Donny Van Slee – 31

By starrymag | May 29, 2024

By: Jamie Steinberg

 

 

Q) How would you describe your sound?

A) Acoustic, Americana, red dirt, folk-country music

Q) Who are some of your musical influences?

A) Tyler Childers, Zach Bryan, Sturgill Simpson, Merle Haggard, Jack Johnson, The Lumineers, and Tom Petty

Q) Talk about the story behind your new song “Shinin’.”

A) This song is about keeping your head down, staying focused, and working hard until you reach your goals. You’re going to go through periods of doubt in any career path worth pursuing. There will be times where you feel absolutely crazy. Either way, you have to trust the process and believe in yourself, which is hard to do 100% of the time. So, this song is a reminder to keep doing that.

Q) What do you think it is about the song that fans connect to?

A) Hopefully fans can use this song as inspiration and motivation to keep grinding. I hope this becomes something fans can blast in their car on their way to a work site at 5:00 AM to help them wake and get ready.

Q) What is your song writing process? Do you need music before you can create lyrics?

A) This song was written by Ryan Price, Jon Decious, and me. We first started off sitting in Ryan’s room, brainstorming and deciding on what we wanted to write about.  Inspired by their hard work as writers and my prolonged efforts working as a chiropractor and a recording artist, we decided to write about hard work. After that, we came up with a chord progression, and then everything else fell into place.

Q) How much of a hand do you have in the production of your music?

A) I do my best to have a demo with all the instruments that are needed on the track to hand to a producer. That way there’s no guess work. Doesn’t always happen. I do my best to have all the dynamics of a song finished as well (when certain instruments cut out and come in). During the mixing process I write out any suggested edits. I don’t just hand a producer my song and let them figure it out. I really put effort into working with my producer to create something enjoyable to listen to.

Q) What are some themes you explore on your LP 31?

A) Working hard, longing for home, building perspective, reminiscing on life, falling in love, hypothetical situations of a growing music career and staying positive even when life is tough

Q) Which song(s) on the LP have quickly become a fan favorite?

A) “Show Me a Smile” has been an unexpected quick fan favorite. Three years ago during a Chiropractic internship, I wrote that song in Colorado and recorded it in my basement. On this album, I finally re-recorded it in a professional studio and didn’t realize people were going to listen to it as much as they do. I’m super happy that I re-recorded it because I almost left it as the basement version.

Q) We loved you on “The Voice.” What advice did iconic musician Reba McEntire offer you that you’ve taken to heart?

A) It wasn’t enough that I was singing the song on pitch. She told me to look at her in the eyes and make her feel something when I’m singing. Now when I’m on stage, I make sure to make more eye contact with my audience and perform versus just sing. She also told me to play any and all shows that I can in Nashville because you never know who’s in the crowd.

Q) Where are some of your favorite places to perform and what makes those locations so significant to you?

A) I love performing with my band every Tuesday afternoon on the rooftop of Second Fiddle on lower Broadway in Nashville, TN. I love it because we get to play/practice whatever songs we want (getting ready for the road) and the people that come in are always a great and fun crowd.

I also love playing most Sundays at this place called Barlines in Nashville, TN. It’s a three-hour acoustic set where I get to play whatever songs that were stuck in my head that week. The staff there are always really nice.

Q) Who would you most like to collaborate with on a song in the future?

A) Zach Bryan

Q) What would you like to say to everyone who is a fan and supporter of you and you?

A) Thank you so much for listening to my music and supporting my journey. Pursuing a music career is very risky so I’m super thankful to have people actually listening to my music and caring about what I do. There are times where I feel crazy for doing this but when I get supportive messages from fans, it keeps me going.