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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 awards
for Best Duo 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 Won
Country Song of the Year in the ASA National Song writing
Contest with Up
Won Country category in January and
Country Song of the Year in Houston
Texas with Dreamland
2005 Won
Spirit of Australia category at the ASA awards with Dreamland Finalist
in the Country and Contemporary Ballad sections with
The Legacy and I Believe In You
2007 Released debut album The Legacy
Finalist in the ASA Country Songwriter Of The Year (Top
4)
Finalist in the Gympie Muster Maton Talent Search (Top
3)
Finalist in the IMA’s Independent Music Awards (US
based) Country
Song Of The Year (Top 5) Finalist in the Musicoz Awards Country Artist Of The
Year (Top 10) Finalist in the ACRA’s Australian Country
Recording Awards for New Talent and Male Artist
2008 Finalist in the TIARAS (Tamworth
Independent Artist Recognition Awards) Male Vocal - Every Reason
Finalist
in TSA Awards - TSA/Capital News New Songwriter Award Finalist in the
Victorian & National Country Music Awards -
Hawking Brothers Best New Talent
Semi-finalist
in the International Songwriting Competition for
Country Song Of The Year
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 in 2007 released his debut solo
album, The Legacy. 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 radio play lists
throughout the country and charted on the Top 100 Country Hits chart. The
accompanying video clip also
made Top 40 on the CMC (Country Music
Channel) PayTV network. His second single Already Gone is also proving a radio
favourite, and filmclip
under the direction of Ross Wood for the album
track Heartache has managed
a Top 40 position on CMC. With the success of Heartache on CMC, Danny has decided to try the airwaves
with the radio single of the same. Heartache has recently been released on
NFS123 and is already receiving an excellent response.
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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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