Danielle Howle

By Gregg Shapiro

Contributing writer

The underrated Danielle Howle, who has traversed the punk and folk worlds, sounds as if she’s ready to set the record straight with the accessible “Thank You Mark” (Valley Entertainment). Opening with the country-radio friendly “Roses From Leroy’s,” on which she sounds like the also underrated Marti Jones, Howle swings a bit on “I’ll Be Blue” and shines up the brass section for “Oh Swear.” Howle rolls out her belting skills on Etta James’ “If I Can’t Have You,” a sizzling duet with Hootie’s Darius Rucker. The stunning ballad “Love Is a Fall” and the dark and moody political bent of “Fields of Cotton” exemplify Howle’s versatility.
- Chicago Free Press

South Carolina’s Danielle Howle has a voice that pulls you in almost instantly. When she sings, she brings a sense of immediacy to the listener while at the same time sounding inviting, Southern, and warm. Thank You Mark offers another helping of her unique style of folk-rock, this time infusing it with a healthy dose of country, blues, and jazz sensibility to create what may be her most enjoyable record to date.
Though not working with her longtime backing band the Tantrums, Howle sounds incredibly comfortable in her environment here. From the lead-off track “Roses from Leroy’s,” with its funky bass line and cautionary lyrics of one left behind, Howle knows how to pull you in and keep you rapt with attention. She can keep you dancing in your chair one moment and break your heart the next.
“I’ll Be Blue” is a good example of how she can turn a phrase, as she describes her state of mind within the song’s narrative: “I got the awfuls and an endless way to be blue.” Despite painting the picture clearly, Howle’s delivery keeps the smile firmly on your face. She also has the ability to switch gears fairly easily, as on the stark “Fields of Cotton.” Howle creates a moving image of the South that so many don’t dare explore, one dealing with the darkness that comes merely with working the land. “Some go to Hell / Some go to waste,” she sings. It’s haunting to be sure, but strangely beautiful all the same.
Lesser songwriters might have trouble making so many genres fit together in the space of eleven songs, but Howle makes it work. Thank You Mark is a terrific record that will make the perfect soundtrack for the front porch on any humid and buggy summer night. (Valley Entertainment)
www.daniellehowle.com

-Will Mason
- Performer Mag

Knoxville News Sentinel Co.


Hooties and hippies help elevate Howle
By WAYNE BLEDSOE, bledsoe@knews.com
March 17, 2006
Danielle Howle is an appreciative soul. So much so that she named her new album, "Thank You Mark," in honor of her producer, Hootie & The Blowfish guitarist Mark Bryan.

"I first met Mark when I was in high school," says Howle, in a call from her Columbia, S.C., home. "He was in USC (the University of South Carolina)."

One of Howle's friends was dating another Hootie member, and Bryan came along one night to hear Howle's debut performance with a band.

Through Bryan, Howle's new album contains contributions from such musical heavy hitters as Sam Bush, Byron House and Hootie singer Darius Rucker.

"I think people from here are really supportive of each other," says Howle of the Columbia area.

It's about time that Howle got her due. A veteran of the bands Lay Quiet Awhile and the Tantrums, Howle has been revered for her sensitive songwriting touch and genial vocals.

Howle says she has been writing songs since she was "a baby sitting in the car."

"In the third grade I kept a journal, and I kept it through the 10th grade," she says. "I was real shy, and writing was the way I communicated with people."

The daughter of a career Army man, Howle went to schools on military bases until she started high school in Columbia. It was a big switch, and making friends wasn't easy.

Music, though, seemed to be. Shy or not, Howle began trying out her songs at local clubs.

As a solo artist and in various band configurations, she recorded for Amy Ray's Daemon Records, Sub Pop and (her new disc) on Valley Entertainment.

Howle says she can't pick favorites from her song catalog.

"They're all precious to me," she says. "I can't dis any of my children."

However, she can tell how each song was born. On "Thank You Mark," several stand out.

" 'This Kind of Light' is about people meeting their destiny," says Howle. "I wrote it overlooking a bluff in the Congaree National Swamp (in South Carolina). When I started, the moon was on one side of me. When I finished, the moon was on the other side.

"On 'Oh Swear' I envisioned Puck from 'A Midsummer Night's Dream,' but in modern times. He goes to clubs and parties and tries pulling his Shakespeare thing."

She loved working with the musicians that Bryan brought in - all of whom she knew of, but she hadn't thought that they would perform on the disc.

Working on the song "Jesus Won't Wait" with bassist Byron House as sole accompanist helped her learn about singing.

"It took 30 minutes," says Howle. "And I learned more about singing in that 30 minutes than I have in my whole life."

Howle says she can tell that she's grown as an artist, but she's more interested in growing as a person. Her goals have little to do with her career:

"I want to be available to the people who love me," says Howle. "I want to have a successful tomato garden. I don't need to be hoarding my songs like a fool. I want to read good books, hear good music. It may sound cheesy, but I'd like to become a better human being.

"I want to sing in a humming hole in Utah."

A "humming hole"?

"It's this cave, sort of, where you hit this pitch and the resonating sound is supposed to be amazing. Oh, I know. Maybe I've been hanging out with the hippies too much."

Copyright 2006, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
- Knoxville News Sentinel Co.

DANIELLE HOWLE
Thank You Mark
(Valley)
Danielle Howle is back with her first record in four years. Thank You Mark is heavy on melody and Howle's voice is a gem. Her southern sensibilities come out big time on "I'll Be Blue" and it's as charming as can be. Most of the songs are very narrative and you can tell she's an intellectual by the thoughtful lyrics. The record is damn good, and begs the question: why did she stay away so long? Hopefully we don't have to wait another four years for her next record.

Lance Looper - High Bias