SURREY 鈥� With a wide smile slightly hidden by a shaggy beard and shoulder-length hair, Daniel Sveinson ripped into a solo and, in a quick mid-riff move, playfully punched the arm of fellow guitarist Eric Gross. The guys were clearly having a gas, and the crowd at the Hindenburg, a small club in Vancouver鈥檚 Gastown district, jumped in time with the electric prog-funk the quartet rocked that warm September night.

Sveinson, a 性视界传媒-raised musician who could play guitar like a pro before most kids can use a microwave oven, was loving every second of his first gig as a true front man, playing his own music and singing the songs.

鈥淲hat a night!鈥� Sveinson later wrote in a Facebook message. 鈥淚 have been performing since I was ten years old and last night was probably the most fun I鈥檝e had on stage.鈥�

Thirteen years ago, when he toured with the Danny S. Band, Sveinson was dubbed 鈥淭he Rock and Roll Kid,鈥� the title of an hour-long 2006 documentary movie about a spunky, gifted 性视界传媒 boy who鈥檇 already played the famed Apollo Theater in New York and shared a stage with guitar icon Les Paul.

Inspired to play after hearing Angus Young鈥檚 work with AC/DC, and urged on by proud parents Darwin and Jean, the young Guildford-area resident turned heads with fingers that seemed to fly across the fretboard.

鈥淗e was just an old soul on the guitar,鈥� recalled Dave Chesney, who wrote a column for the Now newspaper at the time and currently serves as a White Rock city councillor.

鈥淜ids can study and learn the technical side of it and play fast like Steve Vai or somebody, but Danny always had this style beyond his years, just that intuition to lay back and let it breathe,鈥� Chesney added.

鈥淗e was just a freak, and should never have been able to play that great at that young age, but he did. You can鈥檛 play guitar like he did by just learning out of books or whatever.鈥�

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Sveinson鈥檚 recent show at the Hindenburg club was a coming-out party for a guy who is, of course, even more skilled as a guitarist now, after more than a decade of honing the craft playing with cover bands, tribute bands, original bands and assorted sessions. It鈥檚 not a stretch to say the man, now 24, was born to be a rock star.

For the time being, Sveinson鈥檚 side gigs, with the likes of Lee Aaron and Heart tribute band Barracuda, have been shelved, save for a trip with the local classic-rock band . More than that, the good ol鈥� days of Sonic City and Mad Shadow and The Led Zepplin Show 鈥� bands that kept Sveinson busy in his teens, as a student at Johnston Heights Secondary 鈥� are behind him.

鈥淭his year I really haven鈥檛 looked for many gigs because I鈥檝e really taken so many years off from playing my original stuff and writing,鈥� Sveinson told the Now-Leader. 鈥淲hile I鈥檓 still in my early 20s here, it鈥檚 time to write some songs and try that out again, because it鈥檚 a totally different experience. I mean, it鈥檚 wonderful doing gigs, the hired-gun stuff where you have a writer and you鈥檙e just playing, and it鈥檚 a professional environment and all that. It鈥檚 rewarding to be on that side of things, but there鈥檚 something about going up there and playing a song you had a part in that can鈥檛 be replaced, and I figure it鈥檚 time to work on that again before Father Time catches up anymore.鈥�

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For scenes in Bob Fugger鈥檚 The Rock and Roll Kid movie, a preteen Sveinson and his band of adult musicians are shown gigging at The Roxy, the Granville Street cabaret where , as he鈥檚 now known professionally, will return to play .

More such concerts are sure to follow for Sveinson and his 鈥渂and of killers,鈥� dubbed Brass Camel and featuring the aforementioned Gross on guitar, Cole George on drums, Adam Wazonek on keys and Christopher Wong on bass. They鈥檙e not just bandmates, they鈥檙e buddies, which suits Sveinson just fine.

Sadly, another friend of his, North Van-raised singer , who had held the microphone for Mad Shadow and The Led Zeppelin Show, was laid to rest last summer. When asked about Olufson, Sveinson took a few moments to gather his thoughts.

鈥淗e really did bust out some pretty incredible vocals and just his ad-libs and everything,鈥� Sveinson said. 鈥淗e was a really fun guy to be on stage with. We just had a riot. It was really a delight to watch him grow as a performer, and he sure grew as a performer really, really quickly.鈥�

Sveinson and Olufson were nearly perfect as Page-Plant in The Led Zeppelin Show, which toured for three or four years.

