Dale Simmons_

Please visit http://dalesimmons.com/ for more information.

I was the songwriter-guitarist for a few notable rock ensembles over the past 15 years. The most recent was a Columbia, South Carolina based group called Furious Styles (1996). We offered fans an eclectic funk/rock/jazz/rap experience. In 1997 we released 5 song self-titled CD. Two songs from that project went into medium rotation on commercial radio stations in the Carolinas. In 1998, Polygram Records took notice of the recording and was working towards inking a recording deal until creative differences caused the band’s eventual break-up.

On Halloween 1999 I moved to Rotterdam, NL and continued writing and recording music. After about 7 months (and one hell of a Y2K New Year’s Eve party in Paris) I moved to a city called Grenoble in the Rhône-Alpes region of France (May 2000). By 2005, I was honing my songwriting and music production skills in a studio that I’d built in my apartment in a small village just outside of Grenoble called La Tronche. The 5 song independent release No Real Direction was the recording that I produced in that studio at 13 Grande Rue, La Tronche.

The concept behind that release isn’t only about the music on the CD. It’s about the complete package. I wanted to create or design everything on this project from the musical content to the artwork and photography on the cover of the CD package…even typesetting the lyrics and designing the layout of the booklet insert. I believe that there’s certain warmth in the project that comes to the surface because of the personal attention.

Although my musical delivery certainly has alternative rock edges, I think the introspective songwriting style on the new project lends itself well to the acoustic rock genre. In the past, I consciously wrote material to suit the image of whichever group I was playing with at the time, but I feel that my recent work is more personal and sincere. For me, No Real Direction signifies a critical departure from my past songwriting efforts. It’s closer to the music I love…it’s closer to me. There will always be a place for loud electric guitars and screaming vocals in my music, but the acoustic guitar has always been my compositional centerpiece. For me, it’s where everything begins.

In December 2006, I repatriated back to the US and I’m currently living in Greenville, South Carolina. I’m planning to release a full length professionally produced recording in the coming year.