Dan Daniels and Your No Good Buddies

Current Press/Reviews -- Click on a headline to read more.
Date	Headline
February 21, 2008	Hamp show to benefit local charities
February 21, 2008	Weekend Planner - Music
January 03, 2008	Live Wire Awards Recognize Local Talent
September 08, 2007	Indiemusic.com review of Geezer Rock
July 25, 2007	Review of Geezer Rock
July 02, 2007	Ice Cream at Flayvors Blended With Rock
August 07, 2005	The Flood of '55 (Tom Shea)
July 12, 2005	Guts and Gravel Review
January 14, 2005	Country Western Corner reviews Guts and Gravel Feb., 2005
January 03, 2005	Review of Guts and Gravel
September 22, 2004	Old buddies break new ground with CD from THE REPUBLICAN
August 12, 2004	The Duke Listens to Your No Good Buddies
July 09, 2004	Your No Good Buddies, Saturday, the Harp
July 08, 2004	The Dan Band
July 08, 2004	Daniels hosting CD release party
May 05, 2003	‘Your No Good Buddies’ develops audience

February 21, 2008 : Hamp show to benefit local charities
By: Donnie Morehouse

'Hamp show to beneift local charities
Thursday, February 21, 2008

Who could ask for more?

On Saturday night Dan Daniels and Your No Good Buddies will play a benefit concert at the World War II Veteran's Club on Conz Street in Northampton with support from the Cobble Mountain Bluegrass Band and the Mary Kate Band. Donations will be accepted at the door for the Catholic charity Faith in Action and canned goods will also be accepted for the Northampton Survival Center.

Great local music that benefits local charities...who could ask for more?

Certainly not Ellen J. Cary.

The show is being billed as the Ellen J. Cary Memorial Benefit Concert and is being played in honor of Cary who passed away last year.

"She was 59 years old and she died unexpectedly," said Dan Daniels, brother of Cary who orchestrated the memorial. "She loved a good time and she loved to go out and hear live music."

According to Daniels, Cary volunteered for Faith In Action to help elderly and handicapped people live independently.

"She liked to help people less fortunate than herself," Daniels said.

In true "two bird...one stone" fashion he decided the best way to honor his sister's legacy would be with a benefit concert.

"We are asking for a $5 donation at the door for Faith in Action," he said. "You can also get in with a non-perishable food item for the emergency food pantry of the Northampton Survival Center."

The show will begin at 8 p.m.

"It is a guaranteed good time for a good cause," Daniels said. "Who could ask for more?"

February 21, 2008 : Weekend Planner - Music
By: Dan DeNicola

Chicopee resident Ellen Clary was a big fan of music in general, and of her brother's band in particular, that group of aging boomers familiar to Valley audiences as Dan Daniels and Your No Good Buddies. Though she suffered from long periods of disabling migraine headaches, Clary was a dedicated volunteer who worked with Faith in Action, a Catholic Charity devoted to helping disabled and older people live independently as long as possible.
Coming suddenly and without apparent cause, Clary's death on Dec. 15 at age 59 was a shock to many. This Saturday a special concert will be held in her memory. Running 8pm to midnight at the World War II Club in Northampton, the music will be provided by three very different bands. The show will open with the Bluegrass sounds of the Cobble Mountain Band, followed by the Jazz/blues/pop-rock of The Mary Kate Band and suceeded by the Americana roots-rock of Dan Daniels and Your No Good Buddies...
A $5 donation at the door will go to Faith in Action and "we are asking people to bring nonperishable food items to be donated to the emergency food pantry of the Northampton Survival Center" says Daniels.
The World War II Club is located at 50 Conz St. in Northampton

January 03, 2008 : Live Wire Awards Recognize Local Talent
By: Donnie Morehouse

Where do they all come from?
Every year, when the submission guidelines are announced for the Live Wire
Awards the mail gets a little heavier down at the Republican. It is still fairly amazing the amount of music that is put out in the Pioneer Valley every year....
Here is a list of the best recordings we have received in 2007. The recordings are available at live shows, through band-artist Web sites, and occasioinally at record stores that carry local music. If you are considering checking out any of these artists live, or purchasing their disc, consider their inclusion here as a full endorsement of the work.
Now the list - in no particular order....

