Album Notes

Although the members of the Dana Wylie Band hail from rural areas on opposite sides of the Atlantic, it was in a bustling Asian metropolis where it had it’s first incarnation. The band’s music fully embraces both country and city, stretching from blues and soul, through jazz and cabaret, to roots and folk. Their unique style, featuring Dana’s powerful vocals and sparkling wit, accompanied by a variety of instruments, never fails to turn heads.

After several years of singing “other people’s words” as a music theatre actress, Dana turned her focus to writing and performing original material, moving to Asia for a quiet respite from Canada’s theatrical scene. In Taiwan, she was instead plunged into a lively music scene, playing solo at corporate functions, with David Chen’s Muddy Basin Ramblers, leading her own bluegrass outfit The Wylie Brothers, and forming the Dana Wylie Duo with Englishman Jeremy Hellard.

Asked to comment on Dana’s demo, Jeremy had replied, “I’d like it better if I had played on it”, and the duo was born. A gifted drummer, guitarist, singer, and virtuosic harmonica player, Jeremy has a versatility and sensitivity that perfectly complements Dana’s piano and songwriting style.

Dana and Jeremy moved to the U.K. in 2005, and immediately started gigging regularly, playing pubs, clubs, festivals, and community centres, including London’s legendary Jazz Café, and the Summer Sundae Weekender in Leicester.

With their first year in the UK under their belts, the band has lots of projects and changes underway. They’ve released their first album, “Almost There…”, and they’ve added a fiddle player to the line-up.

Zoe Moffat, a classically trained violinist from British Columbia, comes to the band straight from the aforementioned Taiwan ex-pat music scene, where she added to her classical chops a passion for whooping it up, country-style. She adds the missing piece and forms a bridge through the band’s varying styles.

This latest incarnation has just returned from a tour of central Canada, and plans for world domination are in the pipeline.