Roots Music report

Daniel Crabtree
Greenbrier - Tennessee - United States

About the Band
Discography

Daniel Crabtree would get behind the wheel of his 1964 Chevy, pick up his girlfriend and they would spend their Saturday night dates listening to the Grand Old Opry. He was drawn to the girl … and the music.

Daniel’s high school sweetheart soon became his wife and gospel and bluegrass music eventually became his life.

Singer-songwriter Daniel Crabtree’s fourth album, The Way I See It, is in production. One of the album’s singles, Sally Sunday, has been released and made the charts. A second single, On the Run, is coming out now. The album is being released on Codel Records by Valerie Smith’s Bell Buckle Records/Media.

Daniel started his musical career when he was 15.

“Daddy always had an old guitar sitting around the house that he played,” Daniel recalls. “We had an ice storm that came through that winter and we had no electricity for about nine days. There wasn’t very much to do, so that is when I first remember taking the time to pick up that old guitar and learn how to play it.”

A friend’s dad taught Daniel some old square dance tunes (“…he would tell us you had to play the same tune for up to 15 minutes because that’s how long the dance would last,” Daniel says). And there were some neighbors who would sit in their back yard with a bluegrass band.

Daniel found his musical calling at a Baptist church down the road in Greenbrier, Tennessee.

It was at the Lights Chapel Baptist Church that Daniel and others formed a gospel group.

“We were just guys that all went to church together who had an interest in music and one day got up in front of the church and played in an effort to worship God with our praise,” Daniel says.

Fittingly, the group became known as The Lights Chapel Boys. They still play together after more than 40 years.

Eventually, Daniel wrote a song, brought it to church and the group played it during the service. “They told me they thought it was pretty good,” Daniel says, “so that gave me the encouragement to try to write some more.”

Through a friend, Daniel went to a songwriting camp to hone his skills. It was there that he met singer-songwriter Donna Ulisse. Daniel sought Donna’s help when he wanted to record his songs.

His first two albums were original gospel songs. “I recorded two full gospel projects first because I felt that was my strongest material,” Daniel says. His next album was secular material. His fourth album, The Way I See It, is a mixture of secular and gospel songs.

Donna produced all four of the albums. Daniel records at Scott Vestal’s Digital Underground Recording Studio in Greenbrier, Tennessee.

“Most of my songs are from personal experiences,” Daniel says, “but some are completely made up from my imagination.”

When a phrase comes to mind, Daniel will grab his guitar and start writing. If the guitar is not handy, he will create a voice memo on his smartphone.

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