For Danni Leigh, life couldn’t be better. She is at a point in her career that allows her the self-control and creative freedom that she has always been denied. She’s endured two record deals gone bad coupled with years of broken dreams and promises. Despite it all, the one constant has been Danni herself. She has not lost her focus, nor has she lost her spirit. With an infectious laugh in tact, she took some time recently to sit down and talk with Take Country Back about some of her thoughts and feelings about her career, her latest project, and country music’s path.

After signing with Audium Records in March 2001, Danni headed into the studio to record her third album on as many labels. The difference - Danni now had control of her own destiny. Given more creative freedom than she's ever experienced before, the first right she exercised was choosing her producer, Pete Anderson. Danni and Pete are long time friends who share a love for many various types of music. Anderson is most widely known to the country world for his work with Dwight Yoakam, which is the main reason Danni has never been granted the opportunity to work with him on her previous two album projects.

Dubbed early in her career as the "female Dwight Yoakam," Danni was warned away from working with Anderson many times. While Danni finds these comparisons to Yoakam to be a great compliment, she doesn't find that they go far beyond the image and Bakersfield Sound.

"I cut my teeth on that East Coast Patsy Cline, Kitty Wells kinda stuff, but when I first started making music I was really into that Bakersfield thing. That's kinda where I set my roots in. I've said a lot about the Bakersfield country music, so that's a good thing. I'm really glad that people picked up on that part of it when I started talking in the beginning. But, I think for the most part, for the majority of the people, it's just a visual thing because vocally, I sound nothing like Dwight! I mean, I don't even have a nasal sound," she jokes. "But, I am quite a bit raspier and there's a lot of blues in me and it's a real different vocal sound."

All joking aside, Danni is quite serious in her respect and admiration for her friend and colleague. "I've always admired Dwight, his music, he and Pete, the whole thing. I always thought Dwight was really classy. He never compromised his image or anything like that. It was always very strong. So, when the comparison started happening, I found that to be a huge compliment and I still do."

Now that Danni has had the opportunity to work with Anderson, she finds irony in the fact that this album is the least Dwight-like album she's ever done. A major ingredient to the formula for making this record was Anderson's personal feelings about the constant comparisons. "It kind of made Pete a little angry just because Pete wanted people to hear me for me. 'Don't pay attention to the hillbilly hat. Listen to her music because she's not a female Dwight.' He wanted people to hear one of my records and go, 'you know, that sounds like her this time.' So, I think that's really what we got."

When asked if the comparisons have intensified since working with Anderson, Danni was quick to respond, "Not at all. I think it's only helped actually. Pete Anderson is so beyond in his talent. He's so far and above most people that he is never going to think of reproducing the same act. He's a musician. He's a lover of music. He wants to find out what each individual artist does. And that's what a producer's supposed to do. So, it's funny because I've fought it for years with people saying 'no, we don't want you to do that because of Dwight.' People saying 'you're the female Dwight' but when he and I finally got the chance to make this record, it's the least like anything Dwight does that I've ever put out."

Everything about the album and its recording process was a new experience for Danni. First of all, rather than record in Nashville, she went to Anderson's studio in Burbank, California. "His studio is small and no-nonsense. You can go in there and you make music, you can sit down and watch TV in the next room and that's about it. It was incredible."

During the song selection process, Anderson made Danni re-evaluate the way she selected her songs. "When we started listening to songs, both of us were loving the same stuff and it was amazing. And, with some of the stuff that I liked that kinda lends itself toward commercialism a little more, Pete would just come right out with it and say, 'Are you cutting this because you think radio is gonna play it or because you love the song?' All of a sudden I had to confront my own soul and go, 'You know is that what you're doing here?! Or do you really like the song?' And I realized that I was kinda doing what I didn't want to do. We sat around for a week or a week and a half just with acoustic guitars. And I stayed at his house with him and his fiance. She actually is the engineer, as well. So, it's just perfect because you're right there and you're in each other's lives and you get to know each other, and it was awesome."

Anderson made sure that Danni had the final say on which songs were recorded. "Pete did not encourage me to cut any songs. I had a hard time at first because Pete would say, 'Do you love it?' 'Well, I mean, I...yeah, ahh..' 'Well, then you don't love it. Next.' I was waiting for him to say no, you need to cut this song, but, he'd never do that. He'd put it on me. 'If you love this song, then we'll cut it. If you don't love it, then we're not gonna cut it. But you need to speak up. You need to tell me.' It's the first time that I've really been that big of a part of the recording."

Danni co-wrote two of the songs on Divide And Conquer, "Yesterday" and "Last Train To San Antone." Both songs were written prior to her first recording contract with Decca Records.

