joe e. daddario-Socially, spiritually aware singer-songwriter, Recovery music. Don Henley, Fleetwood Mac, The Eagles

1. For the benefit of our readers who are not familiar with your work please could you tell me a little about your background. For example, When and why did you decide to become a singer/songwriter? What or who inspired you?
When I was in grade school I remember being caught up in the Beatlemania thing. The first time I heard I Wanna Hold Your Hand I was riding in the back seat of my Dad's old 1950 Lincoln and I recall having almost a physical reaction to it. It was like "Oh wow this feels so good, so satisfying". It was incredible. A strange thought just came to mind. It's almost embarrassing to admit but in elementary school, during recess, the girls used to chase me screaming around the playing field. I think they thought I was cute and at the same time were being influenced by the whole Beatlemania thing. You have to remember the Beatles were not just big. They were a Huge culture shock. Something happened to me during all this. I liked it. I wanted more. Being desirable was fun. Consequently I remember asking for and receiving an electric guitar when I was 12. It was a Sears Teisco single pick up. My Dad built a guitar amp for me from a Lafayette electronics kit and speaker. I loved it. My parents were supportive of my musical desires and also paid for guitar lessons for me.

2. Who were your formative musical influences?
As I mentioned, the Fab Four were the first influences. As I started to play the acoustic guitar more in High School, I loved Cat Stevens and thought Neil Young was good too. I also thought The Band was one of the best groups ever. I literally wore out their double 8-track tape of Rock Of Ages and purchased another set. That was a GREAT album. I also admired Jesse Colin Young. I wonder where that guy is these days. As I entered college at the University of Maryland, I formed a band that was heavily influenced by Fleetwood Mac. Loved their songs and harmonies. We played almost every song of theirs from the Fleetwood Mac and Rumors albums. We were quite popular among the frat houses and local clubs in Baltimore and DC. In fact we even won a Best Bands contest 2 years in a row that was sponsored by the FM radio stations there. These days I'm not into any one artist so much. I dial around the radio when I listen to it at all. I am influenced by a good heartfelt song, usually a moody piece with good vocals will capture my attention.

3. Why play all the instruments yourself?
It didn't start out to be a conscious decision to record in this solo fashion. On my early demos I always played and recorded with a group where I was the bass player, rhythm guitar player and lead singer. As more MIDI instruments became more realistic sounding, I realized that my pre-demos were good enough to become the basis for the actual recording. I am not really a keyboard player but I can get stuff into the sequencer a little at a time and have the computer correct my timing. All this is to say that it actually is more convenient to do it all myself than to schedule other musicians to play the parts. I can take my time since I don't have a record company breathing a deadline down my neck. I don't ever make the excuse that a part I played is good enough just because I don't want to hire a player. I still rely heavily on female back-up singers for harmonies. When I was in the Fleetwood Mac copy band I learned that a real magical thing happens when my voice is harmonized with the right female voice. It's a real hit-sounding combination.

4. Don Henley, Peter Gabriel, Suzanne Vega, Mike and the Mechanics-What exactly is your connection with these artists, if any, that you mention on your web site?
I like certain songs that these artists have done. As an artist without a top 10 hit I wanted people to get an idea of what my music was like. The best way to do this is to draw a few comparisons to known artists. I don't propose to be them nor do I want to be them. I think there are elements of my songs that are similar in nature to those I have mentioned here. Some of them have songs about growing up in families that just weren't right or coming to conclusions in life that we are more powerless than we once thought.

5. Was ‘Retreat-Recovery of Children of Alcoholics’ born out of personal experience?
Yes, my first album 'Retreat' was most definitely born out of experience. My folks were pretty troubled when I was growing up. Because of their problems, their priorities were not to build an emotionally healthy family where their children would be free to express how they felt. I often felt that I had to take care of my parents and their feelings. I felt alone with my own feelings often, unable to express to anyone how I really felt. At least not until I discovered the guitar, singing and songwriting. Its funny but when I finished that album, I thought that people would get depressed listening to it since its based on some sad experiences. But more often, the opposite has been true. The feedback I receive is that people hear hope in my songs. I've concluded that the hope is found because others realize they are not alone with their feelings. No one ever should be. Especially kids. It's a crime.

6. Have you any plans to release the album in the UK?
The enhanced CD and my first album are available worldwide through the Internet at http://www.songman.com. Furthermore I am able to offer my music a price of $10 plus shipping, well below a record stores retail price. If I hear of record stores in the UK that are interested in carrying my music I will be happy to have them carry my music.

7. Have you any plans to tour, again the UK for instance?
Actually I have no scheduled plans to tour but if I am asked to play a concert somewhere I am willing to do everything in my power to make it happen. In the past, when I was promoting Retreat, I played many charity concerts for troubled souls. Although spiritually fulfilling, I began to find myself emotionally run down and burning out. I'll have to be careful this time around about how many charity concerts I do. The workman is worth his wages.