Dan Daniels and Your No Good Buddies, "Geezer Rock" - The title may be the best description of the look ( a jab that the personable Daniels will appreciate) and feel of this band. This is roots stew with blues, bluegrass, folk, and geezer rock. There are mandolins, harmonicas, accordians, and fiddles and a bunch of guys having a whole lot of fun. When they do get serious, as on the tribute "Flood of '55" they do it with grace and eloquence. Online at www.yngb.com...

September 08, 2007 : Indiemusic.com review of Geezer Rock
By: Derek Blackmon

If you can’t keep it real, you can at least keep it honest, and Dan Daniels & Your No Good Buddies second release Geezer Rock does just that.

The organ on “Phantom Woman” sounds comfortably similar to Del Shannon’s “Runaway,” making this a good cold beer on a back porch way to wind down the week.

With lyrics that unashamedly border on the hilarious, the good times are both plentiful and tongue in cheek, sometimes within the same verse. Simply the mention of boating on the Puget Sound ("Away From You, Back To You") makes you wonder if Weird Al was holding the pen. The title track is exactly that: a Geezer rock song about Geezer rock.

“Winter Blues” has all the charm of a cuckolded man with a terrible affliction for worthless women. Sadly, this is worsened by the fact that it’s cold outside.

Geezer Rock is certainly original; there is no doubt about that. Never taking himself too seriously, Dan Daniels is worthy of making it onto a party mix tape and played loudly after the booze is flowing and the beer goggles have been strapped on for the night. Please remember to listen responsibly.

July 25, 2007 : Review of Geezer Rock
By: Eric Sutter

Geezer Rock"
Dan Daniels + Your No Good Buddies
Keep on smilin'... summer is alive with the release of the sophmore effort of Dan Daniels + Your No Good Buddies CD "Geezer Rock." The music is loaded with catchy hooks and irresistible roots-rock with a dollop of smokin' blues and country twang. This set continues from where 2004's "Guts + Gravel" left off but has more bite. It's music that crosses boundaries wonderfully with each cut working to add to a cohesive Americana sound. The still kickin' rhythm of the honky-tonk opener, "Away From You, Back To You" sets the tone for a rollicking ride of roguery. The second cut "Phantom Woman" with a decidedly Tex-Mex feel owed to Spanish style guitar lines from guest guitarist Jose' Ruiz rocks as Guy Wallis' funky keyboard swirls around Daniels rhythm guitar nicely. The wild ride continues with the title cut, the joyous "Geezer Rock", which is a mid-tempo paean to Rock n' Roll that narrates the evolution of Rock. The refrain, "You're never too old to play Geezer Rock" echoes true throughout. This is fun music that could be heard either at a local tavern or in a park at a summer festival. The songs, "The Flapper and the Devil" and "The Flood of 55" are story songs that tell events that occur naturally in life with a fiddle and mandolin backed country-folk musical texture.

A blue tone color is added to the musical sound with bluesy numbers "Winter Blues" and "Sweet Lovin' Woman" compliments of Guy Wallis' inspired harmonica playing. The pleasant mix of harmony sing-a-long rock songs and danceable country and blues tunes make this disc a surprise winner among recently released local discs. Dan Margolis' melodic electric lead guitar riffs supply warmth next to Dan Daniels commanding lead vocals. Check out the band on the web at www.yngb.com and live in Stanley Park, Westfield on Sunday, Aug. 19th at 6:00 p.m.

