in
several film and TV projects in including the upcoming feature
film Changing Spots, in which she also stars as a disenfranchised
former rock star “Peg Franklin”. She was also
a part of the VDAY 2007 West Los Angeles celebrity cast
of The Vagina Monologues with Jennifer Beals and Alexandra
Hedison. Hold your breath, she is also an alumni of the
New York 2006 VDAY cast of The Vagina Monologues alongside
Ally Sheedy and Kathryn Erbe, (Law and Order: Criminal Intent).
Her latest music projects on Maurice The Fish Records include
her acoustic solo album Red Lodge as well as fronting and
producing popular girl band Pope Jane and the alt swamp
band Junkie Cousin.
I had the opportunity to talk to Danielle, who will be headlining
at this year's Pride festival Lavender Stage.
Can
you tell me about the mother of pearl design on your guitar?
It looks like a Geisha!
It does look like a Geisha! Hey, that’s
sexier than what it actually is, which is an angel. I guess
she’s a sexy angel? The design was laid down the fret
board by guitar design Marc Minarik, and that particular
guitar is one of a kind, the only one of its type made by
Minarik guitars, who endorses me. I was very honored that
they gave the guitar to me. Marc is known for his elaborate
inlays on his body and fret board designs, and the best
part is that the guitars also sound amazing, so you have
this incredible piece of art that makes beautiful music
– my Geisha angel is pretty cool, and the guitar sounds
fantastic. That’s a crack up -- every time I look
at her now, I’m going to see a Geisha. That’s
awesome.
How
did you come to terms with being a clairvoyant (especially
in Hollywood?)
That’s
something that took a long time for me to digest on a personal
level, well into my early thirties, especially being raised
in a very religious family, nevermind how to make it publicly
known. Ironically, I couldn’t be in a better place
to be known as a clairvoyant than Los Angeles, an anything-goes
city where a majority of my clients are studio heads, Fortune
500 execs and artists wanting spiritual advice on the future
of their projects! On a personal level, I was raised to
believe that anything spiritual that didn’t happen
in church was occult, which by traditional Christian church
standards in Montana equals demonic. So I had some personal
reconciliation to do in terms of what these spiritual gifts
really meant, and the bottom line is, there is absolutely
nothing demonic about these sixth sense aptitudes. I’ve
met some weirdoes in the metaphysical industry that have
given me the creeps, but that’s not the Devil at work
-- that’s just strange, egotistical people giving
off creepy vibes. I’ve really been fortunate to be
able to use these gifts for some greater good, especially
with my work with law enforcement.
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the song: “Story of My Life,” you have a
lyric that says, “Nobody knows my pain…and
I’d like to keep it that way.” What is the
meaning behind that particular lyric?
I
have to admit, it’s interesting that you’d
key in on that passage. That particular song was written
about a woman that I was seeing, in what would be
considered a small town, when I was living back in
Montana. I got to thinking one day, man, no one has
ANY idea that we are together. And the relationship
is not really something I could talk to a whole lot
of people about, because even though I was out in
the community as a gay woman , this woman was not
out, and
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This
is going to sound completely melodramatic, but I thought
to myself, good lord, what if she died tomorrow? I’d
be balling my eyes out at her funeral, and nobody would
know why I was crying. So that became the first line
of the tune, and the “I’d like to keep it
that way” line was a reference to the fact that
I wouldn’t even begin to know how to explain my
relationship to her, to all those people. The song ended
up being about under the radar trysts – definitely
an interesting time in my life!
What was the inspiration behind your current
myspace picture (which doesn’t leave much to the
imagination!) I’m
a rural gal, and there is just something so natural
about the human body to me. That guitar I’m
posed with is this beautiful blonde spruce color,
and the photographer noticed that it went with my
skin tone very well - and the rest is MySpace history!
I had taken a photo years ago, wearing my guitar strap
for a shirt, and that photo went crazy getting passed
all over the internet. At the time, I wasn’t
trying to make any big naked statement, but it was
my own defiance against what the mainstream music
industry’s identity of “sexy” was,
which was any woman under the age of 23. So then,
at 35, I thought, hey, I’m gonna take off my
shirt and wear this guitar strap as a default, and
let all these A&R reps come tell me I look like
an old lady -- I dare ya! Well I’m 39 now, and
at the very least, I’ve learned how to wear
a guitar! There will definitely come a day when this
look won’t fly, but until then, I am standing
in the gap for every woman who is over the age of
23. Sexy is a vibe.
What
do you like most: acting, singing, writing, or producing?
Geez,
they are all so different. That’s like saying,
what do you like better, filet mignon, lobster, or
standing rib roast? They’re all succulent and
amazing, but it just depends on what mood you’re
in. I guess right now, I miss acting. I just finished
up my album Red Lodge, and the label issued as a limited
edition pre-release that sold out on my last tour,
so I’ll be releasing the full album in a bout
a month, and I’m very proud of that. I’ve
been hyper-saturated in music. I’m on tour right
now to promote that album, so again – lots of
music around me, which I love, but also makes me start
to itch for a change up on the horizon eventually
. It’s likely that I am going to be producing
some other Maurice The Fish Artists, and I am really
looking forward to that process, and I am currently
one of the writers on a TV pilot, so that’s
getting some exercise. But missing right now? I think
acting. I’d like to play some fantastic, bizarre
character – maybe a Vegan Vampire, struggling
with her own self loathing, or some such thing!
What
is your coming out story? Do people still ask if you
are straight?
It’s
a good Lifetime TV story! I was the last to know I
was gay. My dad was all supportive and asked me if
I was gay when I was 14. I was a late bloomer, and
had no idea what he was even talking about, and I
got really offended – hilarious! When I was
19, I was at the dinner table and my mom asked me
point blank if I were gay. Awkward! I was, but I was
really having a hard time figuring all of that out
with my religious raising, so I wasn’t very
slick in blurting out I was seeing a woman. My poor
mom – at the time she had some educating to
do on the subject, living in a small Montana community
and being a school teacher. My family ended up all
being extremely supportive, at the end of the journey.
And yes, I still get asked if I’m straight,
and it’s assumed I’m straight, all the
time, especially by members of the community, even
though I have been an out artist since my first record
deal when I was 20, and on the cover of LGBT magazines
with LESBIAN under my name – it’s hysterical!
What
is the story behind the song: “Wendy”?
“Some things are better left alone…I kept
your secret for as long as I could”
Well,
that song IS the whole story, spelled out. I had a
very powerful relationship with a woman for several
years who was very closeted. I should have left that
whole situation alone, but you don’t have any
control when you’re heart chooses someone. Everybody
in town suspected we were together, but it was one
of those “don’t ask don’t tell”
relationships for a number of reasons -- the kind
you have in small towns. She was too scared to settle
down with me, or to end it with me, so I ended it.
Years later, well, the song spells it all out, but
I could no longer keep the “big gay secret”
that ended up not being so secret, when I was confronted
with having to tell the truth about us. This all happened
many years ago, but I bumped into this person only
last year in the same small town, after not seeing
her for years, and she screamed my face off for telling
the truth – that incident ended up being “The
Red Door” on the album. Anyway, this song is
what I would have said to her -- if I could have gotten
a word in edgewise.
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