Aaron Starkey’s 40th Birthday with Daniel G. Harmann and The Trouble Starts, Spanish for 100 & more!

Daniel G. Harmann & the Trouble Starts

Trying to categorize Daniel G. Harmann‘s music often leads to confusion. However, take some previous summations: Music Liberation Project told its readers to imagine the musical genius of Jeff Buckley crossed with the haunting sound of The Smiths. Unfinished Zine declared him the hope for the singer/songwriter genre in the wake of Elliott Smith‘s death. Three Imaginary Girls called him a gifted songwriter who finds splendor in dark corners and empty rooms before they named the Lake Effect as one of their picks for Best New Releases of 2004. The Web zine Ink19 put it more concisely, describing him as simply perfect.

Whether Daniel G. Harmann‘s music is reminiscent of Morrissey, Buckley or even Sigur Ros, is up to the listener to decide, but by listening to Harmann‘s new EP, Our Arms, one thing becomes certain: Give Harmann a few minutes of your time, and he will gladly trade you his soul. Harmann’s themes are stunningly channeled and openly diverse.

Daniel G. Harmann & the Trouble Starts have succeeded in creating an outstanding EP about the quiet triumphs discovered within futility, all the while pushing the boundaries of sound & cinematic orchestration.

Spanish For 100

After weathering the underground Chicago indie circuit for a number of years, Illinois native, Aaron Starkey, packed up his guitars and moved west to the temperate environ of Seattle. Meanwhile, Washington State natives Corey Passons and Ross McGilvary, both former founding members of the gritty regional rock act, Preston Mill, wanted to stretch their creative legs beyond the tried and true form that Mill established during its long, successful tenure in the Northwest music scene.

A serendipitous meeting revealed a mutual affinity for Class A amps, thinline telecasters, heartfelt melodies, chips, and salsa. Their desire for honest, straightforward songcraft, deeply rooted in the tradition of Neil Young, Built to Spill, and The Jayhawks, further fueled the three musicians, and Spanish for 100 was born in the spring of 2002.

In the months that followed, Spanish for 100 performed countless shows and regional tours, culminating in their first full-length effort, Newborn Driving (released December 2003), produced by the notorious Phil Ek (Built to Spill, Modest Mouse, The Shins).

It was the summer of 2004, and after a relentless performance schedule in support of Newborn, the band swept back into the studio, again with Phil Ek at the helm, recording the follow-up EP, Metric. However, the drum chair had been a revolving door.
Though the band itself yielded a healthy cache of talented drummer friends volunteering their services toward the cause, schedules and prior commitment conflicts prevented the band from securing a permanent replacement for the job.

Enter Chris Crumpler, another Spokane native and classiclly schooled percussionist. A veteran of the northwest music scene Chris has brought a strong presense to the drum throne enabled his survival during Spanish for 100′s 542nd drummer audition.