Danya River: Press

"Danya has a very profound gift... wonderfully inventive, uplifting, startling, and incredibly evocative."

Independent producer and engineer Michael Hynes, who co-owns Hideout Studios in Austin, Texas with partner Mark Cravotta, has recorded Danya River's newest album, a follow-up to River’s critically acclaimed 2004 EP, Bone By Bone. River has been described as a melding of Bonnie Raitt, Sheryl Crow and Shawn Colvin.

Hynes relied on a Crowley and Tripp Studio Vocalist ribbon microphone to capture River’s four-and-a-half octave voice. "The female voice is very complicated," Hynes says, "and Danya's voice is particularly so. She has a very rich, even low-end and captivating breathiness. I searched high and low for a vocal microphone that would capture that nuance...

"intimate, mesmerizing, entrancing, and transfixing"

"There's a light that seems to emanate from Danya's soul as she engages each member of the audience."

5{. Her voice is amazing. That's a given. But what puts it all over the top is the way she uses it.   Danya's in command when she's on stage?such a dynamic and captivating stage presence that you're not forced to watch - you're compelled to."

"She is a powerful performer -- great voice, great songs -- the word "riveting" is more than a cliché in her case"

"Slow and sensuously earthy lyrics paired with a smooth creamy voice."

??a stark honesty, an uncanny charisma, an overwhelming intimacy in the way she [sings] into each person's eyes.?

" Danya's songs remind me of some of the better work of artists like Joni Mitchell and Shawn Colvin. Add to this her skillful guitar work, a warm voice that stays with you long after the show is over, a delicious debut CD that you'll keep on repeat for hours, and you have a young artist who has quickly created a buzz in the Bay Area."

"Danya River is an inspiration to all musicians. She is a songwriters' songwriter, a singer's singer and a spirit that ups the ante when she comes to town.
"Like an athlete who makes his or her team better, she instills focus and creative spark to those around her. No one can win over an audience like Danya.
"It's the music, stupid. That's what Danya reminded me it was all about for her. First and foremost she accepts her gifts as a talented musician, story teller, wordsmith, who is not one to sit on her laurels. She is always striving to be better and better at her craft. She would be making brilliant music if she was stuck on a desert island with no chance of being rescued for decades to come. It's about the music, stupid.
"Danya River is a thousand pound gorilla strutting through a China shop of mediocre songwriters."

"She kept up entranced in a miasmic mixture of weaving guitar and sensual vocals that left us in a dazed silence on the drive home. "She's the most spectacular singer/songwriter I've ever seen...no unnecessary words, nothing missing from the chords. "Incredible guitar playing, her voice was exquisite, and she was visually stunning. I just sat in awe of Danya River...I'm at a loss for words.
"Exquisite...Fascinating...Beautiful. A creature that kept me wishing for eye contact. She played like a goddess. Whate else is there to say?"

"Her voice is amazing. That's a given. But what puts it all over the top is the way she uses it. Danya's in command when she's on stage, such a dynamic and captivating stage presence that you're not forced to watch - you're compelled to."