黑料专区

Jody Daniels 鈥�77 of Athens, Ga., has been on a remarkable musical journey, both as an instrumentalist and as a songwriter.

A fixture of the since its founding in 2013, he plays banjo, guitar, and mandolin in the ensemble, which began life as a trio with a bluegrass feel but came to absorb influences of jazz, blues, gospel, Cajun, and rock as its membership grew to seven players. He has also written many of the songs that Grassland performs, describing them as 鈥減reachy鈥� because he strives to communicate useful messages through them. He credits Pfeiffer College, where he majored in English, with helping him develop the literary tools to make all the words in his songs matter, be they descriptive, a play on words, or simply part of a rhyme scheme that can make a lyric memorable.

The diverse backgrounds and capabilities of Grassland鈥檚 players enrich the band鈥檚 sound and approach. Drummer Todd Ferguson, also a choral director, studied organ performance at the University of Illinois. Grassland鈥檚 lone female vocalist is Leanne Daniels Badia, Daniels鈥� daughter; she majored in music at Georgia Southern University and played saxophone in its marching band. She鈥檚 married to Grassland鈥檚 Jason Badia, a guitarist who鈥檚 written many of the band鈥檚 songs, as has Leanne.

Daniels speaks with pride about Grassland鈥檚 many accomplishments, which include performing in Athens venues, recording albums, touring outside of Georgia and sharing festival stages with luminaries ranging from to .

Grassland 鈥渋s a very good band, and I feel very fortunate that I can write for them,鈥� Daniels said. 鈥淭here is a need for bands like Grassland in this industry. We鈥檝e done a lot of really fun shows with major bands. We鈥檙e not the thing, but we鈥檝e been a part of some great things.鈥�

Daniels, a native of Charlotte, N.C., was born Joseph Charles Daniels Jr., but he has always been known as Jody Daniels. He lived for a time in family housing on Pfeiffer鈥檚 campus when his late father, Reverend Joseph Charles Daniels Sr. 鈥�60, was a student there.

鈥淚 already knew Pfeiffer,鈥� Jody Daniels said, explaining his decision to attend the College. 鈥淚 knew what it was like. I knew that the class sizes were small and that that was going to be really good for me. And I knew that I had a sister (Della Daniels Raines 鈥�74) there who was going to watch out for me.鈥�

Jody Daniels settled in Athens with his wife, Monica, after a construction job for the now-defunct J.A. Jones Construction company brought him to that city. He eventually became the procurement manager for the Athens Housing Authority, a post he held for more than 30 years.

In Athens, Daniels found the ideal environment: He could 鈥渇inally settle down and have some roots,鈥� having moved a lot during his childhood as his father pastored several United Methodist churches in North Carolina and later, during his time at J.A. Jones where he worked in Saudi Arabia among other locations. Athens also allowed him to treat music as a serious sideline in a city with a thriving performance scene.

The strength of Daniels鈥� interest in music is hardly surprising. Both of his parents came from long lines of musicians and singers. In the 1950s, his father and his mother, the late Della Rae Woodle Daniels, joined forces with several of their siblings to form The Daniels Family Singers. The group performed on a television show that aired weekly on WBTV in Charlotte, N.C. Jody Daniels has the group鈥檚 recording of 鈥淭he Battle Hymn of the Republic鈥� on YouTube.

鈥淭he Daniels Family Singers did very, very well,鈥� Daniels said. 鈥淭hey had a television show, and they had a record. And I remember thinking that I would also like a record someday.鈥�

This is exactly what would happen: Throughout the 1980s, when he performed with Horizon, an Albemarle, N.C.-based country music band, he made several recordings at the Arthur Smith Studios in Charlotte, N.C. And in 1999, he paid tribute to his parents with the release of You鈥檝e Got a Friend in the Business, an album of gospel music produced by Dick McVey of Nashville, Tenn.

In a sense, Daniels鈥� parents paved the way for these and subsequent recording projects, including Patches, Grassland鈥檚 fifth album, which is scheduled for release this year. They provided him with piano lessons and, then, an acoustic guitar at a young age. Daniels鈥� father enlisted him early as a musician who would sing and play during visits to hospitals and nursing homes or at church gatherings.

Even after Daniels left home, there was an expectation that everyone would eat andsing at family gatherings while he strummed his guitar. He remembers that his mother never asked him to be at a family reunion; she鈥檇 simply say, 鈥測ou are bringing your guitar.鈥�

鈥淧laying music became kind of synonymous with who I was,鈥� Daniels said. 鈥淚t was always important, and I always loved to write. I look forward to continuing down the musician-songwriter path, and I鈥檓 grateful to Pfeiffer for giving me the inspiration to do so.鈥