Joshua Boydston
Oklahoma Gazette
September 22, 2010
Daniel Walcher with Kids at the Bar
10 p.m. Saturday
Blue Note Lounge
2408 N. Robinson
600-1166
$5
Most musicians preach the therapeutic values to songwriting, and Daniel Walcher is no different.
His early journey led from foster home to foster home after he was removed from his family at 6 months old, eventually landing into a strictly religious home in Enid. A falling out with his adopted parents left Walcher struggling on his own, but he eventually found his way with his voice and a guitar.
Songwriting became a much-needed catharsis, and as he worked through his hardships, he found himself addicted to the escapism music offered.
“It becomes more of a passion that you can’t really get rid of, so you pick up odd jobs and play music as much as you can,” he said.
He picked up the drums close to the time he landed in Enid; his first experiences in music were expectedly spiritual. Walcher’s adoptive father was the pastor of a local church, and no secular music was allowed in the household. Walcher sought solace underneath his covers at night; listening to country music on a handheld radio from a science set he pilfered from his brother.
Nonetheless, Walcher also found inspiration in the Christian artists he was allowed to listen to like dc Talk and Audio Adrenaline. He even tried his hand at worship songs to impress his father after finding the guitar to be more expressive than the drums.
“The funny thing was, I was never good at it,” Walcher said. “Eventually, I had a falling out with my family and decided to leave and start writing about what is real.”
In high school, Walcher had been struck by the lyricism of David Gray and Adam Duritz of Counting Crows, and sought to replicate those heartfelt sentiments on his own.
A tumultuous period following his departure from his adopted home proved to be excellent fodder for music of this sort and found its way onto his first two albums. His earliest material favored slow, measured acoustic constructions, but as he found happiness, so has his music.
Walcher’s now married, worked through his past and is focused on having fun with his music. The biggest struggle he faces in songwriting is not having any to draw from.
“A label executive asked me if I was married one time,” Walcher said. “It’s not because they want you to be single and partying all the time; it’s because once you are married, there’s not quite as much heartbreak and turmoil in your everyday relationships that you can write songs about.”
He found a quick solution.
“I started writing about friend’s experiences,” he said. “Everything is still a real-life experience, but sometimes I work through my friends’ viewpoint instead.”
Walcher has decided to form a nonprofit foundation to place a guitar and lifetime set of strings in every foster-care facility statewide. He’s donating 20 percent of the proceeds from his self-titled new album.
“When I think about it, I could have worked through so many issues earlier on if I had a guitar earlier,” he said. “I might not have acted out so much.” —Joshua Boydston
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Edmond musician finds Verifone a boon
By April Wilkerson
The Journal Record
OKLAHOMA CITY (Sept. 2) – Edmond singer-songwriter Daniel Walcher is in the business of making music, but he’s also keenly interested in selling his CDs and other merchandise.
But he doesn’t always know whether the music venue he’s playing has a dedicated phone line for a credit card machine and, in today’s card-carrying world, he’s not even sure if people would have enough cash in their pockets to leave with some swag.
But new credit card transaction technology is giving people like Walcher a retail and marketing boost.
Walcher recently began using the Verifone for iPhone technology – a small attachment for his phone that instantly converts it into a credit card machine. Anywhere he gets a cell phone signal, he can make a transaction by swiping a person’s credit card and having the buyer use the stylus to sign his phone’s screen. A receipt is then e-mailed to the buyer.
For Walcher, it’s all about convenience and catching people when they’re in the mood to buy.
“It’s about giving the customer the ease of payment,” he said. “They don’t have to wait in line at a merchandise table. And a lot of purchases, especially in this case, are impulse purchases. So if I have to tell people to go to the ATM, get cash and come back, by that time, they’re probably not as interested anymore.
“Credit cards are a necessity today. If people are paying $5 or $10 cash to get into the show, that automatically drains their cash reserves if I’m trying to sell them a $10 or $20 T-shirt,” he said.