Eric Sutter

July 02, 2007 : Ice Cream at Flayvors Blended With Rock
By: Fred Contrada -Springfield Republican

You never know what will happen when you go out for ice cream, and so it was that I recently got a scoop of Dan Daniels and Your No Good Buddies with my hot fudge sundae.

We were at Flayvors of Cook's Farm, an ice cream stand in the emerald fields of Hadley, where you can just about follow your ice cream from udder to cone by standing on the front porch. (Legend has it that "Flayvor" was the name of a favorite cow at the farm).

At first we thought it was a stereo playing in the back room. Then we peeked in and saw three geezers in Hawaiian shirts playing instruments.

Did I mention that they were rocking the place out.

The front man was a balding guy in shorts firing off chords on an odd guitar. This, it turned out, was Dan Daniels,61, former political science professor, current house painter and forever rock 'n' roller.

Daniels was flanked by Shawn Mansfield,58, on the bass and Kurt Hansen,50, on the mandolin. Mandfield practices law in Easthampton in his other life. Hansen is a former neighbor of Daniels' from Blandford.

I feel safe calling them geezers because they were playing a song called "Geezer Rock" from their CD of that name. A paean to rock 'n' roll, it has lyrics like:

"I started singing and I've never stopped
But I never thought I'd be a geezer playing rock"

This pretty much says it all.

Daniels got rock 'n' roll religion when he was 10 and growing up in Cleveland. The Everly Brothers. Buddy Holly. Elvis. It didn't hurt that music was a great way to meet girls.

In 1971, Daniels came to the Pioneer Valley seeking a doctorate at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. He soon lost interest in academics. Instead, he adopted the family trade and started a painting and wallpapering business.

"I wanted to be my own boss," he explains. "I don't function well in situations where people tell me what to do."

Little did those folks in the colonials and ranch houses know that the guy in painter's whites going over wallpaper with them was humming to his own private back beat.

Daniels was 48 before he had his first real band, a country group called Back East. About five years ago, he started writing his own songs. They came fast and suddenly and in numbers.

He was in the process of getting together with Mansfield and Northampton guitarist Dan Margolis, 55, when they decided to start recording original music. That band got its name when Margolis' wife told him what she thought of his friends.

On a hot Sunday afternoon, with Hansen sitting in for Margolis, curious ice cream lovers wander in and out of the back room at Flayvors, staring in amazement at Dan Daniels and Your No Good Buddies. The tip jar has barely enough money to buy the band its own ice cream, but they soldier on, surrounded by banners proclaiming Cook Farm's success with Holsteins at the Eastern States Exposition.

Sit through a few tunes and you can hear a little Jimmy Buffett, a little Creedence Clearwater Revival, maybe some Willie Nelson.

Daniels, as if to validate his geezer status, explains between songs that a record album once consisted of a sleeve of 78s. The band, in keeping up with the times, has cut two CDs, "Guts and Gravel" and "Geezer Rock," and has its own Web site, www.yngb.com

As they load the equipment in a van out back, Daniels explains that love, not money, brings them back to the ice cream stand on Sundays like this. He points over his shoulder to the foot of the Holyoke Range, where you can almost see his house.

Although one knee is taped from a recent fall, Daniels is obviously lit by the current that runs through countless arenas and bars and stadiums and garages, powering amps wherever rock 'n' roll calls out to be played. He talks about a song he wrote called "Empty Rooms."

"I made it up on the spot when my wife and her mother were the only people there and they got up to leave," he says.

Daniels laughs about it, but that doesn't mean he can't dream. Some cuts from "Guts and Gravel" got play on country stations as far away as Australia, and he'd like to move beyond the local scene if he can.

"I wouldn't mind enough recognition so I could tour a little bit and have a niche audience," he says.

Until then, you can catch Dan Daniels and Your No Good Buddies at down-home venues like the South Hadley Village Commons on July 5 and Northampton Bowl on Aug. 25. And be advised to look closely the next time you see some old geezer with a twinkle in his eye. He might just be waiting to rock.

