A Detroit area native, Daniel attended the University of Michigan where he studied acting, directing, playwriting and poetry, winning the University’s most prestigious writing award, the Hopwood, three times and publishing Daylight Savings, a collection of his poems, with Ornithology Press. In 2001, he settled down from travelling in New Orleans to focus on music and theatre. There he did everything from late night piano lounge lizard gigs to bluegrass jams