鈥淲e did about a year of gigs as Black Dog while we built up the rig and everything, because we didn鈥檛 think it鈥檇 be right to call it The Led Zeppelin Show if we pieced together a bit of a hack rig, so we took awhile to get all the stuff together 鈥� the Hammond B3, the Rhodes and the vintage Marshalls and the 42-inch gong, all that,鈥� Sveinson recalled.

鈥淭hat was an interesting experience,鈥� he continued, 鈥渂ecause we had it in our contract that we were an authentic Led Zeppelin experience and that we were going to be playing very, very loud, heavy blues. You know, we鈥檇 actually do songs they had recorded on bootlegs, so before a show we鈥檇 say, 鈥極K, tonight鈥檚 鈥榃hole Lotta Love鈥� will be Osaka 鈥�72, which means in the middle we鈥檒l be playing Howlin鈥� Wolf and Sonny Boy Williamson and an Eddie Cochran cover, you know, a Jerry Lee Lewis cover in there, and tomorrow night we鈥檒l do something different.鈥欌��

Sveinson said he鈥檚 never been a huge fan of tribute bands, 鈥渟o if we were going to do it, we said, let鈥檚 show the heavy blues that is Zeppelin, and that meant if we were playing a thousand-seat theatre, then, you know, a hundred people wouldn鈥檛 be so sussed on it, and there鈥檇 be a hundred just thrilled because they鈥檙e Zep diehards and couldn鈥檛 believe we were actually doing a Buddy Holly cover just like they did in Osaka that night back in 1972. And I got the sense that the other 800 people didn鈥檛 know what the hell was going on, but they were enjoying it.鈥�

For those gigs, of course he played a Page-preferred Les Paul-branded guitar, the type the Gibson company named for the man Sveinson had the good fortune to meet 鈥� and perform with, on a Django Reinhardt tune and also a Benny Goodman number 鈥� as a wide-eyed 12-year-old at New York鈥檚 Iridium club.

鈥淚t was mind-blowing,鈥� Sveinson recalled. 鈥淚 was a bit of a literature freak when I was a young kid, so I just poured through every guitar book and music book I could get my hands on at the library and dial-up internet. So when I met Les, I knew quite a bit about him and influences and stuff like that, and I had the great pleasure of getting to sit down with him quite awhile before his show began, for just a one-on-one chat. And that just so inspiring 鈥� for someone of any age, I imagine, but for a 12-year-old, it really hit a note.鈥�

Sveinson and his father sat at a table directly in front of the stage, where he could touch Paul鈥檚 guitar if he tried.

鈥淗e came out and sat down, and his assistant gave him his guitar,鈥� Sveinson recalled. 鈥淟es was probably 90 years old at the time, and he had kind of a dour expression on his face, but when that guitar was placed in his hands, he busted out with the hugest grin I鈥檇 ever seen. I remember just thinking, holy crap, if a 90-year-old could be made to smile like that after playing guitar for that many years, I might as well stick with it.鈥�

Moving forward, Sveinson plans to juggle his solo stuff with that of Aviator Shades, with whom he toured Canada earlier this fall.

鈥淭hey鈥檝e been great friends of mine for three or four years now, and I鈥檝e been watching them from the wings 鈥� some great chops and unbelievable work ethic, and I find that鈥檚 something, particularly in my teenage years, that I struggled with 鈥� just working hard on the business side of things,鈥� Sveinson admitted. 鈥淪o just having hung out with these guys and seeing how hard they work, it鈥檚 been inspiring to me.

鈥淎nd with the solo stuff,鈥� he continued, 鈥淚鈥檓 still trying to see what direction it takes. I wouldn鈥檛 say it鈥檚 a struggle, but I鈥檝e got one side of me who鈥檚 still a rocker, still heavy blues and Deep Purple and that stuff, but I鈥檝e just been listening to so much Jeff Beck and Herbie Hancock and stuff like that over the last couple of years. So just trying to figure out whether doing my take on Frank Zappa-style stuff, or doing heavier rock, it鈥檚 been a bit of a juggling act with my solo stuff, no question.鈥�

tom.zillich@surreynowleader.com
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