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As the sun set
on the Hooper family home in the 1970s, you would frequently find Danny Hooper,
his parents and three sisters belting out some of their favourite tunes around
the kitchen table. Music meant entertainment for the Hoopers, who lived on a
remote station in the mid north of South
Australia. This early and joyful introduction to
music planted the seed for Danny, but it was his Dad’s old Maton guitar that
sprouted a lifelong passion. At
the age of
ten, Danny began guitar lessons with his Dad and it wasn’t long before
he
strummed his first song, Banks of the Ohio. As a teenager,
Danny’s flair for
performing came to the fore and he was often called upon to liven up a
party with the song Rock n’ Robin. He later started a rock band
with a few mates, called
Niteshift. It was love
that inspired Danny to begin song writing at 18 years of age.
When he sang his
first song, You’re the one for me,
to his girlfriend Lea, her teary response sparked a passion for song
writing that has since reaped much recognition. Together with
Lea, Danny began entering country music competitions in 1987.
They won numerous Duo awards and went on to record an album in 1992, entitled Talkin’
Bout Love. In 1994, Danny
got serious. He entered the Toyota Star Maker competition in Tamworth
and was selected as a Top Ten Grand Finalist. In the same year he entered the
Australian Songwriters Association (ASA) National Song Competition in Melbourne and won the
Acoustic Section and Song of the Year with I Left You. Despite this
early success, music was placed on the back burner due to the arrival of Danny
and Lea’s first son Jace, followed by siblings Courteney and Tom. Danny’s main
occupation became that of House Dad, although he continued to perform at
weekend gigs throughout the state.
It wasn’t until ten years later that Danny
Hooper once again became a name to look out for in the song-writing arena, thanks to a swag of awards:
2004
Winner - (ASA) Australian Songwriters Awards for
‘Country’ category
Winner - Song of the Year competition in Houston
Texas for ‘Country’category 2005
Winner - (ASA) Australian Songwriters Awards for ‘Spirit of
Australia’ category 2006
Runner Up - Best Male Vocal for MusicAid National Music
Award
Runner Up - Best Songwriter for
MusicAid National Music Awards 2007
Finalist - (ASA) Australian Songwriters Awards for
‘Country’ category
Finalist - Gympie Muster Maton Talent Search (Top 3)
Finalist - IMA’s Independent Music Awards (US based) Country Song Of The Year (Top 5)
Finalist - Musicoz Awards Country Artist Of The Year (Top 10)
Finalist - ACRA’s Australian Country Recording Awards
for ‘New Talent’ and ‘Male Artist’ 2008
Finalist - TSA Salute in the Songwriter Awards ‘New
Songwriter of the Year’
Finalist - Southern Stars Country Music Independent
Awards for ‘Rising Male Star’
Finalist - TIARA
Awards for ‘Male Vocalist Of The Year’
Finalist - VIC & National CM Awards for ‘Best New
Talent’
Finalist - NT Country Songwriting Awards for ‘Best
Contemporary Song’
Semi-finalist - International Songwriting Competition for ‘Country Song
Of The Year’
Finalist - (ASA) Australian Songwriters Awards for ‘Country' category
Winner - (ASA) Australian Songwriters Awards for ‘Ballad’
category
Winner - SA Achiever Award for ‘Outstanding
Achievement in Country Music’ 2009
Finalist - Unisong International Songwriting Contest (Top 20)
Finalist - Southern Stars Country Independent Music Awards for ‘Male Vocal’
Finalist - (ASA)
Australian Songwriters Awards for ‘Country’ category (2 songs)
Winner - (ASA)
Australian Songwriters Awards for ‘Spiritual’ category
During a year-long family trip around Australia in 2005, Danny was inspired to reignite his dream to
become a household name in Australian country music. He secured Rod McCormack
as a producer and on his return recorded his debut solo album, The Legacy,
released in 2007. Featuring 12 original
songs, the album name and its title track are a tribute to his father
and a signal to the legacy of music Danny will pass onto his own children. Danny’s debut single, Every Reason, worked its
way onto playlists throughout the country and made #37 on the Top 100
Country
Hits chart.
The accompanying video clip also made Top 40 on the CMC
(Country
Music Channel) paytv network. His single
Already Gone proved a success with
#39 on the Top 100 Country Hits chart, and filmclip under the direction
of Ross
Wood for the track Heartache, making
his second chart success on the CMC video chart, reaching #36. In April 2010 Danny released a new video
clip on CMC called iPod in my ear which is currently in the Top 50 chart.
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Birthday 18th of January
Star Sign Capricorn
Fav Colour Deep Purple
I used to hate purple because
I was made to wear purple
flares and lavender shirt to
‘Free Dress’ days at High
School. I’m over that now.
No really........I am!!!
Fav Food Definitely Pizza (any kind)
Fav Drink I love red wine (Shiraz mostly)
(probably should say
water)
Fav Vehicle
Commodore
Hobbies Music still.
Likes
People who are positive and
cheerful.
Dislikes
People who put
other people
down. That really pisses me
off!
Heroes
My
Parents. My mum worked
her butt off to raise four kids on
the smell of an oily rag (so to
speak)
My Dad gave me my future.
He also worked bloody hard for
the sake of his family.
Life Motto Have a crack! You never know.
Fav Holiday
I love camping. I don’t care
where as long as I’m in good
company.
My two favourite spots in
Australia are: All of Tassie and
the Kimberleys.
Oh, and the
West Coast of Australia.
Awesome!!!
I guess that makes three.
Music Influence My Dad. As a kid he was the
only form of music I
heard. As
a
teenager I was influenced by
John Denver, Neil Diamond and
Roy Orbison.
As an adult it has been quite
vast. Keith Urban, Chris Isaac,
Robbie Williams are just some
of my influences, and all for
different reasons.
Most important
People
My wife Lea and our three
fantastic kids, Jace,
Courteney
and Tom. They
are my greatest
reason
for wanting to, and
having to, succeed.
Lea is hugely supportive of my
dreams and goals, in fact,
she
keeps me on target. Not
everyone can boast a partner
like that and I love her very
much.
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