If you were paying attention during out last live session with Leatherbag, you would have noticed a fella playing an acoustic guitar and singing backup vocals on a track called “White Doves.” That was a singer-songwriter from Austin, TX that goes by the name Danny Malone.

Danny was nice enough to come back the day following the Leatherbag session with his musical traveling companion, Heidi Johnson, to perform four tracks in our Chicago studio. He’s part pop singer, part folk troubadour and seems to be comfortable dwelling just below the surface. His music is somewhat hard to find other than an album that’s on iTunes for a limited time.

Like many of you, I’m just now learning about Danny Malone, but each song below has something different to offer. “Basement” is a bizarre tale about a character avoiding loneliness by keeping dead relatives down in the basement to provide company. On the opposite end of the spectrum is a serious tune, and my favorite of the session, called “In the Darkness.” It’s an extremely well-written, eerie song that can captivate you. Heidi’s keys have a spooky ring-around-the-rosie vibe and her backing vocals are the perfect accompaniment to the song’s poetic sentiment.

Danny’s heading back to Chicago on September 6 to play at Tom Schraeder’s CD release party at The Hideout. If you’re in Chicago and haven’t passed by Schraeder on the scene yet, you should do yourself a favor and check both of these gentlemen out that night. This show has been cancelled.

Exclusive: Danny Malone – Close Enough

Exclusive: Danny Malone – Basement

Exclusive: Danny Malone – Silence

Exclusive: Danny Malone – In The Darkness

Stay tuned for upcoming live sessions featuring Jukebox The Ghost, Your 33 Black Angels, Backyard Tire Fire, Ane Brun, Tobias Froberg and many more.

Danny Malone – In the Darkness, live in-studio, Chicago

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You can see the video for “Basement” here.