biographical info
The Dana Wylie Band are a dynamic three-piece who’ve been turning heads on three continents for the past four years. Formed in Taipei, Taiwan in early 2004, the band have toured extensively in the UK and Canada; steadily building a loyal following.
After several years of “singing other people’s words”, Dana left a promising musical theatre career to concentrate on writing and performing her own music. Moving to Taiwan in 2003 in search of a quiet place to write, she was surprised to find herself immersed in a thriving ex-pat music scene. Before she knew it, she was performing with David Chen’s Muddy Basin Ramblers, leading her own bluegrass band The Wylie Brothers with renowned Australian banjo/dobro player Daryl Melbourne, and performing solo at corporate functions across the island.
At the same time, she formed the Dana Wylie Duo with Englishman Jeremy Hellard, to perform her ever-expanding repertoire of original songs. A swinging drummer, guitarist, vocalist and uniquely expressive harmonica player, Jez proved the perfect accompanist, moving seamlessly between the various idioms in which Wylie chooses to compose.
After more than a year of touring Taiwan, including two long-term residencies in Taipei nightspots, they moved to England and joined forces with virtuosic and in-demand jazz bassist, Nye Parsons. Nye has developed a formidable reputation over the last decade or so, and his lyrical, melodic style hovers between jazz and folk and perfectly complements Dana’s fluid song-writing.
In the UK, over a period of two years, the Dana Wylie Band played over 200 gigs in every conceivable type of venue, from London’s legendary Jazz Café, through halls, festivals and clubs, to cosy pubs as far as the remote North-West of Scotland. In the summer of 2006 they recorded and self-produced their debut album, “Almost There…”. The album has received extensive radio play both in the UK and on specialty radio across Canada, charting numerous times, and continues to collect glowing reviews from the print media.
Summer 2007 saw the band relocate to Western Canada, where they have racked up nearly a hundred shows and recorded their sophomore album, “The Unruly Ones”. Released in March 2008, it has continued where the debut left off, charting on stations across the country and picking up rave reviews in an ever increasing number of newspapers and magazines.
In late June, the band will hit the road again, with a summer tour of Canada, followed by the UK in September and on to Taiwan for the winter, before embarking on their first tour of Australia and New Zealand in the spring.