Fans of Pat Dailey — and the man who has become a local music institution has many of them — are used to a rowdy, bawdy tone to his music.
So, seeing his name attached to a sweet holiday project like “Holiday Wishes 2” may seem a bit peculiar on the surface, especially with a track as lyrical and poetic as “River of Stars.”
But Dailey was thrilled when he was asked to contribute.“I was anxious and happy to participate, and flattered,” he said.
Ofcourse, longtime fans of the local singer may have heard this particular recording before.
“It was on an album I made called ‘Shorelines,’ which is a record I made specifically to cover some nice ballads and stuff like that, instead of always having that rowdy, beer-drinking kind of music,” Dailey said. “That song was put in there because of the peacefulness of it, and that’s probably why the track was selected for a holiday CD, because it has that peaceful kind of feeling.”
“It may not be a specific Christmas track, but it is as spiritual as anything on the CD,and its tone and sound complement the more traditional songs,” said Toledo Free Press Editor in Chief Michael S. Miller, who produced the CD.
Dailey said the change of pace is one of the things that made this particular project so appealing to him.
“I’m always happy to do those kind of things, because most of my life is just singing in front of people drinking and raising hell,” he said. “So to have any kind of something that is meaningful and helpful to somebody, it means a lot to me.”
Indeed, Dailey has contributed work to many other charity projects in the past — a facet of his career he prefers to not brag about.
“I don’t like to talk too much about it, because — somebody said something to the effect that your good deeds should go quietly and speak for themselves,” he said.
Dailey said he hopes people find “River of Stars” and “Holiday Wishes 2” in general inspiring.“What I hope is it makes them all think about contributing something to some good cause and to helping others and to realize that if a no-good guy like me can do something good, then everybody should,” Dailey said.
