Biography
Danny Griego, born in Arizona and now based in Texas, works as a country singer and songwriter whose music fuses outlaw, cowboy, Americana, and Latin elements, elements that surfaced prominently on his 2014 release Cowboys, Outlaws & Border Town Dogs. He began performing in Arizona saloons and at rodeos before relocating for an extended period to Nashville, where he developed friendships with Hank Cochran and Waylon Jennings while building a varied body of work drawn from his own experiences. Among those compositions, the 2014 track “Lady Liberty” and the 2018 song “22” were created specifically to pay tribute to American military veterans, prompting regular performances at bases nationwide throughout his touring schedule.
While still in college pursuing a business degree, Griego endured a lightning strike during a camping trip in eastern Arizona. As he recovered motor function in his right hand, his physician advised taking up guitar; using his grandfather’s nylon-string instrument, he taught himself fingerpicking and soon began capturing melodies that appeared to him in dreams by recording them upon waking. After graduation he established himself as a businessman, acquiring franchises and properties in the Phoenix and Prescott regions, one of which aligned with his musical pursuits when he purchased Matt’s Saloon in Prescott. There and across the surrounding area he performed regularly with his Country Thunder Band, sharpening his abilities as both singer and writer. In the early 2000s he moved to Nashville and formed writing partnerships with Hank Cochran, Red Lane, and Max D. Barnes; several of those efforts were ultimately recorded by Waylon Jennings and Billy Joe Shaver, artists with whom he also became close.
His 2007 album Destination introduced him to audiences as a recording artist, yet seven more years of touring and songwriting passed before he issued its successor. On 2014’s Cowboys, Outlaws & Border Town Dogs Griego refined a sound that merged 1970s maverick outlaw country, traditional cowboy material, and currents of contemporary Americana and Latin music. By then residing in Texas, he and his ensemble of veteran players promoted the record through an array of live dates that included pro-stock motorcycle gatherings—Griego fields a National Association of Hot Rods team—and continued visits to military installations. That sustained commitment to veterans produced the 2018 endeavor 22, a collaboration with country singer K.P. Fitz that paired a song with a short film addressing the suicide crisis among former service members, a crisis then claiming an average of twenty-two veterans each day. In 2019 he issued the single “You Never Stop Loving Somebody.”
While still in college pursuing a business degree, Griego endured a lightning strike during a camping trip in eastern Arizona. As he recovered motor function in his right hand, his physician advised taking up guitar; using his grandfather’s nylon-string instrument, he taught himself fingerpicking and soon began capturing melodies that appeared to him in dreams by recording them upon waking. After graduation he established himself as a businessman, acquiring franchises and properties in the Phoenix and Prescott regions, one of which aligned with his musical pursuits when he purchased Matt’s Saloon in Prescott. There and across the surrounding area he performed regularly with his Country Thunder Band, sharpening his abilities as both singer and writer. In the early 2000s he moved to Nashville and formed writing partnerships with Hank Cochran, Red Lane, and Max D. Barnes; several of those efforts were ultimately recorded by Waylon Jennings and Billy Joe Shaver, artists with whom he also became close.
His 2007 album Destination introduced him to audiences as a recording artist, yet seven more years of touring and songwriting passed before he issued its successor. On 2014’s Cowboys, Outlaws & Border Town Dogs Griego refined a sound that merged 1970s maverick outlaw country, traditional cowboy material, and currents of contemporary Americana and Latin music. By then residing in Texas, he and his ensemble of veteran players promoted the record through an array of live dates that included pro-stock motorcycle gatherings—Griego fields a National Association of Hot Rods team—and continued visits to military installations. That sustained commitment to veterans produced the 2018 endeavor 22, a collaboration with country singer K.P. Fitz that paired a song with a short film addressing the suicide crisis among former service members, a crisis then claiming an average of twenty-two veterans each day. In 2019 he issued the single “You Never Stop Loving Somebody.”
Albums
Singles
