Meet Danny Brunjes | Songwriter & Producer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Danny Brunjes and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Danny, can you tell us more about your background and the role it’s played in shaping who you are today?
First off, thanks so much for wanting to hear a bit about my story. I really appreciate what you are doing here locally, so I wanted to make sure I started by saying that.

I am from right here in sunny south Florida. Sometimes it feels like I’m the last remaining millennial who was born and raised here and is still here. Palm Beach County, and West Palm Beach in particular tends to be pretty transient. But, despite how much the area and the people that occupy it have changed and evolved over my life here, I still love this place deeply and no matter where I am in the world it will always be home.

I would say living in the same general area for my whole life has definitely impacted who I am pretty significantly. When you don’t move around a lot, you don’t really get the opportunity to reinvent yourself with new people or submerse yourself in different environments that can influence your growth and creativity. And while I get that there are many advantages to that, there is also something profoundly meaningful about having to grow and change with longstanding roots planted. In a meta sense, I think it has helped and is helping me become even more deeply who I already am rather than becoming something else. And that really speaks to how my values as a person have been shaped.

Emotionally, spiritually, and relationally, I think I’ve been on one long journey towards becoming the most alive and connected version of who I’ve always been. And whether I remain in this area geographically or not (which I plan to), that’s something about me that will always be the case. I’ll always be on a journey to maintain that connection with what I would call my True Self. In a weird way, I have this place in large part to thank for that.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I’ve been at this music thing for quite a long time. When I was in the fifth grade, I won $100 in a raffle. The next day, I used the money to buy my first guitar. It was a nylon string Epiphone acoustic. I’m sure it was a little more than $100 but my parents probably covered the difference. From that point on, I was hooked.

But interestingly enough, I just never had the drive to be the best or most technically skilled musician. What captivated me was the idea of eventually being able to craft my own songs. That was always the goal. Get good enough to write songs. So that’s what I did. I started writing songs. And honestly, it’s never come easy to me. And I wrote a lot of really shitty, terrible songs. But they were my shitty, terrible songs. And that meant the world to me. Especially because I struggled socially through middle school and some of high school. Before finding actual therapy as an adult, the creative process was my therapy. A nonjudgmental space to say whatever I wanted to, however I wanted to. That was a life saver.

Even to this day, I’ve gotten decent at the instruments I play and even at producing music in studio, but that doesn’t motivate me so much. There’s a hell of a lot of people who can play instruments and sing way better than I could ever dream of. There’s probably just as many who can produce music better than I ever could. But I am the only one who can tell my story in my words. I think that is at the center of what drives my creative process. And I can be pretty dramatic with myself sometimes. Whenever I write something I like I truly think to myself, “That’s it, that’s the last song I’ll ever write. I got nothing else.” But the reality is that life keeps happening. And as long as I’m awake to it, there will always be more songs. I think that’s a big learning. The songs are a gift to me and the reward is inherent in making them, not in what they produce after they are made. And we don’t really get to choose when we receive gifts, but we ought to appreciate them when they come.

In addition to writing/performing/producing/etc., my most recent venture is operating a pop up listening room music venue called Wood Hall. It is hosted in the upstairs hall of a 100+ year old church building in Downtown West Palm Beach (Memorial Presbyterian Church). One thing i’ve experienced as a local artist and have heard from many others is that while they are grateful for opportunities to perform, a lot of those opportunities are to play two to three hour mostly cover sets in bars and restaurants where you often become background noise. The idea of Wood Hall is to put the spotlight completely on the artist and let them share as much or as little about themselves and their art as they’d like. So far we’ve hosted artists like Audrey Assad (Nashville, TN), myself, Jesse Allan, Brit Drozda, Drum & Company and Verona Rose (please go listen to all of them, they are wonderful). The audience gets to experience excellent local music in a unique and connected way in a beautiful space with awesome sound. That’s the goal. So far it’s been really exciting to see it unfold. I have always had a heart and a passion to see the local creatives here be truly heard and cared for. This is just one small way of contributing to that. You can follow Wood Hall on instagram, @woodhallwpb. We’ll be scheduling more events for 2024 and I’m really excited about what we have in the pipeline :).