"They were two songs that I've always, always loved. I brought them in for both of the other records, but because they were a little different or just wasn't what they were looking for for the record, I never got to record them." She continues, "I've always been very fond of both of these songs and when I brought them to Pete, I said, 'Look, I really like these songs and I've never been allowed to cut them.' He was like, 'Okay, well then let's cut them. What are they? Play them for me. If I don't like them, I'm gonna tell ya.' He wouldn't let me cut a song that stunk, that's for sure. Those were my two songs that hung in there with everybody else's tunes, so I was fortunate enough to get those on there. But, I only want to cut great songs, so even if I don't write them, I'm not gonna just fill up an album full of my stuff because it's my stuff."

Of all the songs she's written, Danni says that "Last Train To San Antone" is one of her favorites. She wrote it with Doug Swander about six or seven years ago and when they were done writing it, she felt like it was probably one of the best songs she'd ever written. She's always had a very strong feeling about it and knew that it was a very strong song. But, Danni reveals that the song hasn't always been what we hear on the record. "Melodically, it used to be quite different. It was a lot slower and I think that was the problem with it. The song kind of drug out a little bit the way we used to have it. When Pete heard it, he went, 'It's a great song. I wouldn't change a thing about it except for the melody. It needs to be bumped up a little bit and here's what I'm talking about.' He played my song for me in a different fashion and it just blew my mind. I mean, it just brought the song up where it needed to be, but no one else heard that in the past. But, Pete did. So I finally got to cut the song. There's been a lot of people who just love that song, so maybe it'll single. I don't know. It would be great because it's always been at the top of the heap for me as far as stuff I've done."

Once the songs were selected, Danni did not head straight to the studio to start recording the album. Instead, she and the session musicians spent three days in a rehearsal hall, letting the songs take on their own form and create themselves into the end project.

"This is really a great part of this recording process. We went into the rehearsal hall as a band and we rehearsed these songs for three days prior to ever recording. I was in there with Pete and all these guys I've waited my entire career to record with. I remember one moment when I was sitting there going, 'How did I end up here?! This is incredible!' I just lost my mind for a second, because here are all these people, my mentors, people that I've just totally admired and they're asking me my opinion," she shares. "'Well do you like it? If I play this, does that sound cool to you?' And I'm just like, 'Yeah!' 'Well how about...? What else do you wanna hear? Do you want to hear something different there?' They really liked to hear my opinions."

Most people who are familiar with Danni's previous albums, would note that there isn't as much honky-tonk and twang on Divide And Conquer as they've heard on her past projects. There is more of a diverse selection of country music ranging from Countrypolitan to blues country. It's not just one vein of country music. "Although I think that we could have filled up the record with some more honky-tonk stuff, I felt like I wanted to try some other styles of tunes. I had the capability of being with Pete and Pete not being afraid of letting me try stuff and I really, really feel good about kinda branching out a little bit into that country-rock-blues thing. I went that way with it because I would never go into that pop stuff. I will go into the blues.

"We just put together a collection of songs that we loved and kinda let them become their own. We let them form and shape themselves, because we rehearsed them and weren't thinking about country. We weren't thinking about rock. We weren't thinking about blues. We just kinda let the song become its own thing. It's funny because this time we kind of filled a spectrum of country music, so that's what we ended up with. I love it."

The wide range of country genres showcases Danni's own diverse musical background which is imbedded in the album. "I think that every piece of music that I've ever listened to has influenced my music. I can hear something from Gwen and No Doubt and go 'Man! That's awesome!' Or I can hear Kitty Wells sing something from years and years and years ago and apply that. It all gets applied to your musical soul and it ends up coming out in your music. I think that every peice of music you've ever heard kinda comes out in your own music if you've really paid attention to what you've been listening to. I think it all comes into play. If you're even the least bit active in the production part of it or you get to throw in your own ideas, you end up saying, 'Well, you know, do this kinda drum thing. I heard this on this record. It's really cool.' You kind of apply it all, I think, in some sense."

Anderson challenged Danni vocally on several of the songs. "Pete really made me bump up some keys and go a couple of steps up. People had kinda gone there before with me, other producers, because I've had fabulous producers throughout, but he challenged me quite a bit and I enjoyed that. There was a whole side of me that I'd never really been able to explore only because I think that people were real concerned about whether or not radio was gonna play it. And unfortunately, and I do honestly mean this, unfortunately, I haven't had much luck at commercial radio. I wish that one day they'd just pick up one of these songs and play it a little bit. I'm not looking for a song to go flying up to number one or anything, but it just makes your life so much easier. If the masses get to hear it, then it makes everything easier, even the touring and that's really why I'm in this is to tour. That's what I love to do."