8. What inspired you to move into the multimedia arena?
In 1993, a few years after I released the Retreat album, I got this idea of making a music video of the song Retreat. I picked Retreat because it had so much imagery in it and it was a subject that was very 'close to home'. I thought, gee I'll just start taking some multimedia courses and make my own music video. What happened was that I took these really cool courses in multimedia authoring, video editing, graphic arts etc and I got really excited about the whole medium. As the years went by, my skills increased. Coupling this with my music and computers experience was a natural move...but I didn't know it at the time I started the multimedia courses.

9. Are you currently involved with any other multimedia projects?
Not presently, I freelance in the Computer Based Training arena. The enhanced CD of Living In the Restless Age took so long to complete. Probably over a year. It was a labor of love though.

10. Looking at your list of performances are you involved in music therapy? If so, how/why?
Not in any formal way. I understand there are therapists who specialize in this form of therapy. I once put together a seminar on music therapy where I planned to play a song and then have the audience read the lyrics out of a workbook. The idea was for the listener to then spend the next few minutes writing on the adjacent page about their reaction to the song and the feelings that the music evoked. I wrote the workbook but I have never performed the seminar. In general though, I believe music itself is therapy. I play music to remember and I play music to forget.

11. Have you been participating in projects other than your own lately?
No, not lately. I used to record other people in my studio but I found that the payoff both financially and personally was too little. I'd rather use the time to work on my own craft. Outside of the studio I was playing with a Christian band in church for about 6 months but I got burned out on it. That was last year.

12. What is your next step or goal for the future?
To promote the enhanced CD Living in the Restless Age and to promote the music video of Retreat. I have a goal of getting the music video on MTV or at least the 30 second PSA version of it on TV. With the accessibility of the internet there is so much more to do than there was back in 1991 when Retreat album was released.

13. If any of our readers want to obtain a copy of your CD, what details can I give them?
Log onto http://www.songman.com and order it online. There are a few methods they can use to obtain it once they are there. There is no risk to the buyer as I work on the honor system and ask that they don't pay until they receive the product in the mail. BTW the music video and a cassette of Retreat are also available there. Remember that the CD is an enhanced CD and you're getting 12 songs on top of that. It's a bargain! Also, feel free to email me anytime. I personally answer all my email and I enjoy doing it.

Trivia. On the couch style! (OPTIONAL)

14. What song describes you best?
Sad Inside by Joey D

15. What is heaven/hell?
Heaven is where Im going when I die...hell is where I was going before I met Jesus.

16. What is your earliest memory?
The smell of honeysuckle behind the backyard grill of my parents house in Tennessee. I must have been 3 or so.

17. What is your greatest fear?
Getting lost in obscurity.

18. Who is your all-time hero?
Thomas Magnum, PI.

19. What do you think of MTV?
I cancelled my cable so I don't get to watch it much. It used to be entertaining. I saw it the other day at a friends house and it seemed awful flashy. You still cant beat the medium as a way to break artists however.

20. What's the most trouble you've been in?
Falling in love with a married woman of my dreams about 10 years ago. She went back to her husband and it broke my heart. But I learned why God doesn't want this for us. Its because He knows how much it will hurt us if we engage in that kind of relationship.

21. Who was the first love of your life?
My childhood dog, Greta.

22. What's your greatest talent?
People tell me it's my voice but I think I have a pretty understanding heart. I'm not sure that's a talent though.

23. Upon whom would you like to exact revenge, how and why?
Well, I fantasize about this over just about anyone who is currently pissing me off. I rarely act on these feelings however. I've witnessed that I don't have to lift a finger to get people back. They do a good job doing that to themselves and I usually find out about it. In other words "Being them is punishment enough".

24. What's your most treasured possession?
My family photos.

25. What can you cook?
Anything that comes frozen. My mom, now there's a good cook!

26. What's the best piece of advice you have received?
That rejection is often God's way of protecting me.

27. Can you read music?
Just chord charts. I fake the rest.

28. If you were invisible for a day, what would you do?
Play every practical joke I could dream up on my friends.

29. What are final three wishes?
A top 10 hit. Airplay for the video Retreat and subsequent healing of those who watch it. That my entire family becomes saved.

30. What is your greatest extravagance?
I've given up extravagance. I get a kick on seeing how simply I can get by in life.

31. Which living person(s) do you despise?
Can't think of one.

32. Youre at a fancy dress party, what is your preferred outfit?
Oh that's easy. I'd never get invited to a fancy party.

33. What is your favourite smell?
Fresh laundry. I seldom get any.

34. Favourite lyric of all time?
"Some dance to remember, some dance to forget" The Eagles.

35. What song do wish you had written?
Heart of the Matter - Don Henley

36. What other songwriters/bands should we be looking out for?
Boy I'm just not as part of the scene as I used to be. I use to know several people who were nobody when I met them but now are stars. But I believe in God and He believes in me so if it's in His plan for me to make the scene, watch out!

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