Fred Contrada is a staff writer with The Republican. He can be reached at fcontrada@repub.com

Previous

August 07, 2005 : The Flood of '55 (Tom Shea)
By: Tom Shea, for the Sunday Republican

The sun is almost at high noon, the sky as blue as a movie star’s eyes. We’re sitting in the shade of a tree, sipping juice in the yard of the last house on Route 47 in South Hadley.
Dan Daniels is talking about the 18 inches of rain that 50 years ago this month fell in Westfield in 24 hours.
"It’s still a record in Massachusetts for measured rainfall,” he says with great enthusiasm.
Dan says most things with great enthusiasm.
A native of Cleveland who has lived in Western Massachusetts since 1971, he has had a long fascination with Hurricane Diane and the 1955 Flood.
“Probably because of all the stories I’ve heard through the years,” he says. “How people coped when it seemed like it was never going to stop raining.”
Last month, he wrote a song about it called “The Flood of ’55.”
What’s happened to the roads?
What’s happened to the land?
Where’d all this water come from?
You say “Hurricane Diane”
Why’d they name it for some girl?
How could she ever be so bad?
To cause so much destruction,
Take away everything we had.
Dan is the chief songwriter, lead singer and rhythm guitar player for the alt-country group, Your No Good Buddies.
“We’re a bunch of old farts with good musical taste and a sense of humor,” he says of the band he helped form three years ago with friends Dan Margolis and Shawn Mansfield. “It was going to be a cover band – we still do covers, but not the obvious ones. I had this 6-month burst of song writing in 2002. When the muse shows up, you let her stay.”
The result was last year’s compact disc, “Guts and Gravel,” now being played on radio stations as far away as Australia.
“Our best review?” Dan says, repeating my question. “We’ve been called an alt-country Bare Naked Ladies.”
When he was 13, Dan wanted to be Elvis Presley.
“I had the hair for it back then,” he laughs. “Not anymore.”
Dan is 60. He runs his hand across his smooth scalp.
Del Shannon’s “Runaway” was the first song he learned to play on the guitar. He never really stopped playing.
Dan came east to work on his doctorate in political science at the University of Massachusetts.
“I did every thing but finish my dissertation,” he says.
Instead of a career as a college professor, Dan followed his grandfather and father’s path – starting his own paint and wallpaper company in Blandford, his longtime home.
I have a lot of Westfield customers, and Westfield was walloped in the Flood of ’55,” he says. “And during work breaks, we talked. Eventually, if the person was old enough, I’d ask, ‘What did you do during the Flood of ’55?’ I heard perspectives of people who were kids at the time, young mothers. The way people described it, it was like something out of the Old Testament. The mud, the rushing water, the seeking of higher ground. All the water everywhere, but none of it to drink.”
It started raining Wednesday August 18 and didn’t stop until Friday. The ground was already drenched from Hurricane Connie that passed through five days earlier.
Dan says the closest he has come to natural disaster was hiding in the back kitchen 10 years ago with his wife, Julie Fitzgerald, and their young son, Danny, when a tornado churned through Great Barrington.
In March this year, he faced a more personal battle: lymphoma.
“I went through a round of chemotherapy,” he says, “and they got it. I’m fortunate. I’m in remission now. But that brush with cancer got me writing again.”
One of the songs was “The Flood of ‘55”
Dan and his friend Kurt Hansen fooled around with the tune’s structure one afternoon last month. That night, Dan came home and gave the song lyrics. Another friend, Guy Walis, provided some backing instruments and produced the finished track.
“I’m giving ‘The Flood of ’55’ away free to anyone who buys ‘Guts & Gravel,’” Dan says.
The song will be featured Saturday when Your No Good Buddies play The Harp in Amherst.
Consider it a little history, with a beat.

