Sonny Boy Daniel was born 71 years ago in Chicago. Raised in Colorado, Daniel emigrated to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1972. Since then, he has performed and recorded in a variety of settings including The Wing Improvised Theater, Sylvester and a slew of classic rock bands. Currently playing keys for the Richmond Kings, Daniel rekindled his love of the blues, and was inspired to pick up a dobro he had purchased decades ago, and use it at open mics as an alternative to the ubiquitous guitar.

Starting out with classic blues songs that were easy to master, Daniel began popping up at open mics around the Bay as he continued to expand the possibilities of songs that could be interpreted on the dobro. Gradually taking on more challenging material, Daniel expanded his repertoire to include songs by artists as diverse as the Pretenders, Dire Straits, Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin.

Daniel is also a songwriter and has penned new songs on the dobro, in addition to older songs from a self-released Americana CD that features dobro and were easy to adapt to the project. Daniel employs a rhythmic attack on the dobro along with an unpolished but expressive vocal that puts the songs across, and he can surprise the listener with a perfect re-creation of a classic guitar riff in mid-song.

A veteran of more than five decades of performing, Daniel has put in the miles on his musical journey. He brings an assortment of musical influences to a performance that reflects the unique path his music has followed.