Hello everyone. This is Rachel from the Danielson Famile and I have to confess that I just saw the Danielson Famile movie for the first time in its true form two weeks ago in Los Angeles. I drove up with my friend from San Diego, fought 3 1/2 hrs. of Friday afternoon traffic, ate a quick dinner (not the luxurious sit-down I was hoping for in LA) and then quickly ran to see the movie. It was great--I think I was laughing so hard I annoyed the other movie-watchers. Of course, I knew everyone in the movie so I think that definitely gave me an edge to most of the humor.

I have to say that the parts I enjoyed the most were the reactions of the people coming to see our shows. I got the giggles when this one guy was standing outside commenting on how the crowd was clapping and singing along and then he said, "You know you are clapping for the Holy Spirit, don't you?" and then the girl commented, "Yeah, and we're Jewish!" That was just too funny.

As for me...and for the many people who were sad to hear that I don't really play with the band anymore....good news for you....it's not true. In fact, this past summer I was able to go on tour with Danielson for 3 weeks and it was a lot of fun. I still travel to the East Coast quite often and play as much as I am able with the family. I don't see this as something that will ever change even though I live in the West Coast now. I have an incredible supportive husband who really believes in what we are doing. Although for the moment, I'm pretty busy being big and pregnant with my third daughter--alas I don't see myself flying anytime in the next couple of months.

Oh, and keep an eye open for Mamma Made. I know that our handmade children's clothing company was briefly mentioned in the movie....we are headed into boutiques hopefully this next Fall/Winter season in NYC and in LA. www.mammamadedesigns.com. What a shameless plug.

Alright guys. I'm signing off for now. Love, Rachel

Hello friends- 'Danielson: a Family Movie (or, Make a Joyful Noise HERE)' is rolling into theaters across the nation! Spread the news! Share a popcorn! It's the holiday movie of the season! New York: Cinema Village * Dec 15 - 21 Chicago: Gene Siskel Center * Dec 10 & 14 Austin: Alamo Drafthouse * Dec 11, 20, 28 & Jan 2 Seattle: NW Film Forum * Dec 15 - 21 Bloomington, IN: The Cinemat * Dec 1 - 14 Los Angeles: Laemmle Grande 4-plex * Jan 19 - 25 Boston: Coolidge Corner Theatre * Feb 2 &3 Portland, OR: Northwest Film Center * Jan 20 Fort Collins, Colorado: special benefit screening/blood drive for the Red Cross at Everyday Joe's Café on March 3 And more to come! Check http://www.danielsonmovie.com for updates and other things

Hello folks, this is Daniel from Danielson. I am here in Utrecht (NL) writing this first blog. I'll give you a quick run down how the European tour has been going so far.

For this tour Danielson is: David Smith on drums, Chris Palladino on keys/voc, John Ringhofer on bass/voc, Daniel Smith on guitar/voc, and our driver/soundman/Dutch cool guy is Jochem Schouten.

22/11/06: VPRO radio, Amsterdam- We do a short interview and then play five songs. Some folks were into it, but many were just there for the scene it seemed. But hey Damien Jurado and Mike Watt played too, so it was fun. We all got the jet lag blues.

23/11/06: AB, Brussels- This is a big space, over 1200 capacity and it's sold out because we opened up for Wovenhand. It was great to see and hang with dear friends. I'm not so sure what the Wovenhand fans thought of Danielson? Come on Wovenhand you got to start doing some sing-a-longs. Everybody's doing it!

24/11/06: Trix, Antwerpen (B)- We played with the Long Winters, it was their last show of a big tour. We're still getting our live show together.

25/11/06: L'Escalier, Liege (B)- Ok we finally played a show we were all happy with. We loaded everything upstairs and went to the hotel for some much needed sleep. In the morning on the way back to the club we hear that some folks at the after hours party at the club were parading around in our uniforms. Now I'm freaking. So we get to the club and sure enough both my uniform shirts and John's shirt are gone, oh my hat too. I still like Belgium though. Come on people give us back our uniforms.

26/11/06: La Malterie, Lille (F)- So now part of my stage banter is to explain why only half of us are wearing uniforms. But none of that mattered because the folks from Lille were amazing and they made us feel so welcome. A great night of music!

27/11/06: Komedia, Brighton (UK)- I had a nice interview with Kicking K from Plan B magazine. I think this venue is usually a comedy club. What are they trying to say? I was rusty but the show had some nice moments. Some of the crowd really did not want to do our sing-a-longs, but we did them anyway. Everybody was very nice.

More coming very soon. I just want to see if this thing really works.

L, Daniel

I would like to anticpate some questions. I would like to engage with you, the reader, in a volley of words, ideas, and actions. In this scenario, we ask ourselves the questions we might be asked, could be asked, have been asked in public places, or just want to be asked. Are you ready? I'll start. You want to know why the documentary musical I made, 'Danielson: a Family Movie (or, Make a Joyful Noise HERE)' has such a convoluted title. And what does it mean exactly? And can one just call the film "Danielson"? Or "A Family Movie"? Or the other part? The first person to ask me this question was my subject, Daniel Smith, 34, of Clarksboro, New Jersey. population 2600. "What's the HERE part all about?" he asked. Well, I'll tell you. HERE is wherever you are. Clarksboro, NJ for instance. HERE is where you find yourself making your noise, or what sounds like noise to some people, or what, by definition, is noise because it is audible and sustained. "Make a Joyful Noise HERE" is the instruction given my older brothers who draft their younger siblings (four of them, in this case) into a band in order to perform songs at their art college thesis show. And then onward. And upward. Why Joyful? That is not for me to say except to say that why mournful? Or angry? Or boastful? Or anything? There's a time and a place for all these emotions but if we have some joy, why not make that into our noise? This runs into my original interest in the subject matter. As an armchair ethnomusicologist, I'd always been interested in devotional music. Tibetan chant, Bulgarian womens choirs, Muslim Qawwali singing, gospel, whathaveyou. When I first heard Danielson Famile in late 1997, I instantly connected it to these great traditions. It was polished, commercial radio-friendly God rock. It was boldly homemade and inventive and soulful and playful and...joyful. And it had a great melody, too. Over time, the music that Daniel makes with or without his family and friends has become more "polished," more complex, and more je ne c'est qua without losing honestly or even authenticity. This is what interest me. This is what attarcts me as a listener. And this is a story I felt more people needed to know. And now more people have been knowing that and for this I am myself joyful. Thanks for asking.