July 12, 2005 : Guts and Gravel Review
By: EDF of Phase9 Entertainment

Tuesday, July 12th 2005
DAN DANIELS AND YOUR NO GOOD BUDDIES - GUTS AND GRAVEL
Album Review by EDF

Imagine if you can, a world where the Beatles never filmed or recorded A HARD DAY'S NIGHT. They might have continued producing rock 'n' roll records, bypassed travelling over to America and India, never dropped acid, which would have left The Rolling Stones as the most influential band of the 1960's. The Beatles then continued to make music and are still performing but no one knows why they just don't call it a day. What could this bunch of has-beens have to offer? Well, if music had taken this cruel course, the Beatles would have just grown old and with a little bit of country thrown in for good measure, would sound something like Dan Daniels, Dan Margolis and Shawn Mansfield.

Sounding like they have been playing together for decades, this threesome only formed in 2002 and has brought with it a fun element missing from most music performances these days. It is not as if these guys have to prove anything, regardless of their age they inject a carefree, fun and spirited effort that should embarrass younger musicians. Try listening to (I'VE BEEN EATIN') ONIONS without a smile coming across your face or at least be surprised to find steel drums on SWEET MARY JANE. I mean I seriously cannot remember the last time I've heard steel drums on a record. This is a tough one to sell but I really enjoyed this and these guys have no inhibition to what they are doing.

Contact at: http://www.yournogoodbuddies.com

© 2005 PHASE9 ENTERTAINMENT

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January 14, 2005 : Country Western Corner reviews Guts and Gravel Feb., 2005
By: Edward H. King

A Great Review of Guts and Gravel from Country Western Corner, monthly entertainment news magazine, February, 2005:

“Guts and Gravel” CD album explodes with 12 cuts of wonderful sounding variety and humorous music. Gets you back to a happier, simpler time, when you could understand and relate to the lyrics you hear. You can sing along if you wish. Alt-Country, Cajun, Reggae, Country Waltz, a bit of Rock and a Bluegrass gospel cut rounds out the complete showcase. Dan Daniels is the writer. Great vocals and musicianship abound. From “The Teardrops Start” to “Rock-n-Roll” it’s a party on CD. Ice down the beer and LISTEN…

CHECK OUT COUNTRY WESTERN CORNERwww.wingnut.net/ehk.

January 03, 2005 : Review of Guts and Gravel
By: Eric Sutter

Catch that vagabond feeling this new year with a local Americana/Roots Rock band Your No Good Buddies. They have a 12-song CD out called "Guts and Gravel" that glissades through Alt-country, Cajun, Rock, Reggae and Bluegrass. The players include Blandford resident Dan Daniels on rhythm guitar and lead vocals; Dan Margolis on electric lead guitar and mandolin; Shawn Mansfield on bass, Guy Wallis on mandolin, guitars, harmonica, keyboard, accordion and washboard; Kurt Hansen on mandolin, Bill Klock and Seth Hoffsomme on drums. The CD opens with a rousing country-rock song "The Teardrops Start." The title cut "Guts and Gravel" is a Alt-Country tale worthy of a smile. Nothing here is straight forward country but is Blue State alternative. "What would Jesus Drive?" is irreverently humorous harmony. "Your No Good Buddies" is a country shuffle number that beckons one to spend time with them. Their approach to music is upbeat and fun allowing for moments of great harmony. It has some sort of "rooted" quality... a sense of a past and place behind it but ironically it is energetically new-timey sounding. Celebratory pop-twang nestles alongside friskier old-school rockers. The paeanic, "Willie's Dream" has vision as wide as the Texas skies. The freedom of "Do It While We Can" continues in the Americana storytelling arena that paints itself into those brightly lit corners from which there seems no escape. "Empty Rooms" is one of those haunting country waltz tunes... a weeper that makes one cling to the memory of some long lost romance. The CD closes with "Rock -n-Roll" which honors the artists that made the style part of living. This music is part of a continuum that connects us to the past but outlasts the blues. Check out their website at www.yngb.com

