The Danberrys
Shine
Singular Recordings
Listen Below
The Danberrys are a husband and wife country duo—Dorothy Daniel with a voice as attention-grabbing as a finger poke to the neck and Ben DeBerry, a guitar player who always finds the perfect lick without making you feel like you're listening to someone practice. Based upon these facts alone, Shine is a fun, impressive album.
But the two singer-songwriters go beyond solid songs, creating a captivating album that mirrors the work of another famous songwriting duo, a couple of California kids who wound up fronting a little band called Fleetwood Mac. The Danberrys tap into a Stevie Nicks/Lindsey Buckingham energy in a powerful way.
It's interesting to see a contemporary band, especially a country one, grab so much of that Nicks/Buckingham vibe. Part of my surprise is because of the nature of that Fleetwood Mac era’s popularity, which has waxed and waned over time. Rumours, Nicks' and Buckingham's second album with Fleetwood Mac, has sold over 20 million units in the United States alone. It's an album everyone either currently owns or owned at some point in their lives. But at the same time, the 1977 album has also spent some time relegated to soft rock or easy listening.
More people might be familiar with the songs from waiting rooms than from live shows. But we, as a culture, keep returning to Nicks/Buckingham era Fleetwood Mac about as often as the band itself reunites. Because there's a magic there. There's something special in the way their music complements the two of them. It's hard to look, or listen, away as Nicks and Buckingham selflessly share the spotlight in songs, while also clamoring to top each other. The emotions, good and bad, happy and angry, are all out there, and neither can do a thing to tamp it all down. It's their circus and we're along to see if anyone survives the high wire.
So while the Danberrys don't explore and exploit the relationship dysfunction that made Fleetwood Mac appointment listening, Daniel and DeBerry have a similar push and pull that's just as magnetic. You hear it right away on "Shine" which feels like a country version of Fleetwood Mac's "The Chain."
But the comparisons don't end with a familiar hook. Daniel's voice is melodic and pleasing, but it's neither light nor pretty. She tells stories, but she's commanding our attention, rather than trying to charm us into hearing her. DeBerry weaves slide guitar throughout the track, not in a flashy way, but still impressively. It's the sound of two artists interested in supporting each other, but also equally concerned about their own performances.
Shine's songs sometimes vibrate with Daniel's and Berry's ambition. "The Road" is one of the album's straight-ahead country tracks, during which Daniel sings, "Time is a funny thing / Changes everything that you thought would remain if you left it / alone," squeezing in that extra syllable because the ideas are too expansive and important to risk chopping down.
The equivalent for DeBerry is "The Mountain," another more traditional country track, and a duet between the two. DeBerry has a reliable voice but seems much more comfortable expressing himself through his guitar. The track features lots of beautiful slide guitar candy, the equivalent of Daniel's slipping in extra words to preserve her ideas, both almost trying to expand their songs without making them longer.
We still talk about Fleetwood Mac because it was such an unusual combination of high-quality songwriting and talented performers. Those are important factors, but for Fleetwood Mac, and The Danberrys, the secret ingredient is the interpersonal glue bridging the songwriting and performances. That tension or pressure or pride—whatever it is pushing two artists in a band that can barely contain all of their talents—is what makes songs memorable. You hear it all over Shine and the moment you do, you're going to find yourself craving more of it.
Notable Tracks: “The Mountain” | “The Road” | “Shine”
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