Artist Story: Dan Wallace

One of the biggest challenges I’ve encountered while promoting my music in Chicago stems from the fact that I perform under my own name as opposed to a band name. For some reason, playing under the name of an individual, even if that individual is performing with a band, seems to be better received in other cities, but not Chicago. Also, I tend to create fairly complex music, which doesn’t seem to be very well accepted in Chicago either. If I were a Free Jazz musician it would be perfectly acceptable to perform technically challenging music while leading a band under my own name, and I certainly never had any problems when my focus was composing for chamber groups. However, as someone now generally identified as a “singer-songwriter,” I have run into some challenges.

Chicago is home to a great variety of music, with countless thriving scenes representing a range of styles from Experimental Jazz to Insurgent Country, Indie Rock to Electronica, Traditional Jazz, “World Music” (as if there were such a genre), Hip Hop, Contemporary Classical, Metal, New Wave, and on and on. One of the few musical personality types for which Chicago is not recognized, however, is the Solo Pop/Rock Artist. To the West, L.A. has its enviable Largo scene: Largo, with its famous hush policy, is a popular nightclub where adventurous singer-songwriters such as Jon Brion, Aimee Mann, David Garza, Fiona Apple, Beck and many many others are able to explore the full dynamic range of their material without any stigma attached to the fact that they and their band play with an individual’s name in the title. To the East, there seems to be an explosion of scenes inhabited by smart, young, band-fronting "singer-songwriter" acts like Regina Spektor, Nicole Atkins, and the Sea.

Here in the middle, however, there is no notable scene of solo artists performing challenging Pop/Rock music. Sure, there are pockets of open-mic regulars, plenty of nostalgic folkies, and any number of Jason Mraz clones chasing the Top 40; but when it comes to interesting purveyors of popular fringe forms, Chicago is more of a band town. Perhaps the prevailing mentality tends to draw its influence from a Punk and Post-Punk philosophy that places emphasis on collaboration, solidarity and a lax “just-let-it-happen” attitude towards the music-making process (I’ve also heard theories about this attitude deriving from a particularly Midwestern, unionized working-class mentality, but I’ll leave that to the sociologists to figure out).

Before I go any further, I’d like to make it clear that even though my music is meticulously put together, and is largely the work of an individual, I do have a great appreciation for all approaches to music-making. I wouldn’t say that any one approach is more valid or produces better results than any other. In fact, I’m generally put off by cynicism, which, frankly is another attribute Chicago audiences are recognized for. Even as an unheard musician, you have to prove your innocence after having been found guilty of such crimes as “irrelevance”, “in-authenticity”, “derivation” and just plain sucking for looking too hip…or not looking hip enough. It’s a tough town, and as home-recording gear gets cheaper and the band birth rate gathers exponential speed, it is getting ever more difficult for hard-working bands to get heard, and even more so for someone who doesn’t even bother to put a full band together to record an album.

I digress…back to my original point:

The dominant mentality in Chicago didn’t affect me too much back when I used to play under a band name because it was at least easy to get my foot in the door with clubs and promoters. But upon going solo (the best and most profitable career-move I’ve made so far, by the way) I perceived a change. The hipper clubs become much more wary of booking me even though my band had more players, was better practiced than ever, and the material was largely the same. I also noticed a slow-down in the rate at which I was acquiring new fans from the area, with a big increase from other locations. Instead, locally there has been a thin but steady trickle of new listeners who have a specific appreciation for this approach to making music (ah, so these are the people causing all those touring solo acts to sell out). I

have known songwriters to leave town in order to escape this eponymous stigma, later confirming that they found more acclaim elsewhere and then actually had an easier time getting booked in Chicago as a touring rather than a local act. But I choose to stay in Chicago. Despite the lack of solidarity (i.e., scene) there are smart solo artists floating around (Azita is one of my personal favorites), and they are slowly but steadily getting the attention they deserve as local audiences discover them. So, even though I have more fans in New York, New Jersey, L.A., Phoenix, Madrid, Sao Paulo and Buenos Aires, I’ll be staying in Chicago. L.A., after all, doesn't have as many 'Solo-Artist-gaps' to fill as here in Chicago.

Dan Wallace has been active in the Chicago music scene since premiering his Wind Quintet with the Chicago Chamber Music Collective in the mid-90’s. He has since composed music for a variety of chamber ensemble settings, as well as for theatre and film, and is a CAAP Grant recipient. Wallace has become increasingly active as a singer-songwriter of what some have called “Prog-Pop.” His music subtly draws from a wide range of influences including Contemporary Classical, Heavy Metal, Bossa Nova, Bebop and, of course, Pop. His latest album is entitled Culture of Self (Torito Bravo Records, 2007). Please visit www.danwallacemusic.com for more information.