It's positively Danny Kean
Farmingdale singer-songwriter Danny Kean has a new album out on Ruffle Bird Records, titled "Danny Kean." Credit: Ronnie Wright Photo/
Danny Kean believes in the old soul adage, "There's nothing wrong in the words of my song."
The Farmingdale singer-songwriter, who was born blind and kept out of regular school because of it, has had his share of problems. But he fills the songs on his debut, "Danny Kean" (Ruffle Bird), with positivity.
"I'm really proud of this album," Kean says. "It was really hard to do, but I put every experience I've had into it. I did everything I could to make it sound like what I heard in my head."
Though Kean is only 27, his blend of jazz, blues, rock and pop feels like it came straight from the late '70s work of George Benson and The Crusaders, especially in upbeat, breezy songs like "The Goodness" and "Lover for Hire."
"It was that music that made me realize we were all kind of the same," he says, laughing. "I would play in bands where everyone was weird, where being blind made me the least weird. I played with all different nationalities, in bands where I was the only white guy and people didn't see me as anything different. I was just me.
"When it felt like I didn't fit in anywhere, it became a home," adds Kean, who has worked with everyone from gospel's Tye Tribbett to his idol, the late Sam "Bluzman" Taylor. "Now, I've always felt like I belonged."
Kean plays at 3 p.m. today at Dockside Cafe, 301 Bergen Ave., West Babylon, and at 8 p.m. Friday at Sonoma Grill, 5745 N. Sunrise Hwy. Service Road, Holbrook. He plays Otto's Sea Grill, 271 Woodcleft Ave., Freeport, at 6 p.m. next Sunday.
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