RSS 2.0 FeedNovember 25, 2010, Bellmore Life
Mepham alumnus Danny Langdon gets his ‘coming out’
Bellmore musician Danny Langdon is finally getting his “coming-out” party at KJ Farrell’s on Saturday, December 4.
The 43-year-old singer-songwriter, who formed his first rockabilly band at age 15 called “The Prowlers” – which reformed for an evening at the request of Mepham’s Alumni to play at a 2006 class reunion – is currently promoting his latest CD, “Hard Lessons,” in the San Diego area and will sample it during KJ Farrell’s RockCANRoll holiday charity event the same night.
“I’ve lived in Bellmore all my life, and I come in off the road every month or so,” he told Bellmore Life. “But my friends don’t even know I have a CD,” so the coming-out party is as much for his friends as it is for him.
He said he was asked by members of Broken Arrow to join them after band member Hank Perez died in 2002 (see story page 11), and did so whenever the band played tribute concerts. But Mr. Langdon said he would be unable to join Broken Arrow tonight as it performs at Bellmore’s Live Stage in what could be the band’s farewell appearance.
Playing on the RockCANRoll stage that evening along with Mr. Langdon and his band will be three other singer-songwriters playing acoustic guitars: Jann Klose, Gretchen Witt and Kristen Diano. “We’ll all be showcasing our material,” he said.
Mr. Langdon’s latest CD was born of conflict, heartbreak, sadness and, in no small measure, a journey back to resolution and acceptance. “The CD is about everyday life,” he said, “about not giving into peer pressure as a kid, about losing someone in a divorce,” about coming to face-to-face about who you really are, he said of his music.
His CD project had the backing of a producer of a Christian recording artist whom Danny had toured around the country. “This was a Catholic-based initiative to bring clean, mainstream music into the market,” he said of the project. But the floor fell from under him when the producer pulled out for lack of funding.
“I got the masters back and decided that, with the Internet, iTunes and other digital methods of disseminating the music, I would try to promote the CD myself,” he said.
He has a steady “gig” on Sunday nights in San Diego, playing his original songs as a solo act using electric and acoustic guitars, and gets two to three other shows a week for his band, in addition.
He characterizes his sound the way Tom Petty, Counting Crows and Bryan Adams might describe theirs: guitar-driven twang with catchy choruses.
With his new CD ready to be unleashed upon a eager public, and commitments to continue his music full-speed ahead in the coming months – if not years, he took the plunge just last month and resigned from a steady job he has thoroughly enjoyed the last 20 or so years of his life: as a custodian in the North Bellmore School District, most recently as head custodian at Dinkelmeyer School.
“I was always in the Bellmore area,” he recalled, as his music was developing, playing at such mainstays as Rachel’s, the Hook and Ladder and Februarys.
Besides the CD, which will be available at KJ Farrell’s big RockCANRoll Holiday charity event on Saturday, December 4, starting at 7 p.m. – visit www.rockcanroll.org – Mr. Langdon’s music can be sampled at www.dannylangdon.com, amazon.com and on iTunes.
Mr. Langdon is now free to move on.
