Coming from Vancouver, Canada, Daniel Powter has created the kind of album that is immediately appealing and at the same time, draws listeners in on many different levels. His self-titled album's first single, "Bad Day," has had unprecedented success in France, breaking the record for a pop artist that has existed for over 20 years when it topped the radio airplay singles chart for several weeks. France, where the album recently received a gold record award, was the first country to release the album. It's clear that Powter makes music people want to hear.
His songs are catchy, the rhythms infectious and the chords rock solid; built on the kind of time-honored heels that helps rock reinvent itself every few years. Daniel Powter found his way to this achievement in a fairly circuitous manner. He was raised in the pastoral splendor of the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia, at first taking years of violin lessons, accompanied by his mother on piano. That devotion to music immediately made him an outsider to his schoolmates, but also helped Powter develop the kind of determination it takes to make a strong mark in the world of music.
Once the teenager found the piano, he knew that he'd discovered his calling. "There was a time my violin teacher looked over at me during one lesson and said, 'Your music is upside down,'" Powter recalls. "That's when I realized I had to break off from that structure of music and find my own way."
It wasn't long before Powter also started singing in high school bands. By his second show he knew he'd found his future. After recording a single and studying music at Edmonton's Grand MacEwan College, the 20-year-old performer decided it was time to strike out on his own. He moved to Vancouver and met producer Jeff Dawson. Together they began work in a tiny studio, writing songs and dreaming up big production ideas. "I says. "It was like a door opening. It became easy."
Over the next year, Powter wrote the songs that make up his self-titled debut album. Produced by Dawson and Mitchell Froom (whose credits include Elvis Costello, Crowded House, Los Lobos and Randy Newman) Daniel Powter is the kind of album that seems to come out of nowhere, but once the songs are heard, seems like it's always been there. It marks the arrival of an intriguing new voice, and judging by the success the music has already achieved in France and in other European countries, it's exactly the kind of music listeners here have been waiting for.
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