Kevin Bronson on April 16th, 2019

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Englishman Danny McGaw has turned a lot of pages to reach the next chapter of musical journey. A former professional soccer player from Salford, he first came to California several years ago, busking on the streets of Santa Monica and honing his folk singing, before moving to Kansas City and forming the band Wells the Traveler. Two albums later, he came back west, where, fronting the group Danny McGaw and the 33, he makes folk-rock that is the stuff of tent revivals.

Witness the new single “Let’s Go Get Ice Cream.” It’s a rousing Everyman rocker from a songwriter who advocates shucking the troubles of the real world for a moment in favor of embracing simple pleasures. “Let’s go get ice cream / Let’s go get drunk / Let’s go see a movie / have some fun,” he bellows in the song made for hand claps, foot stomps and shout-alongs. He calls it “a song about forgiving life and all its troubles.”

Director Michael Estrella’s humorous and ultimately uplifting video for the single finds McGaw sporting life’s bump and bruises but celebrating the good stuff.

It’s indicative of the spirit of “Northern Lad,” the new album he made with producer Tim Hutton at the Canyon Hut. “Hutton really grasped my vision for this record,” McGaw says. “Big hooks, guitars, harmonies … more punk-rock than folk-rock.” McGaw is joined in the band’s lineup by another British ex-pat, keyboardist-singer Tim Arlon, along with guitarist Matt Cheadle, bassist Hutton and drummer Greg Weiser. The album release is TBA.

||| Watch: The video for “Let’s Go Get Ice Cream”

||| Live: Danny McGaw and the 33 celebrate the single and video release with a show Friday night at Harvard & Stone, along with Aaron Embry. It’s free.