Holiday Song Update

In my last post, I mentioned Daniel Iorio's "Angels In The Snow." I said I'd buy it if it were for sale. Well, I got word from Daniel that it is indeed available here. Guess what's in my collection now? Cheers!

No Jingle Bells Here

With Christmas being but a week away, the airwaves are filled with Christmas songs. I'm not really much of a holiday song fan. Every year we get bombarded with remakes of "classic" songs done by various artists in every genre imaginable. There are also the annoying songs like "Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer" which frankly, I'd be happy never to hear again. Why do people like that song?! With that being said, I thought I'd share some of the holiday themed songs that do get a spin in my music player.

Killola's "Santa, Give Us Something We Can Use" ... nice folks that Killola are, you can download it free on their MySpace page. If you're into the more traditional holiday song, you may want to skip this one. But, if you're into the shall we say, more alternative song with a sense of humor, than this one might be right up your ally.

Bob Schneider's "All I Want For Christmas Is My Methadone" ... I believe there's a version on a record he did with The Scabs and there are plenty of live versions floating around.

The BellRays' "Mary Christmas" ... from their Christmas album A BellRays Christmas. This is for those who like their holiday songs funky and rockin'.

Daniel Iorio Group's "Angels In The Snow" ... Daniel got in the holiday spirit and whipped up a great new song apparently last weekend. You can have a listen over on D.I.G.'s MySpace page or on Last.fm. It's a "demo" but I'd put this on the list of holiday songs I'd buy if it were for sale.

Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Christmas Time Again" ... the title track from their Christmas album Christmas Time Again. The Southern rockers show off a bit of soulfulness with this holiday piece.

John Lennon's "Happy Christmas (War Is Over)" ... yeah, this is about as "classic" as I get when it comes to holiday songs.

http://www.myspace.com/killola
http://www.myspace.com/bobschneider
http://www.myspace.com/thebellrays
http://www.myspace.com/danielioriogroup
http://www.lynyrdskynyrd.com
http://www.johnlennon.com

12 Questions with Daniel Iorio

I've been listening to Hike, the twelve song effort from The Daniel Iorio Group (D.I.G.) for a while now. As a matter of fact, it's been in heavy rotation on my iPod. I realized my knowledge about the group was rather limited. To be honest, I didn't know much beyond knowing that I liked the record a great deal. I became curious about the group and wanted to know more about the record and the men who put together such a good record. Well, when I get curious, I start asking questions. I contacted singer/songwriter/producer Daniel Iorio who kindly agreed to quench my curiosity. I sent over a "quirky" photo request, which landed me a Simpsonized version of Mr. Iorio, along with the batch of questions and this is what I learned!

QuirkyNYChick (QNYC): Tell me a bit about the band. How did you come together and what were you doing prior to d.i.g.?

Daniel Iorio (DI): Ooofff. Big question right off the top, eh? lol!

There have been a few incarnations of d.i.g. I was in a Montréal band called Ecclestone for about 7 years. The group parted ways in 2002. We enjoyed some modest success, and were fortunate enough to open up for some legendary acts such as YES, Nazareth & April Wine during our time together. Dan Legault, who co-produced/engineered “Hike” and plays a few instruments on the album was Ecclestone’s drummer. Our last cd together was released in 2001 and called “Datamantra”.

I became a solo artist by default when the band split up, although still collaborated with Dan Legault and Ecclestone guitarist Rob Phillips from time to time. I was writing like crazy and couldn’t stop. Tunes kept accumulating.

No longer having a band to arrange songs with forced me to start experimenting with loops and samples on my computer, something that I would have normally considered somewhat blasphemous as I’d always been a very organic songwriter up to that point. As a result, I produced a lot of haphazardly recorded lo-fi home demos and uploaded them online as a lark. Remarkably, they helped create a buzz on the net, which lead to my signing an independent recording and publishing deal in 2003. Marco Desgagné (bassist) joined me around that time, and was part of the sessions that took place in Toronto under that deal. D.I.G sort of started taking shape at that point. Between 2003 and 2006, different variations of D.I.G played several shows in Montreal and Toronto. Unfortunately, like too many indie deals, things didn’t pan out despite the three grueling years of sacrifice, tons of commuting and non-stop hard work. I was pretty much ready to call it a day and took a break from music. I redirected my energy to martial arts and meditation.

Take A Hike with The Daniel Iorio Group

Last month I picked up Hike the self-produced first CD by Canadian band The Daniel Iorio Group (D.I.G.). This is another group I came across while browsing about Amie Street where I picked up the title track and a couple of other tracks before the full album was released.

D.I.G. have pulled together twelve pop/rock indie tunes that sometimes dip into Beatlesque territory. At the same time, they pull from folk rock with tinges of bluesy soulfulness that suits Daniel Iorio's voice well.

The standout tracks, the poignant "Helicopters" that makes me sad each time I listen to it. "Black and Blue" which to me is reminiscent of George Harrison only with stronger, more soulful vocals. And, my personal favorite, "Ain't Got You." The music on this one has a bit of a trippy feel to it. This is the song that was on repeat for a while on my iPod.

Hike is an enjoyable record. I think is worth checking out if you like solid acoustic based indie tunes.

Track Listing

• Atisha's Lamp
• Hike
• Northern Lights
• Black And Blue
• Is It Just Me?
• Helicopters
• Rogue
• One Of A Kind
• Ain't Got You
• All That You Are
• Wandering In The Ether
• Ruins

Stalk Them Online
http://www.danielioriogroup.com/
http://www.myspace.com/danielioriogroup