Brand New Dream

by Danny Gans

Overview

Much has been made in recent years of the transformation of Las Vegas from the country's capital of sin and gambling to its capital of wholesome entertainment...and gambling. There may be no better symbol of that change than Danny Gans, a Christian-based variety entertainer who had gained enough local renown by the start of the new millennium to open up his own theater on the strip. In his act, Gans performs impressions of famous singers from Billie Holiday to Garth Brooks and does standup comedy. His debut album, Brand New Dream, however, finds him singing in his own voice and staying perfectly serious in a group of songs most of which carry Christian themes. The producer is Michael Omartian, a man who has given us the likes of Christopher Cross, and the musical style is mainstream pop/rock, primarily with a 1970s flavor. The album opens with "Be Strong," a Bruce Springsteen/Bob Seger-style roots rocker, but most of the music backs off from the rock edge of that song. More typical are Gans' covers of the 1969 Spiral Staircase hit "More Today Than Yesterday" (a duet with Nicole C. Mullen) and Marc Cohn's "Walk Through This World." But, as usual in religious music, the lyrics are more important than the music, and Gans, using material written by various people, shows a particular affection for extended metaphors that aspire to the status of parables. In the jazzy, rollicking "The Best Stuff in the World Today Cafe," for example, a restaurant has food so good the patrons become waiters and stay forever (sort of like religious conversions), while in "Touch of the Master's Hand," an old violin on the auction block stands in for a soul in need of God's redemption. "The Journeys Here at Home," the album's most personal song and one of only two on which Gans has co-writing credits, comments on the difficulty of matching career goals to domestic life. That song, and a couple of others, may have appeal beyond specifically religious audiences, though for the most part this is music for believers. ~ William Ruhlmann

Product Details

Release Date:	12/12/2020
Label:	Word Distribution / Word
UPC:	0080688594329
Rank:	173336

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Danny Gans   Primary Artist
Nicole C. Mullen   Guest Artist
Bob Carlisle   Guest Artist
Bob Parr   Bass
Chris McHugh   Drums
Michael Mellett   Vocals (Background)
Chris Rodriguez   Vocals (Background)
Crystal Taliefero   Vocals (Background)
Mark Douthit   Sax (Tenor)
Kara Williamson   Vocals (Background)
Nathan DiGesare   Synthesizer
Nirva Dorsaint   Vocals (Background)
Doug Moffet   Sax (Baritone)
Tom Hemby   Guitar (Electric)
Bruce Gaitsch   Guitar (Acoustic)
Michael Omartian   Piano,Keyboards,Synthesizer
Mike Haynes   Trumpet
Todd D. Smith   Vocals (Background)
John Hammond   Drums
Nicol Sponberg   Vocals (Background)
Eric Darken   Percussion
Lisa Bevill   Vocals (Background)
Jerry McPherson   Guitar (Electric)

Technical Credits

Terry Christian   Engineer,Mixing
Steve Siler   Composer
Bob Carlisle   Composer
Kyle Matthews   Composer
Fred Paragano   Digital Editing
John Leventhal   Composer
Matthew West   Composer
Mickey Cates   Composer
Drew Bollman   Assistant Engineer
Randy Stonehill   Composer
Michael Omartian   Producer,Horn Arrangements
Russell Mauldin   String Arrangements
John Kramp   Composer
Suzy Martinez   Production Coordination
Michael Puryear   Composer
Danny Gans   Composer
Hank Williams   Mastering
Patrick Upton   Composer
Marc Cohn   Composer
Dennis Patton   Composer
Trevor Morgan   Composer
Pat Upton   Composer