As a bonus/sort of bookend, I've included a good live version of the first song I wrote post-pandemic, "Can't Be a Player", which is literally about having no right to being a hater of friends' success when you're not out there doing it too. It is an annoying trait that I am still unlearning and getting better at, but addressing it also makes for a good song haha!

Can't Be a Player (Live at the Boardroom Open Mic 4/18/23)

"Empty Rooms" was the last song I wrote before the pandemic began, and is about the struggles of being a small town act playing to literally an empty room, which has happened to me plenty of times but none so harshly as this one time in 2011 at a Jay Smith mic over at what's now Urbano's. I was the last guy up, I had sat through the entire show waiting to play having arrived on time and all, and got to play a few songs to literally just me and the bartender. It was a humbling experience I've never forgotten. Ironically, given how 2020 turned out, we all ended up playing to empty rooms, didn't we?

Empty Rooms (2021 Demo)

"Glass World" is a new song from January this year; it's about feeling trapped in a place where everyone else gets to walk freely while all you can do is listen to them tell you how nice the weather is as all you can do is watch from your station. It is another ballad, but it's a simpler ballad - in terms of instrumentation, it's just an acoustic, a bass, and some light electric guitar work that serves a subtle flourish.

Glass World (2023 Demo)

This is the currently most complete song in the still-WIP Danny V Christmas Album. Recorded in 2014, during the height of the first burnout period, with extra garnishes added this month and finally in presentable enough style just in time for Christmas (depending on where you live) - it truly is a holiday miracle!

It is different than typical versions of this song because I was heavy into my Weezer phase at the time, but ey - I did it!

Jingle Bell Rock (Christmas 2023 Version)

A few months ago, I hit up Micah Van Zandt and suggested we do some covers of a band we both like - T. Rex - to help clear a creative logjam we were both suffering from. The homie was immediately all for it and got right to work on a few deep cuts, and after a few evenings of hard work, we were able to get two of these done by Marc Bolan's birthday! Crazy.

"Hang-Ups" features one of the best guitar solos I've ever played, and Micah's take on "Cosmic Dancer" is indeed cosmic. Maybe people will like this!

Micah played the piano and the lead and background vocals. I played slide guitar, synth bass (in lieu of him having synthesized cello on a short basis I could play) and did some background voices.

Cosmic Dancer (T. Rex Cover)

A few months ago, I hit up Micah Van Zandt and suggested we do some covers of a band we both like - T. Rex - to help clear a creative logjam we were both suffering from. The homie was immediately all for it and got right to work on a few deep cuts, and after a few evenings of hard work, we were able to get two of these done by Marc Bolan's birthday! Crazy.

"Hang-Ups" features one of the best guitar solos I've ever played, and Micah's take on "Cosmic Dancer" is indeed cosmic. Maybe people will like this!

Micah played the drums, bass, and screams. I played the guitar, the lead voice, and some background noises.

Hang-Ups (T. Rex Cover)

This is my first original single in five years. It is a song about growing older despite dealing with existential crisis and the horrors of living in the concept of Groundhog Day. I should like to think it's worth your 3:45!

27 Years/Everything is Gonna Be OK!

27 Years

Conversely, this is the B-Side to "27 Years". This song is a positive, wholesome sorta song about not giving in. Even with dealing with the existential issues and all that you gotta remind yourself that yes, everything is gonna be OK.

Everything is Gonna Be OK!

"Wanderlust", a song that fits well with the theme of spring, is a song about travelling to interesting places.

Wanderlust

"All In" is a New Year's song literally about the concept of "new year, new me" and that meme that crops up about how year 1 broke you, year 2 changed you, and current year saying you're "coming back".

All In

Dan Vallerand and Richard Durazo take on a 60s smash hit in a quite dramatic way. Recorded in the stairwell of the MJC Performing Arts Building.

Danny Vee & Richard Durazo - Please Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood

"Never Should've Let You Go" is a song I wrote in early 2009 about the last girl I was in a serious, albeit long-distance, relationship with... and the last time that happened was 2005. I tried demoing it out for a band I was in with Colton Young, but he didn't like it at the time so it became one of my solo songs, and after about several months of refining it became one of my favorite songs to perform live.

That being said, here's a 8/5/10 recording done at an intern open mic at Modesto Sound.  Mark Oesau and Randy Franco (from Myosin) feature on keyboards and conga, respectively.  I happen to dig this particular recording of NSLYG because the vocals in the choruses are probably the strongest I've ever heard of from any other recording.

Never Should've Let You Go (Live at Modesto Sound)

Certified Spaghetti Man, creator of the Moldybread Masterworks and inexplicable part of Modesto lore. Firm believer in that sometimes things are deeper than they seem.

Dan Vallerand

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