Dani Wilde

Dani Wilde, a British singer rooted in blues and soul, spent her early years in Hullavington, Wiltshire, where exposure to her father’s trove of Motown, Stax, and Chess recordings sparked a determination to perform; that drive led her to open shows for Maddy Prior by the time she reached 17. At 18 she relocated to Brighton, enrolling in a music degree program and seizing every available vocal engagement until an audience formed, a trajectory that brought her onstage with Jools Holland at the Royal Albert Hall by the close of 2006. Her expressive vocals, singular guitar technique, and command of blues vocabulary attracted the notice of Ruf Records, which signed her in 2007 and issued her first album, Heal My Blues, the following year. After working the festival circuit in support of that debut, she reteamed with producer Mike Vernon to cut her second album, Shine, released in summer 2011. That same year she joined Samantha Fish and Cassie Taylor on the Ruf Records blues sampler Girls with Guitars.