The tracking information within the technology also serves a purpose. It tracks geographically the sales that are made, so if Walcher is on a 10-day tour, he can run a report to see where he made the best sales. He also can tell at what point in a show – such as before the show or during a break – that he sells the most. For transactions, the process is quick – he can pre-set buttons for CDs and T-shirts, and he can even take tips.
Walcher said he paid about $150 for the Verifone, and he anticipates it paying for itself in no time. The technology also lets him avoid the higher “card not present” fees that occur when someone gives a credit card number over the phone.
Walcher said he eventually plans to purchase more of the credit card swiper attachments and send friends and family into the crowds at his shows. It’s especially important for his philanthropic efforts of giving 20 percent of his CD sales to foster care facilities, he said. When he tells people why – he was a foster child who clung to music as an outlet – he wants to be ready if people want to support his cause.
“People are more inclined to buy something from you if they feel they have a personal connection,” he said. “It automatically becomes personal.”
In addition to convenience, the credit card technology is a savvy marketing tool, said Brian Blake, president of the Oklahoma City chapter of the American Marketing Association.
“In marketing, we talk about hitting people at the right place at the right time when they’re in buying mode,” Blake said. “Having to stand in line for 20 minutes, deal with the crowds and perhaps miss part of the show – this alleviates the whole issue.”
Staying abreast of today’s technology is crucial for any marketing efforts, Blake said. He said he sees many more opportunities for the approach, such as for refreshments at sporting events or at restaurants where there’s a long wait.
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Walcher CD Release Sept. 25 at Blue Note
OKLAHOMA CITY (Aug. 18) – Daniel Walcher, a Johnny Cash-inspired folk rock singer/songwriter from Edmond, Oklahoma, will celebrate the release of his new self-titled album, Daniel Walcher, with a full-band performance on Saturday, Sept. 25 at The Blue Note, located at 2408 N. Robinson Ave. in Oklahoma City.
The 11-track album, recorded at Blackwatch Studios in Norman with producer Will Hunt, is Walcher’s third as an independent artist and a stylistically progressive departure from previous albums which were primarily acoustic: The Black and White of Things (2009) and Life Spliced Together (2003).
Oklahoma City-based DJ duo Kids at the Bar, recently back from their 12-city, coast-to-coast “So We Can Party” tour, will be the evening’s special guests, spinning their signature hard-rocking dance remixes to open and close the show.
Show starts at 10 p.m. Tickets are $5 at the door. Call The Blue Note at 405-600-1166 for details.
Walcher will donate 20 percent of sales of the new album to White Fields, a non-profit home for abused and neglected boys in Piedmont, Oklahoma, as part of his long-term commitment to supporting children and youth living in foster care in Oklahoma.
Twenty seats are available to the public for a special, family-friendly CD release preview concert to beginning at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 20 at The Jazz Lab in Edmond. Tickets are $10 in advance or $12 at the door while available. Call 405-509-5343 for details.
For more information about Daniel Walcher, please visit www.danielwalcher.com. To schedule an interview, please contact publicist Rob Crissinger at 405.401.6323 or rcrissinger@gmail.com.
Daniel Walcher: For the Love of Music
By Ali Plum
So6ix Magazine/August 2010
Few artists can match the ability of Johnny Cash to overcome adversity and turn their pain into definitively memorable songs. Daniel Walcher is one of the few. His music is captivating and his natural talent undeniable.
Local audiences have enjoyed Daniel’s distinctive sound in downtown Oklahoma City venues for seven years. He has played at the indie rock festival Dfest in Tulsa, the Norman Music Festival, and had the honored invitation by the Oklahoma Film & Music Office to represent the state as a featured performer at SXSW in Austin, Texas.
But if you talk to Daniel, his eagerness is found in the gift of music itself and in getting to share it with others. His warm presence translates to the stage, “I want people to walk away from my show having just had fun.” Lyrical depth dovetails with innovation.
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Walcher Releases Single From New Album
Daniel Walcher, a singer/songwriter from Edmond, Oklahoma, today released the first single, “Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is,” from his new, self-titled album as a free download.
Download Song: http://db.tt/JrOjyZ