Eric Sutter

September 22, 2004 : Old buddies break new ground with CD from THE REPUBLICAN
By: KARL M. REXER

Old buddies break new ground with CD
THE REPUBLICAN Wednesday, September 22, 2004
By KARL M. REXER krexer@repub.com
BLANDFORD - In the spring of 2002, Dan Daniels, Dan Margolis, and Shawn Mansfield, self-described "old farts who have been playing music for years and years," formed a group, Dan Daniels and Your No Good Buddies, to perform some cover songs at Tolland's annual Black Fly Day celebration.

"We formed this band with the idea of being a cover band," recalled Daniels, 59, the lead vocalist, rhythm guitar player, and songwriter, this week. "But I'd come into rehearsal with one or two new songs I'd written, and the guys would say 'These are really good; we should really start playing these'."

So they did.

"Guts and Gravel," a compact disc of all original material and the group's first recording, was released last July.

Daniels, Margolis, and Mansfield form the core of the band, while Guy Wallis on mandolin, electric and acoustic guitar, and harmonica, Kurt Hansen on mandolin, and Billy Klock and Seth Hoffsommer on drums play on some tracks as needed.

"I call our music Americana-country-rock," Daniels said. "The Americana movement is composed of people who are not happy with the direction of the music coming out of Nashville these days, and want to take the music back to its roots."

Mansfield, 57, who plays bass and electric rhythm guitar, calls the band's music "fun, light and humorous."

He said, "We may touch on some serious themes, but we don't beat them to death. It's not crying in your beer, boy finds girl, boy loses girl kind of stuff. Being the age we are, we've passed through that.

"And I enjoy playing tunes that people haven't been hearing forever."

Daniels recalled that most of the songs on the CD were written in one creative burst.

"From June 2002 to December 2002, I went through a real song-writing frenzy," he said. "All the songs on our CD, save one, came out of that."

Said Mansfield, “The genius of Dan Daniels as a songwriter is, he takes common occurrences, relates them to universal themes, and does it in a humorous fashion. Our music is a little bit of thinking with a whole lot of fun.”

Daniels said, "I've heard people refer to us as the Alternative-Country Barenaked Ladies."

"Guts and Gravel" is available at Platterpus Records in Westfield, and Dynamite Records, B-Side Records, and Turn it Up in Northampton. It can be purchased on-line at www.yngb.com

Dan Daniels and Your No Good Buddies will perform at the Points East Restaurant in Westfield on Sept. 25 and Aura in Easthampton on Oct. 2.

They also play at Cook's Farm in Hadley every third Sunday.

August 12, 2004 : The Duke Listens to Your No Good Buddies
By: Aaron "The Duke" De Mondo

The Duke Listens To Your No Good Buddies

Posted by Duke De Mondo on August 12, 2004 08:06 PM (See all posts by Duke De Mondo)
Filed under: Music, Music: Country and Americana

