Daniel Danny Godinez
It all begin some year, some month, in Korea in the 1970's. I remember hanging out at the local military base swimming pool alot, my brother was a lifeguard there. He bought me an acoustic guitar, and i remember soaking this up immediately. A lick here, and nuance there. I became very fascinated at skilled players being a total beginner. My older brother eventually went off to the army and started a family when i was about 12. For some reason, he really wanted me to continue on the guitar. I remember he would send me records in the mail, and told me to learn everything on the records note for note. This commenced my 8 hour a day forays into the world of guitar for the next ten years. I had no idea what i was doing. Never took a lesson. I would jt turn the radio on all day and try to copy what I was hearing on the guitar. Pink Floyd. Eddie Van Halen. I would later appreciate guitarists like Allan Holdsworth, John Mclaughlin, and Al DiMeola. I was also influenced by singer/songwriters. I remember becoming a huge fan of Rickie Lee Jones, and discovered Tom Waits a little later.
Back to the records my brother sent me. I distinctly remember him sending these three records: Rush's "Exit Stage Left", Jeff Beck "Blow by Blow", and .......i forget the third one. It must have been Dire Straits. Because around this time, my early teens i went into a big Mark Knopfler phase. After being an introvert and poor high school student. I found myself going to school in Virginia for computer science. I worked at NASA as a research assistant. One day, my brother and i packed up a U-Haul and headed out west. We found ourselves in Seattle. I worked for a couple of computer companies. Quit my daytime job and become a full time musician about 8 years ago. Since then I have had the fortune to meet quite of few of my heroes, as well as opening/sharing the stage with folks like Herbie Hancock, Jason Mraz, ZZ Top, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Robin Ford, Rodrigo y Gabriela. I feel i'm just a few chapters into the book of Danny Godinez. May the plot thicken.