[Cover photo credit to Kip May]
Singer/songwriter C. Daniel Boling will be releasing his tenth solo album, Love, Dan, via Berkalin Records on November 22, 2024. He and Jono Manson co-produced the album in Manson’s Santa Fe, NM studio, The Kitchen Sink.
The 14 songs on the new album hail from between 2019 and 2024, and Boling’s friend and frequent collaborator Tom Paxton shares co-writer credit on one of them. They mostly draw from very personal material that Boling aims to make relatable, including “childhood stories, family life, ageing parents and ageing selves” as well as “current social issues of immigration, inclusion, school shootings, and civic responsibility.”
Today, we’re very pleased to premier the song and video for the title track of Boling’s new album, “Love, Dan.” While each of the songs on the new album are very distinctive, “Love, Dan” makes for an excellent title track and the video also presents Boling’s performance style and demeanor in a very compelling way.
The song is uproariously funny, but is never delivered in that way, and in that way the meaningful content is hinted at and circled around as it progresses. The entire idea turns on a real-life memory of Boling’s wherein as a young child he wrote a very painful note to his beloved mother, saying “I hate you. Love, Dan.” The contrast in the message and sign-off speaks to big meanings if we care to find them in the funny behavior of children throwing a temper tantrum, and Boling goes on to hint at very deep generational connections. We love our parents so much that we are, at times, infuriated by that connection, but a good parent knows that these tempestuous emotions actually speak to the depth of our love. Boling hints at the intergenerational aspect of the song as he introduces the character of his own son who may now, also, have a child, and who has had the same emotions over time. It all comes down to the sympathetic acknowledgement that we are all “doing the best that we can.” Whether or not Boling intended this idea for the song, there’s also the lingering sense that the child who we once were is still alive in us and is still capable of these contradictory expressions based on love. That’s food for thought.
The “Love, Dan” video features the album track with footage from two concerts that Boling and Tom Paxton played together in New Mexico in April 2024, as well as lots of family photos that illustrate the song’s premise. The video performance really delivers the unmistakably stark, direct, and emotional tone of the song as Boling plays banjo and sings solo. Much of the song relies on Boling’s delivery style, suggesting nuance, and being able to watch Boling make those vocal choices helps us appreciate the ways in which he guides the emotional content of the song. Double meanings, deep empathy, and moments of silent understanding become even more pronounced during this live performance of “Love, Dan.” The use of family photos is just an absolute hoot, too, making the performance doubly entertaining. Boling’s very expressive face as a child in these photographs suggests the full range of his moods and personality, even at a young age, and shows the sweet continuity with his own son and grandchild.
C. Daniel Boling shares:
As a boy I was taught that good manners are very important – even when writing a very angry note to my Mama! Sadly, the original of this little note has been lost to time, but not to memory.
While the track “Love, Dan” was recorded and mixed by Jono Manson at The Kitchen Sink Studio in Santa Fe, it was mastered by David Glasser at AirShow in Boulder, CO.
The album is itself is sparsely Produced, but a few guest artists contribute on mandolin, banjo, upright bass, accordion, tin whistle, piano, violin, cello, dobro, hand drum, and backing vocals. Those include Kelly Mulhollan. Jon Gagan, Char Rothschild, Jono Manson, Jason Crosby, Donna Mulhollan, Michael J. Ronstadt, and John Egenes.
C. Daniel Boling is not only a Kerrville New Folk Winner but used to be a Ranger and Criminal Investigator in National Parks and Public Lands across the west for three decades. Following that, he began full-time music touring at age 50. Boling tours throughout the U.S. and abroad and is also a member of the 1960s Folk Trio The Limeliters.
Other awards Boling has garnered include Walnut Valley Festival, Santa Fe Bluegrass and Old Time Festival, Albuquerque Folk Festival, and Woody Guthrie Folk Festival.
The release of Love, Dan follows his award-winning 2023 album New Old Friends, which was entirely co-written with Folk legend Tom Paxton.
