Monday, March 28, 2011

Danny McClain

Horrible news: Danny McClain passed away this morning. He was one of the most dynamic drummers of the scene for some time, having played with Darin Gray in
GRAND ULENA, JOHNNY ANGEL (as I had previously forgotten...thank you Dave and all commenters)and in various other projects with the likes of Chris Smentkowski (BRAIN TRANSPLANT) and Dave Stone. GRAND ULENA'S label, FAMILY-VINEYARD, responds here
(Updated 10/19/2011) Toxicology reports show that he died of unfortunate, but natural causes: http://blogs.riverfronttimes.com/rftmusic/2011/10/danny_mcclain_toxicology_repor.php
Celebrate the magic of these performances...
AND take care of yourselves!


.....and JOHNNY ANGEL

...just saw this online, too:
"The wake is from 4-9 thursday, baumann colonial chapel, 2504 woodson rd, overland mo. 63114, the funeral starts fri at 11 am. at baumann, the "internment" is at fee fee cemetery"

I didn't know Danny very well. I was the old guy going to Grand Ulena shows and bugging him at bars on South Grand about what was happening next. Bought him some beers at my place of work.
Check out the comments to see how much he is missed.
...and here is some video from the memorial held at Floating Laboratories on April 2nd:

Brain Transplant live in Saint Louis, April 2nd, 2011. Performing at the memorial concert for Danny McClain from joseph raglani on Vimeo.



Dave Stone, Kevin Harris & Alberto Patino performing at the Benefit concert for Danny McClain from joseph raglani on Vimeo.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Don't forget Jhonny Angel as one of his bands. Danny we will miss you.

Travis Johnson said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Travis said...

I'm going to miss you so much, Danny. I already did, and now this. No one rocked out harder than you. RIP, friend.

Travis said...

I could say so much more about him than what bands he played in. Indeed, he was a brilliant drummer and a passionate lover of music. Guy made me feel ten feet tall when the cards were down. He was a really, really sweet guy. Things had been hard on him for so long. He was poor, lived in a dank basement, didn't have a car, and he managed to make it to goddamned World Market everyday for a job i know he hated. Still, he never complained, and if he caught himself doing so, he'd quickly say something upbeat or funny. He turned me onto Sun Ra and the baddest ass Vangelis record I ever heard. His wit was as lighting fast as his drumming was, and he wasn't afraid to give his opinion. He was a record collector, and he had an especially awesome collection of jazz. We both had a thing for Ornette Coleman. He loved his sister and her children (I can't recall what combination of niece(s) and/or nephew(s) it was) and he always found time for them. We went to see Wolf Eyes together--I remember he got KICKED OUT of the Firebird for pushing a monitor speaker back up on the the stage after it stated to vibrate and fall off. John Olson stopped playing and called bullshit on the bouncer and Danny was back in. The last time i saw him, he and Dave Stone played a small gig i booked at Floating Laboratories. The show was a failure, but his performance wasn't. We got into an argument that night, and I never saw him again. Thankfully, I did speak to him on the phone a couple of months ago, and we tele-kissed and made up. It meant a lot to me.

I'm sorry, but i didn't know where else to say this. My heart is in STL today. I never could and never will forget Danny. He was a friend.