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If you’ve been fretting over Danny Michael’s well-being during the pandemic, let’s ease your worry.
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It’s true the Waterloo, Ontario-based singer-songwriter has been denied his usual way of earning a living, but that hasn’t stopped him from indulging in a side passion. Michel has been collecting Aurora AFX slot cars sets for a few decades now, and you can see the results of his current obsession with him on his Facebook page. A stickler for detail, Michel went all in and made a miniature replica of an old Schneiders sign on Highway 401, thus gaining the attention of both area residents and the local newspaper.
“Everybody was freaking out about it,” Michel chuckles over the phone. “It’s just been so weird, but people are really into it around here. I’ve been into building models for the town I’m creating and that was part of it. The truth is, I’ve enjoyed the break I’ve gotten because I could do things like this. It was stressful and I lost lots of money, but before the pandemic, I was wishing I could take a year off because I’ve been going at this hard since I was 19. Lo and behold, I got one.”
Unlike many other musicians who decided to use their downtime for writing and recording, Michel left his guitar in a corner and turned his attention elsewhere, popping up now and again with one-off performances like the YouTube video of him playing Bob Dylan’s Things Have Changed . It’s only recently that he’s even considered getting back to his primary job as a songwriter, though once he finally secured a show in New Orleans, with Bill Henderson of Chilliwack fame, the inevitable happened.
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“I got the American supersized COVID,” Michel says with an exasperated laugh. “My lungs took quite the beating. This was back in March, and I was stuck in a hotel room for a week to quarantine before getting home. I don’t recommend being stranded alone in another country and getting COVID.”
Duly noted. Luckily Michel is currently staying put in Canada for the next little while, making up gigs that fell through during the constant stop-and-starts of the music industry over the past couple years. He’ll be in Alberta this week doing just that, hitting The Nickelodeon in Calgary after his Yardbird show and then spending a few days with pals in Canmore, where he’ll play the Communitea Cafe.
“It’s going to be interesting how this goes because before the pandemic I felt like I was in shape and playing well,” he says. “Now I need to hit the ground running again, and hopefully whatever nervous energy I have will be a positive thing because the few things I’ve done were kind of loose and slippery and a lot of fun. People really enjoyed it.”
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As noted above Michel has been slowly getting back into the songwriting groove, collecting tunes for the next release to follow 2018’s White & Gold. There’s no timeline on a new album, though, and considering he pulled his music off of Spotify back in February he’s cognizant of the fact he needs to keep his name out there for streamers. Thus was born the idea of A Beginner’s Guide to Danny Michela Bandcamp-specific anthology of songs handpicked by Michel himself.
“I decided that maybe it’s not the smartest thing to just take everything away,” Michel admits. “It just doesn’t make sense to make it difficult for people to find you. This gives people a starting point from where they can decide where they want to go. I think of it as a trail of breadcrumbs for people who might be looking for me.”
In-person tickets for the Yardbird show on Thursday are sold out, but virtual streams start at $8 to $10 through the yardbird website. Tickets for Saturday’s show in Calgary are $32.84 through Eventbrite, and $38 at thecommunitea.com for the April 14 show in Canmore.
