Canadian country singer-songwriter, Danielle Todd has unveiled the video for her debut radio single, “Crazy”.
“I could write heartbreak songs for days, but I have been writing more upbeat and happier songs lately because that’s what I find fun and I find is needed these days. Crazy is fun; it’s one of those songs you bop along to when it comes on in the car,” said Todd, a native of Guelph, Ontario.
Check out the video below and find out more about Danielle in our interview with this Nashville-based Canadian artist!
Hi Danielle! Welcome to Canadian Beats! Please tell us a little about yourself.
I am from Guelph, ON and grew up in a musical family. When I was in high school I booked my own solo show at a Williams Coffee Pub in Guelph and sold it out that night. I wrote and learned enough songs to fill a three-hour set and after that, I started booking myself in coffee shops and bars all over Ontario. I was too young to play bars so my dad had to follow me to almost every gig I had to make sure they would let me play! After high school, I did music full-time. In 2016 I decided I was going to move to Nashville. I packed up my van and moved down with the plan of “surviving”. I found enough work to keep me going for the first year, then really got into songwriting the second year. I work five nights a week, sometimes more, on Broadway at Tootsie’s Famous Orchid Lounge, Honky Tonk Central and Kid Rock’s bar. It is a crazy environment but I learn so much every single night and I love the people I work with.
Your debut single is called “Crazy”. What can you tell us about the song?
I wrote this song with Caitie Thompson and Bobbi Holliday. I’ve become really good friends with both of these girls and have written multiple songs with each of them. We wrote “Crazy” in a couple of hours and it fell together very naturally. The song is all about how you can lose your mind when you start falling in love. It’s such an exciting feeling when you fall in love that all your emotions can take over and sometimes you feel like you’re going a little insane. “Crazy” is different to the music that is currently out right now. The production has a revived country sound with harmonica and banjo, infused with modern pop sounds. It is upbeat, fun, and fresh!
You are a Canadian living in Nashville. What has the experience been like for you?
I really love Nashville. Everyone in this city thinks the same as me because we are all in the same boat. It’s very cool to have found a place where everybody is working towards the same goals. I’ve worked harder here than I have in my entire life because there is so much opportunity here. The city is very fast paced, song-writes start at 9 am and go until 6 or 7 pm and then most of my shifts singing downtown start at 10 pm until 230am, with no breaks. There is something happening every day to keep me completely submerged in music. I also get to be around famous artists quite often. While I’ve performed at Tootsie’s I’ve met Brantley Gilbert, Kid Rock, Terri Clark, Joe Diffie, Dierks Bentley and a whole bunch of others that have stopped in! It’s really exciting. It’s been a wonderful experience getting to perform with some of the biggest names in the industry.
Can you tell us about the video shoot for Crazy?
I am incredibly excited to release this video! The idea was loosely based around all the different “personalities” of me, ranging through different decades. We started with the 50’s as a domestic housewife look, headed into the 70s with a hippie look, then into the ’90s with a teeny bopper, boy crazy look and then to today. All of these “characters” are traits of me, and all of these stereotypes are known to be a little “crazy”. I wanted to capture different parts of my personality throughout the video. The 50’s housewife is mostly baking in the video, which I love to bake and cook. I also love taking care of people around me, my closest friends would describe me as a caretaker. The 70’s hippie is close to my personality because I am a complete lover of all things kindness. I always believe in the underdog and I always wished I was alive for the hippie movement in the 70s, I would have totally belonged there! The 90’s boy crazy teen is my life! I grew up in the ’90s and loved all those country artists I had plastered all over the walls in the bedroom. That was a little piece of my past brought back to life. Then we come to today, where I am just me. Hopefully, that personality isn’t too “crazy”!
Canadian Beats is all about Canadian artists and music. Which Canadian artists are you currently listening to and which Canadian artist would you love to record a duet with?
I am a huge fan of singer/songwriter Donovan Woods. He is incredibly talented, absolutely hilarious and has always been very kind to me. It would be a dream come true to write and record with him. Also, I’ve always been a huge fan of Paul Brandt, Dean Brody and of course Shania Twain. She was my absolute hero growing up. I think I would faint if I had the chance to write and record with her!
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