At our Summer NAMM HANG I was introduced to Daniel Macal . Our friends at James Tyler Guitars had told me about him . It was a crowded room at this annual A & R style Meet n ’ Greet in Nashville , but I was glad to spend a few minutes getting to know Daniel . As you will see in this interview , there is a lot more here than meets the eye in this humble guitarist .
[ WM ] Daniel , your musical journey actually starts with your father Mynor Macal . He was a professional touring drummer that played with the likes of Santana , Eddie Money and Leon Patillo . That is remarkable . Tell us how he got you personally started in music ?
[ Daniel Macal ] Dad always had music going on in the house . One of my earliest memories is him playing Cliff ’ s of Dover on the home stereo for me . I must have been 3 years old holding a toy guitar with very loose strings pretending to be Eric Johnson .
From then on Dad introduced me to bands like Van Halen , Journey , Santana , Boston , Def Leppard , Toto … Dad was also a worship leader and we listened to a lot of early CCM bands like Newsboys , DC Talk , and Audio Adrenaline to name a few .
Dad had me playing in church at a very young age . I remember one of the first songs he taught me on guitar was “ Our Love Is Loud ” by the David Crowder Band .
[ WM ] Growing up in the Bay area of California you were surrounded by several music styles . Tell us what those were and about the influence they had on you as a young guitarist ?
[ Daniel ] The Bay Area was a great place to learn music . I was very blessed to be around a lot of amazing musicians at a very young age . I was being influenced in styles like Fusion Jazz , Blues , Rock and Pop . I was learning a lot of Latin Jazz and Brazilian music from my Dad as well .
[ WM ] What I like about your background is that you valued guitar lessons and mentorship and pursued being a student of the guitar . Something I believe is important but that is lost many times on aspiring guitarists . Tell us about some of your teachers and mentors ?
[ Daniel ] I was learning drums from my Dad in the beginning . That gave me a great foundation of understanding rhythm and time . Later on , that translated well on the guitar . Eventually
Dad put me in guitar lessons with Vernon Ice Black . I spent many years learning from Vernon at Bananas at Large in San Rafael , CA . He ’ s an amazing guitarist who has toured with artists such as Whitney Houston , Mariah Carey , and Stevie Wonder to name few . Not only did he teach me the guitar , but also to how take care of my instrument and equipment .
Later on , I studied with Tal Morris ( Huey Lewis