Danny Olliver

Olliver (born Danny Goertz) has played in the indie band Fly Points and is now preparing to put out his debut solo album, Bad Omen Walking, on Friday, with a CD release show at the Exchange.

He said that the collection is full of relatable themes.On Pack Up, Olliver describes two people going in different directions.

“I would love to turn you loose/But you think that there’s too much to lose,” he croons from the perspective of the one who wants the other to drop everything and hit the road.

By the time the fiddle lines kick in towards the end, the tune feels almost like a traditional expression of wanderlust.

Meanwhile, Olliver said the title track was co-written with producer Michael Bernard Fitzgerald and refers to the type of personality that “tries really hard but never quite does the right thing.”

The stripped-down approach to the recordings serves to highlight Olliver’s vocals and competent fingerpicking technique.

He said this choice was both stylistic and pragmatic, as he is heading out on an extensive tour to the east coast of Canada in the summer alongside fellow Regina musician Nick Faye.

“We wanted to keep it organic,” said Olliver. “I wanted to be able to recreate pretty much everything we did on the album.”

Despite the fact that the effect is clean and professional, Olliver said he never had any classical training.

Rather, he learned singing tips and tricks from his sister, who performed in competitive choir.

And Olliver has had an axe in hand since he was about eight. “My first guitar had three strings on it and I smacked away on that thing for a number of years before I got a real guitar,” he said.

Listening to fingerstyle artists such as Andy McKee and Don Ross eventually mixed with Olliver’s other folk and rock influences, which all comes through on Bad Omen Walking. “I’m just trying to tell my own stories in my own way,” he said. - Metro News

Danny Olliver is no rookie to the Regina music scene. As lead singer for one of Regina's favourite indie pop acts, Fly Points, Danny gained a lot of well deserved attention for his vocal chops. Now he has released a solo album, which is perhaps one of the finest albums a Regina musician has released in a long.

The album is compact. It has seven songs, one of them a live recording, featuring some old and new songs. Oldies such as "Wind" are there, picked apart and rebuilt to the fullest extent as a song, and new songs such as "Bad Omen Walking" culminate into a superbly written and preformed album. The support and backing instruments in this album are breathtaking. When you first hear the harmonies carefully and delicately laid on by Katie Stanton, you get chills. And when that fiddle kicks it up on the bridge in Pack Up you can't help but smile. It's an amazing example of what happens when a group of superbly talented musicians put their heart and soul into another musicians songs.

Each song isn't a massive symphony of instruments, however. Songs like "For Hannah" and "Bad Omen Walking" are much lighter. Nothing but Danny, his voice, his guitar, and some harmonies from Katie. These songs are where Danny really shines. His guitarmanship is in a class of its own. The skill in which Danny wields his instrument is mesmerizing, hypnotic, and beautiful, and that ability is not lost on the album at all. If you don't believe it, there's a song on this album just for you. A live recording of the song "Ladder", which is a solely instrumental song. Nothing but Danny playing his guitar on a stage. The ability in which he layers, and creates the impression that there is multiple instruments is not an easy skill to develop.

But Olliver isn't a one trick pony. His vocals are delicate and haunting in the ease he appears to wield them with. Having listened to Danny play for a long time, going all the way back to high school, I am still constantly impressed with his vocal talent. It really seems to come from the heart when he sings, and you can see the connection to the lyrics he writes, the meaning behind them, and the thought and emotion he put into them.

Overall this album is an amazing collection of talent, beauty, and emotion. There is so much to hear and enjoy with this album, and it continues to get better with each consecutive listen. - Rage Regina

As Danny Olliver and I sit chatting about his upcoming tour, album release, and projects on the way he says, in regards to hitting the road with artist Nick Faye that he’s ready to “get up and go”. And the grin on his face makes me think we should be booking our tickets now.

With 35 dates in 45 days, Danny Olliver will be heading east with the tour kicking off June 10th, in Windsor, ON. The artist, being a part of the project Fly Points for the last four years says he’s always had a foot in the water when it came to the idea of a solo project, and with this new album on the way he’s ready to commit to swimming.

What can you expect from this tour? Danny says that there will be material fans may have heard before, with a whole lot of new material off his new album Bad Omen Walking, which by the way was produced by one Michael Bernard Fitzgerald-yeah.

Follow Danny Olliver on twitter @DanOlliverMusic and facebook https://www.facebook.com/dannyollivermusic to keep your ear to the ground for show dates and announcements. And you can keep checking back with me for a future on the road phone interview, and the exclusive on the release of Bad Omen Walking. But for now trust me when I say, Danny Olliver is one artist to watch. - The Rooster