Danni's most exciting life experience has come while touring. Danni opened for Willie Nelson at a festival in Interlacken, Switzerland a couple of years ago. Prior to their show, they did a radio interview together and Willie asked the DJ to play Danni's recording of his song, "Touch Me" which she recorded on her first album, 29 Nights. This was the first time Willie got to hear her cut of the song. "I was so freakin' nervous," Danni laughs. "I was like, 'Oh my God, I'm sitting here with Willie Nelson. This is wrong.' And then I told him that day, prior to our show that night, I said, 'Ya know, there's another song that I've been doing and I was thinking about cutting it one time, maybe one of these days. I've been doing "Seven Spanish Angels" for the last three years on the road and I would absolutely love it if you would come in the studio. If I cut this song sometime, would you come in and sing it with me?' And he said, 'I would love to. I would absolutely love that. If you did it, all you gotta do is call me and I'll come cut that song with you.' So, that night at the show, Willie's stage manager, Pooty, came over and said, 'Danni, there's a mike stand out there on that stage waiting and if you notice, nobody's using it.' I was like, 'Yeah?' 'Well, that's for you,' he said. 'Willie wants you to come out and do "Amazing Grace," "Will The Circle Be Unbroken" and then he wants you guys to sing "Seven Spanish Angels."' Every ounce of me just hit the floor. I just completely melted down right there. I told Pooty, 'I don't know if I can get my butt out there. Do you realize who that is standing out there?! I don't think I can walk out there and take my place on stage beside him.'

"So, we're standing over there and right before the song that he was singing that came before "Amazing Grace," all of my bones in my feet and in my legs were just lumps. I was standing there and Pooty was like, 'Well, are you ready to go?' And I was like, 'Hell no I'm not ready to go! I can't even walk!'" she laughs. "But, I finally got out there and my band was taking pictures of me while I was there and it was so funny. We got these pictures back and in every picture, my hands are clasped as if someone were saying a prayer. They were like that the whole time. And, I sang three songs with this man. And that's the way I stayed the whole time. And, it was so cool because we were in Switzerland and the crowd felt that there was something amazing going on. And when he and I started singing "Seven Spanish Angels," he took one verse, I'd take the next and we'd sing the choruses together. They must have felt the energy from us because it was so amazing. The crowd started screaming right during one of the verses and it felt like it just blew the roof off the place...huge crowd. I had never been so excited, so nervous and just everything inside of me was ready to just jump out. I think my soul was up floating around somewhere just watching this whole thing because, the only thing I remember is that I connected when the crowd started screaming. I kinda came back to reality and was going, 'Oh my God, I'm standing here singing this song with Willie.' I felt like I was in heaven. I was just floating around somewhere in total euphoria."

Danni wants the crowd to be involved in the show. For her, the ultimate experience on stage is when the crowd becomes a part of the energy of herself and the band. "For me personally, it takes the crowd and us on stage to kinda feel this unity. One thing about me is I don't like my band to be in the back. It's Danni Leigh and the Souvenirs. They're a part of what I do. It's split down the middle fifty-fifty in that live stuff. I don't want my steel player even two steps behind me. I want him sitting right up there in the front because they're all such an active part of what that live show consists of and when we're connecting on stage and people can feel that karma, then the crowd ends up feeling it and they get into it as well. And when that happens, man, it's unbelievable. I mean, the way you feel. That's usually when we come off stage going, 'That was a great show! That rules. That was awesome.' And it's funny, because usually when that happens, you see people come to the stage. There's something that attracts them to wanna come up and stand right there. I love it when people stand right in front of the stage, I love that. That means that we've done something to make them get up out of their seats and walk up to the front going, 'Man, this rocks!' That's a great night."

Danni will be heading out on the road again in early February. She will be touring with Hank Williams, III as part of Billy Block's Western Beat Roots Revival tour. They will kick off the tour in Texas which has Danni really excited to get the opportunity to explore the Texas music scene. "I am absolutely chomping at the bit to make that a part of my strength. We're getting ready to go to Texas and we're gonna do a bunch of shows down there opening up for Hank III. So, I can't even wait for that show. Me and Hank, I think it's going to be amazing. We're doing Austin and Houston and maybe San Antonio and a couple of other places. So, I really, really want to pay attention. I've actually thought about maybe transferring there and getting a place down there, too, and see if I can make that music scene work. I just feel like musically, they really like what I do. And I love their crowds. I mean, those people are into the music. I'm really hoping it works and we get to go back and repeat those clubs and make that a strong base for us."

