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That boy sure can play!

Rock prodigy Danny Sveinson to close Saturday night gala
danny-sveinson

Who: Danny Sveinson

What: DKNY//Jeans Outdoor Concert Series

Where: Whistler Village — main stage

When: Saturday, April 24

At six years old, Danny Sveinson discovered rocks.

"He’s always been a smart kid," remarks his father, Darwin.

It’s a bit of an understatement. Danny researched rocks and minerals tirelessly, then composed seminars complete with Q&A sessions and handouts. Reading at an advanced level, the kid’s infoquest led him to university geology textbooks, which introduced him to the concept of blasting in order to access mineral veins.

TNT. Dynamite. What a concept!

He brought it up with Dad, who couldn’t help humming the AC/DC tune of the same name.

Of course, when you’re a six-year-old boy, any song that has to do with dynamite is automatically cool. AC/DC made an instant fan that day and Darwin picked up the CD for his son when he had the chance.

As soon as he heard the real thing, Danny Sveinson discovered rock.

But the precocious youngster wasn’t content to just listen.

"When I played that song for him, I turned on a switch somewhere in his head," Darwin recalls from the family’s home in Surrey. "From that moment, honest, you could see something go on with this kid."

Danny begged his parents to get him an electric guitar. A year and a half passed before they acquiesced, fully believing their son would learn to strum a few chords and eventually leave it behind in pursuit of his next childhood fancy.

But Danny didn’t leave it behind. Instead he took to it like oxygen, absorbing the styles and techniques of rock greats like Jimi Hendrix, Alex Lifeson, Angus Young and others he researched on the Internet.

"He never grew tired of it," says Darwin, "he just exploded with it."

That Halloween Danny went as Angus Young with his guitar in hand and his small amp strapped to his belt. When the doorbell rang, instead of trick or treat he rocked out an AC/DC riff. The kid came away with a payload of candy – the equivalent of groupie action if you haven’t discovered girls yet – and it became even more obvious the guitar thing was not going to go away.

Piano prodigies are a dime a dozen but electric guitar prodigies are a rarer breed. As box office receipts for the recent Hollywood mega-hit film School of Rock showed, there’s nothing cooler than a kid who can play guitar solos.

But what makes Danny Sveinson so exceptional is that not only can he throw down imitations of the greats at will, he also composes his own instrumentals built on original riffs.

He began to make a name for himself in the Lower Mainland after a set of original material at last year’s Vancouver International Children’s Festival that earned him multiple encores.

In just under a year he’s done numerous local TV and radio appearances (he’s practically a regular on Rock 101 FM’s Bro Jake show). He captivated a discerning audience at a Jimi Hendrix exhibit with an impromptu performance of Voodoo Child. Backed by a two-piece stage band, he opened for the Northern Pikes and Colin James, the latter on the legendary stage at the Commodore in Vancouver.

Just a few weeks shy of his 11th birthday, he’ll close the main stage outdoor concert that accompanies the skier Big Air contest at the World Ski & Snowboard festival this Saturday night. Next month he’s back at the Vancouver International Children’s Festival – this time as a headliner.

His parents are behind him all the way, especially since he's playing their songs.

"I was an old heavy metal head," Darwin admits. "Ted Nugent was my hero."

It’s impossible not to hear the pride in his voice, although it’s tempered with a slight sense of bewilderment at the depth of his firstborn’s talent, energy and showmanship. Amp jumps, playing behind the head, Danny's got a deep bag of tricks and Darwin’s subsequently become a rock ’n’ roll version of Walter Gretzky, guiding and promoting his shaggy blond-haired progeny whose exceptional talent has him destined for greatness.

Danny’s already got his sights set on the big leagues.

"Rush," he says definitively, before the question of which band he would most like to open for is even completed. He’s obviously given it prior thought.

The kids in his school are all into hip-hop, he says, making him a bit of an outsider when it comes to music, but he remains undaunted by peer pressure. He’s devoted to rock – Spirit of Radio, Tom Sawyer, Thunderstruck and the Immigrant Song are on rotation in his CD player.

No wonder he’s such a hit on Rock 101.

Danny Sveinson will close Saturday night’s main stage gala, which also features DJ Vinyl Ritchie, Vancouver MCs Rumble, Curtis Santiago, and Lady Precise, electro-pop chick Natasha Thirsk and Afro-Worldbeat ensemble Marimba Nyenyedzi – junior members of Vancouver’s Jabulani troupe. The show is part of the DKNY//Jeans outdoor concert series occurring daily throughout the Telus World Ski & Snowboard Festival. The series features superstar hip-hop collective Black Eyed Peas this afternoon and wraps up Sunday with performances by Xavier Rudd, the Beautiful Girls and Sekiden.

For more information go to www.whistler2004.com.