Of all the sets of songs I've written and recorded, this is the one I'm most proud of, top to bottom. I think each individual song attempted to encapsulate my feelings on very hard and very complicated world affairs (and a couple personal matters), and never compromised into oversimplification for the sake of accessibility. As the writer and recorder of an album, it's hard to ever have perspective on how many spins someone will want to give the finished record. But I'm very clear in my head that this is the album I'm most glad exists.

Parables & Primes was the first album where I really leaned all the way into Complexity in my writing, and stopped worrying about whether "people would get it" or not. These are the kinds of songs I most enjoy writing. And for the adventurous, I think they're the ones people connect to the deepest. But they are challenging, and they do demand a lot of the listener. The production is slightly avant garde, and takes some unusual turns. Each song is treated a little bit cinematically, in that way. I think it's the most interesting, artistic, and ambitious of these albums besides Fires In The Fog.

Of all the albums I've made, the writing on this one strikes the best balance between being meaningful to me on a personal level, and being universally interesting and poetic. And I really love how lush and velvety the production turned out, with all the strings and steel guitar and girl harmonies. In that regards it's probably the most pleasant album to listen to mindlessly, as well.

Owls combines the more interesting complex writing of Parables & Primes, with the energetic production balance of Instead The Forest. So in that way it has a nice balance that can appeal to folks who like accessibility and challenge. And for those of you who like the songs in their most unadorned form, you might also enjoy checking out the acoustic demo recordings.

In my opinion, this is the funnest album to listen to, start to finish. Not necessarily the deepest writing of all the albums, but the best flow and balance as a whole record . . . between heavy songs and light songs, fast and slow, challenging and accessible. I think it also features the most cohesive production quality.

In my opinion, there's just sort of a free and ragged energy to this record that people seem to like. It was produced in a very loose manner, and that comfortableness seems to have permeated the tracks, somehow. This album also features the lushest harmony vocals on any of the records. And some people like this album just simply cause it has Company Of Friends.

This album features me and Carrie together, swapping songs and perspectives back and forth. If you're a fan of the "Danny & Carrie together" show, then this is like buying half a record of each of ours. It's like neopolitan ice cream, except yummier and without strawberry.

In my opinion, this is the purest of the records. The orchestration is very sparse, and the songs themselves (and the vocal performances) are very much front and center. If you like the solo experience, then this might be the most enjoyable record for you. The songs on this record are also probably the most straightforward and accessible.

At the time that I made this record, it was the most outward-looking. I'd say "political" . . . but really, "outward-looking" is more accurate. It represents a lot of reflection on the difficult 9/11 era. If what you like is thoughtful, conscious reflections about the very complex world of societal affairs, then this album will be right up your alley.

If you're a fan of the fingerstyle guitar stuff, this album features the guitar picking more than any of the others, with songs like McCreary's Pipes and God's Love of Man. The album, in general, has a bit more of a country twang to it than the others. This was the first studio record, so the production value isn't as high as it gets on later records. But it's not bad production, just young production.

The best and worst qualities of this record are one in the same. It was recorded about a year after I'd started playing out in public. So it has a rawness, a nervousness, a naivety. And the songs have an innocent charm about them. If you're a completist, and have all the other records, and like to see the rough edges of the early workings, then you would like this record. Otherwise, start elsewhere.

(Note: There are no more CD prints of this album, anymore . . . but it is available for download through various outlets.)