It's hard to find a reason not to like Guts And Gravel, the debut release from New England trio Dan Daniels And Your No Good Buddies. Whilst offering nothing what could be described as particularly innovative or "challenging", it is nothing if not a fantastically, infectiously good-natured slab of humour, compassion and, best of all, a bunch a damn fine tunes.
The press malarkey draws comparisons to, amongst others, The Barenaked Ladies, but to these ears, ie, the prodigiously knowledgeable ears of The Duke, they sound more akin to the likes of The Mavericks, even if Your No Good Buddies are, thankfully, infinitely preferable to those sons a bitches what yack on about "I wanna dance the night away, is what" and so on.
It's a country music what is pretty far removed from, say, the melancholic stylings of Whiskeytown or early Wilco, but it's no less worthy of praise. Three middle-aged fellas making music for no other reason than the enjoyment stemming from such, and the fact that, having played together since summer 2002, they realised that shit, man, this stuff is kinda good, is the crux of the matter.
The record, available through the band's Web Site, is a melding of commercial country, rockabilly stylings, flamenco flourishes, all with the mood of the most enjoyable party this side of the one on the telly what has five folks acting like the ones from The Dawson Creek or whatever.
Despite the vibe of frenzied revelry, however, there are weighty issues to discuss. The third track, for instance, rests on the theological poser; "What would Jesus drive, if he were alive?" Dan Daniels and Co. don't have any particular answer, but assert that it's probably not "no big SUV".
Outlaw clichés are also given a going over and emerge surprisingly fresh, like in the title track, what tells of a wife grabbing the nearest pistol and blasting her husband out of jail, whilst Pierre, Bobby And Marie tells of a bloodied feud between two folks on account of they both wanna sex with the same lady.
Do It While We Can takes a particularly idiosyncratic stance with regards the ol' hellfire-and-damnation country gospel, noting that since there won't be no "Drinkin'" nor "Dancin" nor "Smokin" nor even "Fornication" when the Lord comes a-calling, best to do as much as possible right now.
I ain't never heard those Louvin Brothers telling me shit like that, preferring the old "You'll go blind, The Duke!" or "You'll be damned, is what, if you for a second think about smiling while you do that!".
Mary Jane rolls in on a kind of Caribbean vibe, and goes on to become a rather lovely treatise on the old "unrequitement" and what not.
Guts And Gravel is among the most vibrant sounding records The Duke has enjoyed in ages. How come these "baby-boomers" sound so energised and in love with their music, when folks half their age sound like the kinda miserable, self-obsessed sons a bitches that always wanted to thrust terrible poetry into your face at high school?
How come a song by the name of (I Been Eatin') Onions has a fella grinning from ear to ear, has a fella believing that yes, onions are the most worthy of topics for any song written anywhere by anyone to be dealing with?
Final track Rock N' Roll opens with a Jerry Lee Lewis bout of the ol' piano thrashing, and goes on to get concerned with the nostalgia and what not, and memories of that there musical genre what is also the title. It's whole hell of the fun, is what The Duke would announce, and brings to a close a record what don't have even the slightest hint of a cruddy number among it.
I'm gonna be keeping both eyes on these fellas, but not in a way what implies I find them sexually attractive, although I'm sure they're very enticing to the ladies, but in a way what means I'm looking forward to the next record.
Good work, Dan Daniels And Your No Good Buddies.
Guts And Gravel can be bought, or inspected via the Audio Streams, at www.yngb.com
Thank folks

CHECK OUT THE DUKE AT www.mondoirlando.com" OR www.blogcritics.org

July 09, 2004 : Your No Good Buddies, Saturday, the Harp
By: Larry Parnass, Daily Hampshire Gazette

ROCKING REMINDER: Daniel B. Daniels and his buddies Dan Margolis and Shawn Mansfield will fire up an old-fashioned rock ’n roll party Saturday at the Harp in Amherst to mark the release of their first CD, “Guts and Gravel,” as the band called Dan Daniels and Your No Good Buddies. The easy, rhythmic sound is full of echoes of good and bad times which, because of the company of friends, manages to turn out for the good. The title track is about lean times, beefs with a sheriff and a court appearance: “The judge pounded down his gavel / Said, ‘You’re living on guts and gravel.’”

Daniels plays rhythm guitar, Margolis handles lead and Mansfield thumbs the bass. All join in the vocals, which tend toward the mischievous:
What would Jesus drive if he were alive?
No big SUV, the size of a tree.
No gas-guzzling hog, making lots of smog.
An efficient machine to keep God’s air clean.

July 08, 2004 : The Dan Band
By: Kendra Thurlow, The Valley Advocate

“Hi, I’m Shawn, this is my band-mate Dan, and this is my other band-mate Dan” – at least that’s what I’d say if I was Shawn Mansfield, bassist and backup singer of Your No Good Buddies, otherwise known as YNGB (not to be confused with NRBQ), and in a band with Dan Daniels (lead vocals and rhythm guitar) and Dan Margolis (electric guitar and mandolin).