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
So even though I spent most of my formidable years in West Palm Beach, I am most recently a proud resident of Lake Worth Beach. If you don’t know, Lake Worth is a weird, corky, gritty little beach town. But I really love it. It’s just a notch south of WPB, but it feels very different. West Palm has gone through so much development and gentrification, even just since the Covid pandemic. I love West Palm, but Lake Worth has maintained that old Florida charm (so far).

So, we’d definitely be hitting a mix of Lake Worth and West Palm spots. We’d probably start off with breakfast at Benny’s on the Beach. A great spot right on the Lake Worth pier. Then we’d get a coffee at the Common Grounds coffee shop right in downtown Lake Worth. While there’s all kinds of options in Lake Worth for lunch (L-Dub Subs, Lilo’s Street Food, Dave’s, etc.), I’d have to go over to West Palm to grab a sandwich from Buccan Sandwich Shop window which is on the side of Grato restaurant (also great). The buffalo chicken and beef carpaccio are my personal favs but you can’t go wrong. After lunch, we’d probably grab a couple beers at Civil Society Brewing right on the same street as the sandwich window. When I moved to Lake Worth, I got myself a street legal golf cart (as one does). So once we sobered up after Civil beers, we’d have to go back to Lake Worth to take a golf cart cruise to Phipps Ocean Park. It’s my favorite beach spot. Go to’s for dinner would be Jewell Bistro (favorite place around), Grato, Hullabaloo, Tropical Smokehouse, Buccan on Palm Beach (fancy). I think we’d end with a nightcap at The Library (a little speakeasy attached to Lilo’s Street Food).

Some other notable mentions/must try’s are Composition Coffee House, Pumphouse Pouratorium, Cholo Soy Cocina (tacos), Juicy Cocktail Bar, Don Victorio’s produce market, Respectable St. night club and venue, Rust and Wax and Top Five Records for vinyls, Harry’s Banana Farm for the ultimate dive bar experience, Mad Hatter for a LGBTQIA+ bar. There’s more, but start there :).

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Oh man, this is tough. There are so many people and places I could list here. As far as people/groups go, I am part of a small spiritual community and church called Providencia WPB. The late great Rachel Held Evans who I really admire said that churches should look less like country clubs and more like AA. I’ve found that to be really resonant with my experience at Providencia WPB and I couldn’t be more grateful.

My immediate family has also been incredibly supportive and steadfast through the many versions of me that have come and gone. Personally and creatively. So I have to mention them. And I have to single out my son Eli. He inspires me every day.

Some co-creators that have been huge inspirations and comrades include but is not limited to David Urbinati, Emily Blaylock, Jeff Rose, Ryan Alexander, Eric Blythe, Jon Wagner, Brent Ray, Michal Milliken, Sarah Claire Smith-Colling, Micah Drum…the list could go on forever. So to every friend who has collaborated, supported, taught, or invested in me, I am forever indebted to you.

In general over the last couple years, I’ve found myself really moved by christian mysticism and Celtic christian mysticism in particular. Authors and spiritual thinkers like Thomas Merton, John O’Donohue, John Phillip Newell, Richard Rohr, James Finley, Theresa of Avila and so many others have imparted a lot of wisdom and have been so helpful.

And last but not least…my therapist, haha. In all seriousness though, my personal therapist and the whole model of Internal Family Systems therapy has changed my life. I highly recommend reading the book No Bad Parts by Richard Schwartz.

I could continue on forever, but I won’t.

Instagram: @dannybrunjes

Other: My Spotify Artist Page: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2t47ux3unYkI6IL3SvzN5s?si=cwfpAv45Rd2UBoMc9UCvGQ A Spotify playlist of everything I’ve produced that has been released: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4yNbZi4vhIipJgEy5yrDCs?si=1f98620707b846c2 Wood Hall: IG for Wood Hall – @woodhallwpb

Image Credits
Jen Talesman, Brian Larrabee, Nick Murray and Kate Riniker.