, vivid in belief with the new divine. 


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