Daniel Boling is Making a Scene

November 30, 2024

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Making a Scene Presents an Interview with Daniel Boling

Winner of the Grassy Hill Kerrville New Folk songwriter contest, the Woody Guthrie Folk Festival, and others, Daniel shares experiences from a life well-lived in three countries and seven States. This balladeer/songwriter with the friendly tenor brings his well-crafted story songs to happy audiences throughout the U.S. and abroad in over one hundred shows a year, from House Concerts and listening rooms to major festivals – Kerrville, Winfield, Woody Guthrie, and others. Daniel is also a member of the iconic 1960s folk trio The Limeliters.

Born to a folksinger mother and an Air Force father, he was raised on folk music and sang harmonies before he spoke complete sentences. His family lived in several other countries, and later Daniel worked as a National Park Ranger (yes, the gun-toting kind) and as a Criminal Investigator for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management for 30 years. He started touring full-time at 50, when most guys are planning their retirement.

LOVE, DAN is Daniel’s 10^th solo album since 1999. He and Jono Manson co-produced the album which was released on Berkalin Records in November 2024. Daniel wrote these 14 new folk songs between 2019 and 2024, and his friend and frequent co-writer Tom Paxton shares writer credit on one. Some are deeply personal, and yet all the songs are very relatable to most folks.

Daniel’s 9^th solo album, NEW OLD FRIENDS in 2023 was entirely co-written by Daniel and legendary folk songwriter Tom Paxton and reached #4 on folk charts in North America, #5 in Europe, and won Album of the Year in the New Mexico Music Awards. Daniel and Tom are working on another co-written album planned for release early in 2025 called IT MATTERS.

Daniel’s songs tell interesting stories about a variety of characters, including himself. He plays guitar and banjo with a deft fingerpicking style that always enhances the stories, and sometimes plays a bit of harmonica into the bargain. His clear tenor draws positive comparisons to John Denver and Pete Seeger, and like Pete, Daniel is happiest when his audience sings too!

There’s a lot of Steve Goodman in Daniel’s delivery and storytelling, and you can also hear the influence of other classic folk singers and songs from the great American folk tradition. It may come as no surprise that iconic Appalachian folk singer Jean Ritchie is his cousin. Daniel has won numerous songwriting awards including Kerrville New Folk, Walnut Valley Festival, Santa Fe Bluegrass and Old Time Festival, Albuquerque Folk Festival, and Woody Guthrie Folk Festival.

Daniel also performs for senior living communities playing a show he calls “Songs My Daddy Loved.” Back when family and friends used to get together on the porch in the evening and make their own music, songs carried the news and kept traditions alive. These shows feature songs from way back then and from the early radio days: Folk; Gospel; Country; Pop from the 30s, 40s and 50s; and some of Daniel’s own songs that still carry on these traditions. You’ll recognize songs from Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, the Carter Family and lots of others you love. And Daniel’s lovely wife Ellen joins in for some duets now and then!

There’s a reason Ozark folk duo Still on the Hill calls him “one of the most talented songwriters on the circuit.” Whether you’ve walked the very same roads, you can’t help but relate to these songs – and no matter what your story is, you’re bound to love Daniel’s.

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