The three yokels have been jamming together since 2002, playing exactly the kind of music they look like they would play – a stripped-down, roots Americana kind of rock. This Saturday they’ll be playing a slew of songs, including some jocular ditties like “I’ve Been Eatin’ Onions”, and “Do It While We Can” (‘cause let’s face it, these boys ain’t getting any younger) in celebration of the release of their new CD. Better check these guys out before one of them has a heart attack and you lose your chance.

July 10, The Harp, 163 Sunderland Rd., North Amherst, 548-6900.

July 08, 2004 : Daniels hosting CD release party
By: Mary Kronholm, The Country Journal

BLANDFORD – There may be a Grammy in the making for Dan Daniels, Blandford’s long-time country/folk artist. He and his band, Your No Good Buddies (YNGB) are hosting a CD release party at The Harp in North Amherst Saturday at 9:30 pm. The CD, Guts and Gravel, takes its name from one of the 12 songs on the recording.

Your No Good Buddies (YNGB) is a band with their roots in the past and branches reaching for the future. This group of baby boomers plays their own interpreted brand of “American (sic) Roots Rock”. Their sound comes from the influence of a set of diverse artists including Willie Nelson, The Band, Credence Clearwater Revival (CCR) and The Beatles while adding thought provoking lyrics and a humorous twist tomuch of their music. Dan Daniels, lead vocalist, rhythm guitar, and songwriter, along with Dan Margolis of Northampton, electric lead guitar, mandolin, and vocalist, and Shawn Mansfield, bass and vocalist, make up the band.

Daniels says these seasoned “weekend warriors” have been paying their dues, performing since their June 2002 Black Fly Day debut, at clubs and events throughout central New England. That the group does not take itself seriously is demonstrated by its name and from some of their songs such as I’ve Been Eatin’ Onions and Do It While We Can. Besides their humorous approach, the band also delivers powerful, eloquent and emotionally evocative tunes that give the message that music is uplifting, and can move one to laugh and cry.

Daniels invites every one to come the CD release event Saturday. The band’s schedule includes the City Block Lunchtime Concert Series in Springfield on Thursday, July 15 at noon, Stanley Park Pavilion Sunday August 15 at 6 pm, and a return engagement for Springfield’s City Block Lunchtime on August 25. The band’s website is YNGB.com where it is possible to order Guts and Gravel.

May 05, 2003 : ‘Your No Good Buddies’ develops audience
By: Donny Moorhouse, LiveWire The Republican Springfield, MA

When Dan Daniels and Dan Margolis decided they were “putting the band back together”, their hope was to put together a project that was original in theory and in practice.
“We wanted to do something a little bit different,” said Daniels, who had worked with Margolis in the country band Back East. “We have been around long enough to know what constitutes good music and we thought we could put something together that would develop an audience.”
Just one year later, Your No Good Buddies is in fact beginning to develop an audience around the region.
The band, which features Daniels on guitar and vocals, Margolis on lead guitar and mandolin, Shawn Mansfield on bass, and Pat Laverty on drums, rolls out an eclectic blend of alt. country and blues.
The group will cover everything from Hal Ketchum to Willie Dixon and counters the repertoire with a healthy dose of original material as well.
As Daniels says, it’s not about playing Van Morrison as much as it is about playing the right Van Morrison.
“Everyone plays ‘Brow-Eyed Girl,’” he said. “We play a lot of Van Morrison, but we’d play ‘Stone Me’. We want to challenge people a little bit musically. It is a struggle sometimes, but it is worth it in the end.”
Your No Good Buddies (yes, a band member’s wife was influential in the naming) will play the American Legion in Northampton on Friday night. They also have a May 17 date at Points East in Westfield.