Huntingburg musician launches album with Herbstfest Concert
The Huntingburg Herbstfest will be the venue for the launch of one young country star’s first album.
It seems appropriate for a Huntingburg native to launch her first album at the quenticental event, but for Danielle Lee Wehr, it wasn’t a consideration until she was sure the album could be done in time. “We were just going to have a big party and invite everyone out for the release,” she explained. “What could be more perfect? We were in the middle of printing and we didn’t really want to release it until we knew it was done, but we thought, with everyone being at the Herbstfest already, let’s bring it to the people.”
It’s not unusual to see this hardworking, passionate artist belting out country songs at a Dubois County event, but tonight is a big step for Danielle Lee. The promo album contains six original songs; three that she wrote and three co-written with Buck Moore, David Wayne Mathias, and David Mathias II. Clips of the six songs can be heard at her website here.
Danielle Lee recorded the album at The Tracking Room. Artists like Shania Twain and Gretchen Wilson have recorded there also and for Danielle Lee’s album, the studio enlisted help from musicians who have played for artists like Amy Grant, Randy Travis, Cyndi Lauper, and Vince Gill.
The songs have a solid country feel and range from a sultry love song to the striking ratatatat of a breakup song. “My Indiana Home” is a nostalgic feel-good song with lyrics about campfires and John Deere tractors that fits about anyone’s weekend experience in Southern Indiana.
The recording sounds great, but that’s to be expected from the 21-year-old IU student who has been honing her voice for 11 years.
Her mom’s side of the family is very musical and her grandfather Lee Goff — Danielle Lee carries his name — taught her how to play guitar when she was ten. “He taught me everything I needed to know about guitar and his favorite songs to play were Johnny Cash. So, I grew up learning Johnny Cash songs,” Danielle said. “My mom sang a lot of Faith Hill and music like that. That definitely had an influence too.”
With that background, Danielle enjoys playing old country as well as songs from recent artists. “I have played for The Waters [nursing home] and they love it when I sing the older songs,” she said.
Danielle is a big fan of Lady Antebellum and through a serendipitous occurrence in 2012, she was able to sing in front of the group during a special meet and greet. While the band was playing their hit song “Dancing Away With my Heart”, Danielle was given the opportunity to sing the solo. Afterwards, she received an ovation from the band’s members and later that year she opened for the group at a concert at the Klipsch Music Center in Noblesville, IN.
The album is a necessary step for Danielle Lee to ultimately garner a recording contract. Currently, she is in talks with BMI and they are researching the steps necessary to continue to build her following and become a national recording artist. The studios recognize her talent, in fact she was invited to audition for the NBC reality show “The Voice.”
She had to turn it down though, the IU junior had finals the week of the audition.
Danielle Lee’s new album, “Danielle Lee,” will be released Friday night at her concert during the Huntingburg Herbstfest. The album will be available on all major online music distributors like iTunes, Spotify and Amazon at a later date and will be announced when it is available.
According to Danielle Lee, studios gauge a potential recording artist’s marketability by how big their social media following is. “It is important that I get followers,” she said.
Here is how to reach her on social media Facebook page is here, YouTube and Twitter.
During the show, a film crew will be on hand to create a promo video. “Really, we want that concert feel, so people should come up to the stage.” Danielle Lee said, “I will be giving out a lot of free stuff and they could be in our video.”
