Music
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No matter where Daniel Wright's musical career takes him, he will always remember his roots.
The 23-year-old Wright, a 2001 graduate of Acalanes High School, returns to the Bay Area to perform with his band, Daniel Wright's World
Collective, in a series of concerts.
After moving to the East Coast to study at Berklee College of Music where he graduated in the spring, Wright brings his Boston band back to
where his career started.
"It's great to have five friends come back with me," Wright said of his band members.
"It's special because they've helped me with my music."
Wright also pays tribute to people he's known in his years making music at Stanley Middle School and Acalanes High School, including
music teachers Bob Athayde and Barry Green, musician and fellow Acalanes graduate Forrest Day, and John Sankey, Wright's tour
manager and best friend since sixth grade.
A flood of memories of his early musical years in Lafayette flow -- the times he performed in local talent shows and writing a song for his high
school baccalaureate and the hours he spent listening to Nirvana, Green Day, the Beatles, the Doors, Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley and the
Beach Boys.
Those artists as well as Paul Simon, Brian Wilson, John Lennon and Beck have inspired Wright's own eclectic musical sound.
His band consists of members from the New England Conservatory and the Berklee College of Music: Patrick Brusil, Dov Manski, Mike
Calabrese, Matan Chapnizka, and Haggai Cohen Milo.
"The idea was to get the deepest and most expressive musicians I could find, people who really cared about their music," Wright said.
Wright's tour has already made it way to San Francisco, Nevada City, Concord and Lafayette, and will conclude in Santa Cruz on Friday and
Oakland on Saturday.
Wright is also looking forward to performing with a different band at jazz festivals and music workshops in Costa Rica at the end of July and
early August.
For more details on Daniel Wright's World Collective, visit my.space.com/danielwrightsworldcollective.
Janice De Jesus can be reached at 925-943-8082, or jdejesus@cctimes.com.
- By Janice De Jesus (Contra Costa Times)
They may be from Boston, but their music has an unmistakable Monterey-esque laid back air to it. The World Collective, which describes itself as a "groove-based classic-rockin' neo-world folk collaborative," performs in front of a live studio audience tonight while it records a high-definition concert to be shown on television later. The group's sound is a mature, stripped-down alternative pop, zested lightly with world music influences. Its vocal melodies are impossibly catchy and the genius of their harmonies sometimes rivals the stylings of The Beatles' John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Guitarist Daniel Wright, a Bay Area native, leads the group; instruments behind him include cello, saxophone, drums and piano. All proceeds donated to the Big Sur Fire Brigade. - 831mag.com
So being super into entertainment as I am, I'm always listening for great new bands. And this weekend, I found one. Direct from Boston and playing their first show in New York City, The World Collective totally rocked. Check out their MySpace!
The six piece ensemble features a saxophone player, cellist and keyboardist, so they've definitely got a fresh and chilled-out sound. Plus, all the guys have had formal music training at some great schools, which I think really shows. The lead singer, Daniel Wright, grew up in the San Francisco bay area and has been playing guitar since he was eleven. And after speaking with him briefly, it's easy to see that music is not merely a passion, but the driving force in all he does. If you visit their MySpace, try listening to my personal favorite song, “You Can’t Stop Me from Trying,” and let me know what you think.
I also always find it inspiring to see other people my own age who are out there really pushing for the art they believe in — and actually making it! It's no secret that the music industry is a tough one, so I admire anybody who has a dream and sticks to it.
Do you have any friends who are in bands or are you in a band yourself? Can’t wait to hear from you!
xoxo,
Amy Eisinger
CG! Entertainment Intern
- CosmoGirl
In an apparent departure for Murphy's this Saturday past we heard the faint murmurings of cool Indie aesthetics amongst the Rabbits on the wall. Figure a bit of the Beta Band with a tune (ok, dry the rain is a classic but where the f*ck was the follow up?) coupled with a hint of Jack Johnson without the need to be on every soundtrack for his Surfboard school fund...scratch that, he has "fund" etched all over him already.
My point being that DWWC hints at what these bands might have been without the career defining splits in the road. Slow build, plaintive edgy beauty from within and then blam! Its there, the song is in a flute solo, the end is nigh and you want to play it another ten times to your sister her boyfriend and his mum.
Check it out. They will play Matt Murphy's at a date to be decided...soon. - Pub Records
Discography
Demonstrations 2006 - Demo
Friends on Drugs - EP
The Yellow EP - EP
Daniel Wright: The World Collective - Full length
Photos
Bio
Daniel Wright does NOT know what the hell he is doing . . . or so claims the San Francisco songwriter. When asked about his Boston based group The World Collective he stated "I can't really tell you how it works. We just keep trying things. Sometimes nothing happens and other times it is complete magic, that's what keeps us rollin'." The band just got off of their second independent tour of California that took them from Humboldt to Yosemite, through San Francisco, and all the way to Los Angeles. Most people who caught the group would say that Wright knows exactly what he is doing.
A first time listener at the Evergreen Lodge of Yosemite, CA commented: "There is something about his lyrics and the sound of the group that is so organic. One can relate to the subject matters. Daniel doesn't just cover the topics of love, loss and pain, like so many other pop artists of today. He writes songs about life - he captures the essence of what it is to feel human." Another fan recently wrote to the band: "I put your album on and couldn't express to you if I tried how perfectly the music was what I needed for the back drop sounds of my life at this moment. "You can't stop me from tryin" helped me sort out some serious matters of my heart and has fueled me on these last few days. You are amazing, I totally support your art, take care."
Wright is humbled that he can pen songs that hit home with people. "In my writing I try to get to the root of the truth of who I am. Music for me is all about connecting with people. I'm realizing more and more, from all this feedback, that these efforts go hand and hand. Most people go through life struggling to find who they are and I hope that is why we are making these connections with people."
With influences ranging from Brian Wilson and The Beatles to Paul Simon and Beck, The World Collective has been described as a "groove-based classic-rockin' neo-world folk collaborative, featuring a sound that is mature, stripped-down alternative pop, with light overtones of world music influences. Its vocal melodies are impossibly catchy and the genius of their harmonies sometimes rivals the stylings of The Beatles' John Lennon and Paul McCartney."
The World Collective is currently gigging all over the North East Region of the Country specifically around Boston and NYC and is always looking to expand.
Catch this group as soon as you can - they are not to be missed.
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