The Gig Cartel - Artist profiles: Dan Byrne

Life looked to begoldenfor Dan Byrne during the summer of 2022. The formerCity of LiverpoolCollegemusicstudent was fronting Liverpool-based rock hopefuls, Revival Black.In 2019they hadbeen welcomed with open arms by the NWOCR movement, releaseda buzz-worth debut album,played for enthusiastic crowds in clubs and gained a reputation for setting an early high-bar atfestivals. Not even a pandemic could seemingly stop the momentum. So,whenin August of 2022,the band’s second album was released,itdidn’t surprise many who kept a keen eye and ear on theUK independent rock scene that Revival Black and theirgolden-throatedfront man found themselvesentering the official UK Rock chart at number 2. The surprise came roughly a week after cementingthatchart milestone...Dan Byrneleft the band.‘Yeah, therewerea few raised eyebrows’,says Dan, underplaying the reactionsomewhat. ‘The plainfact was,the idea of doing my own thing, fully realising my musical ideas–whatever they were-andtakingfull responsibility for them became absolute...I just had to be honest with everyone even ifthe timing looked odd from the outside’Dan spent the rest of 2022 contemplating, defining and refining what those musical ideas were. Amore contemporary approach was required as far as production and execution was concerned. Anopenness to a broader range of influences was essential–pop, RnB and even soundtracksweremusical signpostsDan could no longer deny having a bearingon his own compositions.Mostimportantly though,everything had to centre around melody.‘I guess I have a voice’,he says, statingthe obvious,‘I thought I should be braver and use it and make it the centre point of what I do’.True to his word, that’s what Dan has done with the material featured on his debut release, the EPaptly titled,‘Beginnings’.From the opening pianochords of‘Death of Me’it’s clear that musically,this is already one giant leap from where he was in the confines of a band. But it’s when that voicegently stirs and soulfully chimes in over the sparse arrangement doyou instinctively start rubbing atthe goosebumps forming on your forearm. From there the dynamics, the arrangementsturnwidescreen...You can almost see the opening titles of a future Bond film!Elsewhere‘Hard to Breath’and‘Like Animals’are razor-sharp, contemporary, hook-laden rockersthathave both made it on to the Planet Rock play-list.The biggest surprise though is the emotive ballad,‘Easier’.There’sa tensionat playright from thedelicateopeningthat builds and eventually breakswide open-cascading strings, soaring vocals-it’s big, bold and beautiful in equal measure.Having already earned plaudits from the likes of Classic Rock Magazine naming him‘oneto watch in2024’and Planet Rock who penned,‘Expect his music to walk to the beat of legends past but with itsown distinctly modern swagger’,the future is certainly looking brightfor the Liverpool-based vocalist,writer and Jujutsu black-belt! Laser-focused and raring to go, don’t bet against him