Daniel Wesley on stage at Cram Jam. (Alicia-Rae Light photo)

Daniel Wesley, a critically acclaimed singer, songwriter and guitarist won the 2007 Fox Seeds award and had the most requested single in Vancouver, and this is just the beginning for Wesley. Touring with The Trews and opening for Tom Cochrane, Daniel Wesley is making waves across the country with his mellow, beach-style rock music that leaves fans wanting more.

Wesley grew up in Langley, with his older brother, two younger sisters and a little brother. Wesley’s father worked, while his mom quit her job as a nurse to be a stay-at-home mom. The family had a huge influence on his music.

“My family’s been fostering kids for 20 years almost. It’s been a big part of our upbringing,” said Wesley. “I think it’s really helped us get a good perspective on some things.”

Wesley first got into music at a young age. He remembers piling into his mother’s Volkswagen van with his siblings, cranking oldies and singing along.

“It was fun times, there was a lot of love in that van,” Wesley said. “Then I’d start singing in the shower and just enjoying things like that. My brothers and sisters and I would put on Michael Jackson and we’d wear Michael Jackson jackets and jump around and sing.

“It was just all about love, and music is all about love and it just kind of registered. Then you grow up and realize that some things are more important than other things, and music has been one of the best things in my life.”

Before The Daniel Wesley Band, he was in a heavy rock band and began “getting sick of that type of music. I wanted to do something different,” he said.

“This project is like an inspiration of life. Sometimes my life has had dark periods, sometimes there’s happy periods. And I just want to be a happy person. Sometimes I did bad things to myself and other people, and I just wanted to turn over a new leaf and really do good things, and this whole thing, Daniel Wesley, was the start of it.

“I started writing songs that made me happy and they ended up being reggae, beach kind of songs.”

Wesley finds his inspiration from his family, friends and his girlfriend. “If I’m happy, and the things in my life are good, then my music’s going to carry that along,” he said. “That’s the most important thing to me; having good relationships with the people that mean the most to me.”

The band was having some difficulties getting along in earlier tours which resulted in changes with drummers, but they think they have finally got it right with Mark Luongo on bass and Josh Carlsen on drums. “We’re all getting to a point now, where we pretty much found the guys that are going to be playing with us,” Wesley said.

“We’re going to be doing lots of the States before Christmas, we have our album released in Japan and we want to go to Australia and the U.K.”

Of all the places Wesley plans to go, he is most excited to see Brazil. His brother lived in Brazil for a year, and Wesley missed out to work on his music, which paid off in the end.

“It’s a really new chapter for us,” said Wesley. “It will be really cool once it becomes more of a worldwide thing, but just because I want to see the world, just like everyone else.

“I want to have a career as a musician, and I want to make the best music I can make. I think the best musicians are the people that end up being famous. It’s something I’m willing to cope with. I think I’m a capable person of dealing with it, but it’s not something I’m really looking forward to or looking for.”

At Cram Jam, Wesley’s voice penetrates the Cloverdale Agridome. He breaks only to take a sip of beer or to change his guitar. When Wesley performs, it’s hard not to notice the swooning girls, and it’s not just because of his tattooed arms or curly blonde hair; it’s his flawless voice.

“I see some familiar faces,” he says, before pulling out his first guitar, which is just one out of the four he will use. He begins to sing and the crowd sings along with him.

“I like it because they sing our songs with us. When that started happening for us, that was really, really neat,” said Wesley. “It’s something I’ve always wanted.”