The Energy Commission

About the Artist

Danielle Cales has a lifelong musical heritage though a relatively young musical career. Danielle's father, Freddy Cales, was a blues man. That meant Danielle grew up amidst long hours of loud practice, passion that didn't really pay the bills, and the mild taste of accomplishment of a well played local gig. Freddy pursued his dream with unbridled fervor. His long blue collar hours at the steel mill and his late night gigs was a candle burning at both ends. His untimely death was ironically the birth of Danielle's songwriting. It was as if a torch was passed and a hard lesson was learned. Danielle had actually declined the guitar lessons once offered to her and now she had to teach herself on one of her late father's guitars. She had always been a "bedroom mirror" singer since childhood, always seeing herself behind a microphone. It was at this time of tragedy that two worlds began to merge and her songwriting took off. It wasn't long before Danielle picked up her first acoustic guitar and began crafting the heart wrenching tale behind her song 16 Decembers. As the haunting title suggests, it is about the 16 Decembers Danielle knew her father before his passing. Though her childhood was saturated with the blues, Danielle's musical identity was to become more of a folk pop rock sound. Danielle has always been about standing on her own two feet. Songwriting is Danielle's obvious strength. She has the ability to pour out emotion that retains realness and her sense of melody is magically married to her words. Her guitar playing remains modest yet Danielle's performance charms the rowdiest audience. Danielle has found herself in some of the same sticky gigs she remembers from her childhood - only now she's on the other side of the stage. She takes with her the dedication and drive she saw in her father. To every show, large or small, Danielle bares her soul. She plans to carry that torch and realize a dream for her father - for her family and friends, for the societal injustice and broken people it produces, but most of all, Danielle carries that passion for herself.