Though Danni is thinking of relocating to Texas, she holds no ill feelings toward Nashville at all. She feels that everything that has happened to her since moving to Nashville, has made her a stronger person and gives her a greater appreciation for how far she has gotten in her career. Her vision of how life would be in Nashville has completely changed since she first made that move. "Let's say I've been quite disillusioned. I'd say that my expectation of what I thought was gonna happen has been blown to smithereens. I had stars in my eyes big time when I first moved here and every ounce of me thought that when I signed that first dotted line with Decca Records, I thought that was it. Nothing else was gonna change. I was gonna be a huge star. Things were just gonna go right through the roof from that point on and there was gonna be just sunshiny days. And, God knows that's been not even near what reality is. But, my eyes have opened up to the fact that at first, you are filled with illusions. You're filled up with all the expectation. You don't really know the business, you don't know how it works. You think you do, but you really don't. You have to go through all this stuff. But, what I have found out is, I am in this beyond a shadow of a doubt because I love music and I love to play music live. That is what I live for. And, I don't care how much money I make. I'm not looking to be the next Garth Brooks financially. I wanna be able to pay my bills and be happy. And that's exactly what I do. I make records, I'm still able to make records, I've got fans who are very loyal to me, and I go out and I hit the road and I try to find all of them and play for them. Hopefully, every night. But, it certainly took me everything I've been through to get to that point. Because like I said, at first I had stars in my eyes, I wanted the fifteen minutes of fame and I wanted to shoot up the charts and just be the next LeAnn Rimes. And, it just doesn't work...few and far between for that to happen. And, I realize that I'm persistent, I love what I do and I would never wanna be without music. And I'm looking to secure a lifetime of this and not just fifteen minutes of fame. It's changed extremely. An extreme change from when I first moved here. I really thought it was gonna be a path, and it's been a very difficult one that has proven to me that I've got all the will in the world to stay in it. So, that's what I'm gonna do."

Is there anything she would have done differently? Yes and no. "I probably wouldn't have signed with Sony if I had it to do it all over again. I thought when I signed with them, I believed what they said. They said they were gonna be there for me and they were there for the long haul, they were in cement, and it just didn't work out that way. They got disheartened by me. I felt like I got the same way. It just didn't work out. I think I'd definitely go back and probably just move right over to an independent label right after that Decca thing went down, but you know, it's just another portion of it that I believe I had to go through because I don't think anything happened without a good reason. And I'm real proud of the Sony record. I just wish it had had its time and it didn't get its own time, so I'm kinda sad about that and I just wish that whole thing would have worked out differently."

Danni especially appreciates her fans for their loyalty and persistence. They made their voices heard when Sony wasn't going to release A Shot Of Whiskey And A Prayer after releasing her from her contract. "My fans proved that they were out there and they had a very loud voice and they showed them that they were hungry enough to make a noise about it and go, 'Hey, you need to put that record out because we want it.' And that's what they did. Thankfully, they did do that.

"I'm real proud to say that I listened to a very wise man, Charlie Daniels. He told me years ago, 'If you really want to do this for a lifetime, and I believe you do, the only thing you have to worry about are the fans and they'll never leave ya.' That's exactly what I'm trying to do. They're the only thing that you can actually go out and get. And they'll never leave you. It doesn't matter what happens to you, how many changes you go through, they're always there to support you, come out to the shows, and they're the ones who have to go out and spend the twenty bucks to buy this CD. After you drive to the store, pick up the CD and drive home, and probably stop by McDonalds to get some french fries it's twenty dollars. These are the people that have to continuously do that."

So, what's next for Danni? Her first single release from Divide And Conquer, "Sometimes," has been sent to radio for airplay to begin in January. She filmed the video in November and it is already in the rotation on GAC. CMT is planning to begin airing it as a "Hotshot" video sometime during the month of January. In February, she will begin touring, so be sure to look for her in a city near you.

As for future projects, she's already looking forward to working with Pete Anderson on her next album. "I plan on making many more records with Pete. That's how much I enjoyed the whole process. But, I think Pete will let me get even more involved. I don't ever want to be a co-producer. I'm not really striving towards that, but I think that we'll continue to explore musical boundaries and continue to push the envelope a little bit. I'm writing a little bit and trying to get some pretty good country hard-core stuff for the next record. So, we'll probably end up blowing some minds on the next one, too. I do think that it's going to be an adventure for the next few years. Hopefully, for the next twenty years. Who knows."

In the meantime, Danni encourages fans to continue to look for the traditional music that artists like herself are making. They are out there making the music and they have the harder path to follow without radio support, but the most important support of all comes from the fans. Her personal message to the fans is to keep looking and keep making your voices heard. That is what will turn country music back to its roots. A prime example of this is the success of the "O Brother, Where Art Thou" soundtrack. Radio wouldn't play it, but it's the biggest selling album of 2001. That is the power that fans have and as long as they continue to exercise their power, country music will survive.

Written by Sherry Anderson, Take Country Back, January 2002