Drew Danburry prefers his family’s brownie recipe over cookies, plays pranks on his friends while they are pooping, disagrees with capitalism, favors ankle socks to tube socks, and could not care less about what is going on in the lives of Britney Spears or Brangelina.

Drew has toured with Someone Still Loves you Boris Yeltsin, Lydia, The Robot Ate Me, Aubrey Debauchery, Harry and the Potters, TaughtMe, and many more. Additionally, he just recently wrapped up a solo acoustic tour. I spoke with Drew about this tour, the downside of being a “nice guy,” his engagement to his long-term girlfriend, Lynette, signing to Emergency Umbrella Records, and his future plans.

“This tour was insane. Like every tour, but for some reason this one was just beyond anything I've ever dealt with. There was just an insane amount of drama in my opinion. There was one day where we played in South Dakota and then woke up in a blizzard and needed to be in Minneapolis to play that night for a show at a college where they were paying us 500 dollars which is a HUGE amount of money for me and it was like the ONE show that was going to save me financially. Right? So, we were driving through a blizzard for like five hours on roads that were covered in snow and didn't have rails on the sides of them. We were driving on stretches where there was nothing but water on both sides and we couldn't see five feet in front of the car,” he said. “We kept passing by all of these horrendous accidents and I was still gung ho about it. I was sitting there saying stuff like, ‘Lynette, God loves us a whole lot, right? He's not gonna let anything happen to us! We'll be fine!’ So as we were driving through these back roads trying to get to a main highway we came up on an abrupt stop sign with two cars stopped and we slid off the road missing the cars, a sign post, and the guard rail ALL by like, inches. We wound up in the ditch on the side of the road and had to call a tow truck that came unusually fast. I called my friend in Minnesota and told him ‘we're in a ditch but we're gonna get pulled out and we are ON OUR WAY. DO NOT cancel the show. We finally got to the show just as the band before us finished playing. I played the set right on time and it was an amazing show. It was literally probably the most BEAUTIFUL show I have ever played where EVERY single audience member was singing along in harmony and some following melodies and generally just creating this amazing chorus. The audience and performer essentially became one. And, unlike every other show, I didn't even need to tell them to, or guide them, it was like they just followed naturally and we were all on the same page. It was the awesome-est show ever. And, then I found out that because I hadn't arrived at the scheduled time for the show to start that the university pulled the payment from the show. We also made no money during the show because they don’t allow selling of merchandise if they are paying you- but they pulled the payment! So my dear friend Jon Schill took Lynette and I back to his place and a bunch of our friends and the people from the show had a potluck. It was like the most insane messed up amazing MOST extremely bittersweet experience ever,” Drew said. “When I started playing music I thought that people would understand me and like me but it’s the opposite. You become objectified and more misunderstood. We have been brainwashed since we were kids that we need to most awesome new thing of convenience and 600 channels of TV, and to be able to get on the Internet and have all of the information you could ever want at your fingertips. But, what good do people use it for? This has left us with a lot of time wondering what we’re missing. It’s the great existential vacuum,” he explained.

The reality is that Drew is a really nice guy. However, there were some events that occurred during this tour that made Drew realize that because of how nice he is—- people will take advantage of him. Apparently, Drew was scheduled to play an afternoon college show, and then do a house show that night. When Drew realized that the promoter wasn’t doing her job with getting the college show finalized he figured it would be fine because he would expect five dollar donations at the door of the house party. “I confirmed with her like 5 times why it was important and why we needed it. I saw her the afternoon before the show and everything was great and but then I got to the show and saw all these flyers that said ‘free house show’ and I walked into a noisy full house having a party where well…it was a party. I've been dealing with emails from angry fans since this happened because I just wasn't excited about the show. I could barely hear myself, I couldn't concentrate because people were talking so loud through the entire show and I was upset because I had been lied to and taken advantage of as a person and a performer. You know, I was in church and the pastor said ‘Most Mormon’s are perceived as nice.’ It made me think about how much I hate being called ‘nice.’ I am nice, kind, and humane. I want to treat each individual well but at the same time I don’t want to get pigeon holed as the nice guy so that any asshole can take advantage of me,” he explained. Personally, I can’t imagine anyone expecting an independent musician to put on a show for free. Sometimes I think that people are under the impression that these musicians do gigs because they have nothing better to do and forget that it is their JOB! Come on, people! Pay the whopping five dollars and then break it down on the dance floor! Also, if one of your favorite musicians seems to be having an “off” night, ask them about it instead of sending them hate mail! Where’s the love? Just give it up. It makes the world go ‘round and ‘round.

Anyway, between bittersweet performances, and some not so fun house parties, something really incredible happened on this tour: Drew proposed to his beautiful girlfriend Lynette. According to Lynette they were in the car traveling from one city to the other and this is how the conversation went:

Drew: Hey Lynette, when do you want to get married?

Lynette: Soon.

Drew: Hey Lynette, will you marry me?

Lynette: Yes.

Drew: Can I kiss you?

Lynette: Yes.

Drew took his eyes off the road for just a second to give her a big wet one and the two of them are now thrilled to be engaged. “We've been friends for a really long time and I just asked her to move to California where I was living because I wanted to date her and I couldn't date her in another state. I wanted to court her proper. So I asked her to move to California and I would court her proper. She did, amazingly enough, and this is a dream come true,” said Drew.

Drew has a new album coming out on Emergency Umbrella Records this summer. He said, “I’m super excited to have it done because it’s the best thing ever.” He is also thrilled about having signed with Emergency Umbrella. “I never wanted to sign to a label that would cut my resources in half. I have friends that have signed to labels and the labels spend a lot of money and don’t really help them but Emergency Umbrella is full of really amazing people.”

Drew’s future plans include putting out the new album, getting married, preparing for a fall tour, and then seeing what he and his wife Lynette feel like doing with themselves.

Here is a clip of me featuring Know Your History Before You Become Part of the Repetition on Episode 11 of the show. When I asked Drew about the inspiration for this song he said, “That song is old. I don't remember any history to that song. It's just a song I wrote about how I was feeling at a certain time. I forget. Maybe I'll become part of the repetition?””

Video One: Lynette, I Love You

Video Two: Memorial Day

Video Three: This is a video of provopodcast.com welcoming Drew to their studio. I am posting this strictly because I think that Drew’s hot pink fanny pack is off the chain.

You will love Drew Danburry if you love: Bishop Allen, The Mountain Goats, and Ben Kweller.

Purchase Drew's newest album, This Could Mean Trouble, You Don't Speak for the Club right here.

Drew Danburry on Myspace