(Colin Pearson / Dan Garrison)
Let me tell you about a night that completely surprised me.
I wasn’t expecting much. Just a casual show my friend mentioned in passing. Punk musicians playing acoustic sets? Sure, why not? I figured it’d be a novelty at least. But what I experienced at LanaLou’s that evening shifted something in me. It’s the night I first saw another side of Danny Garrison, and the night I realized acoustic punk could hit just as hard as anything plugged in.
The turnout was impressive. The place was packed with punks in every imaginable style. There were patched jackets, dyed hair, piercings, and a contagious energy. Everyone seemed to know each other, and the vibe was lit through a smoke machine, buzzing with warmth and anticipation.
Danny took the stage dressed exactly as you’d expect. A vest, facial piercings, totally on-brand. But there was something in his expression that hinted at something deeper, something quieter. Then he sat down on the single stool center stage, picked up his guitar, and began to play.
From the first note, his voice struck me. It was somehow nostalgic, even though I’d never heard him before. I was instantly transported back to the early 2000s. But the lyrics kept me grounded, rooted in that exact moment, in 2023, in a dive bar off Hastings Street.
The songs were raw and deeply personal. The way Danny delivered his words, unfiltered, vulnerable, and with just an acoustic guitar, was captivating. There was no pretense. It was stripped down, honest, and completely punk in spirit. I was hooked.
Kinda-Coustic Vol. 1 captures that same feeling. It’s a buffet of human emotion. Grief, joy, love, and regret served without the gloss of heavy production or layered instrumentation. Every track asks you to show up as you are, to stand there without your armor and feel everything.
This isn’t just an acoustic punk album. It’s a reminder that vulnerability is powerful, and that sometimes the most punk thing you can do is sit down with a guitar and tell the truth.
I walked into that bar expecting something different, maybe even a little gimmicky. What I got was something honest, something that stuck. Kinda-Coustic Vol. 1 is an invitation. To laugh, to cry, to strip back the noise, to remember that music doesn’t have to shout to be loud. If you give it a real listen, I think you’ll feel it too.
https://kindacoolrecords.bandcamp.com/album/kinda-coustic-vol-1
Written by Alana Black | Evolution Media
Contact: ablack23@my.bcit.ca