Den Hollinden

" ...as seen on TV! : )

Den Hollinden writes, sings and produces honest, acoustic and vintage electrified music for real people. It is classified as traditional country, but it is not your grandparents' country music. Well, okay, maybe it is, but maybe your grandparents were cooler than you thought!

Wow! It's okay to cut and paste here? Good, 'cause I'm getting tired of writing. Let me pick something out from one of my other sites...be right back:

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Actually, yeah, I'd like to do a lot more of that. There's really nothing like playing for a live audience. The most special moment (that I can admit to in writing : ) is that gig in Illinois where an old man told me I was "better than Elvis" that you might have read about in my on my .

I try not to get too big for my britches--in other words, so full of myself I can't learn from other people in the business. I learn a lot in the various Internet forums from people I don't even have real names for. I'm not sure if it's just music or just the Internet, but people are never too busy to share. I do have my personal favorites that you will recognize; so, here are a few of them in no particular order:

: I write all of my own material, and as a songwriter, I'm influenced a lot by Tom. He has a very no-nonesense approach to songwriter where you just do the best job you can of telling the truth, just putting the facts down the way you personally saw them happen. I try to make sure that my songs always tell a story.

: Loretty has always been a big influence--both as a writer and a singer. She's viewed as one of the all-time greats in traditional country music but also as someone who's never been afraid to shake things up a little bit--or a whole lot! By the way, do you have YOUR copy of "Van Lear Rose" yet??

is the Hoosier singer/songwriter/publisher who wrote the . He's always been a big hero of mine, and I feel like I need to come to his rescue as much as I can now that people don't pay him the attention his music deserves. If you haven't taken the time to listen to "" lately or if you've never heard it, give it a spin soon. You're in for a real treat.

's. I like his understated style that really lets the vocal come through and tell its story. album. As a matter of fact, two of my songs even mention him. We also both tend to identify with the military and throw our support behind our troops.. I realize a lot of you might not even know who that is, but if you get a chance, do check out his music. If nothing else, it's definitely different. I wouldn't even know how to classify it, 'cause it doesn't fit neatly into a genre. in my music. I feel that in some of the really honest passages--where a lyric sticks out with nothing to hide behind--Johnny is there. Even in high school, I sang bass, and Jonny--along with taught me that it's okay to sing low.. I hear a lot of his music in mine--especially on the ones that rock pretty good. My song "Saint Henry Christmas" has a lot of that sound. I can usually tell the Elvis stuff in the studio, because I always want to give it a little bit more reverb than my other stuff..

Most of my vocals are recorded through an AKG C414B-TL2 microphone using a Joe Meek tube channel pre-amp. That's about as much tech talk as the average fan can stand before her eyes start rolling back into her head; so, I think I'll leave it at that. I post on some of the pro-audio boards, but if you're curious about something, just ask.

If I can put anything I want here, I'd like to do the right thing and thank a few people. Don't expect this list to be complete, because I firmly believe that each new person we meet affects us in some new and important way.

, my best friend and greatest fan. She's been there since the very beginning and has been a true inspiration--not to mention a heck of a subject to write songs about!--who touched my heart by doing a school report on me as her favorite singer. As if that wasn't enough, she created the very first Den Hollinden tee shirt and took a picture in it to show the world you don't have to be 21 to understand and enjoy Den Hollinden music.--for believing in me and putting me on the radio when nobod

--for inspiring the Forest Park Ranger basketball team who in turned inspired "The Basketball Song." and his --for telling the world about the state champion Forest Park Rangers and "The Basketball Song."--for doing such a good job of handling the Indiana side of things.--for testing out each new Web thing and listening to each new piece of music. I wouldn't know how to do all this without you.--for doing such a great job on backing vocals. Too bad you're even more of a perfectionist than I am. Wonder where you get that. for always being there for me. If I didn't feel that special feeling I've always felt around you guys, I never could have written a song--no, not even one.