Notes for Ryan Thomas Daniels: Ryan Thomas Daniels (b: February 21, 1976)
Ryan is the only son of Thomas Edward Daniels x Marlene Heckman Ryan is the brother of Lori Wynn Daniels
Ryan is a 1994 graduate of Dover High School Ryan attended Ohio University, Athens, OH. Ryan enjoys guitar. Ryan is employed with an agency who provides homes for adults with mental retardation. Ryan is the final and only male of his generation in this branch of the Daniels family.
Following from Times Reporter Newspaper, Friday, April 23, 2004 Page C-10: Like father, like son -- Ryan Daniels following in dad's footsteps
By RYAN KARP, T-R Staff Writer
It has been said a legend is born when someone follows in that person’s footsteps. It has also been said a legend never completely disappears.
Since Tom Daniels and Terry Rinehart of Dover fall into both categories, they easily can be considered musical legends in the Tuscarawas Valley.
Daniels and Rinehart, who performed early folk music from the mid-1970s to the 1980s, reunited a year ago and have begun performing once or twice a month at area venues since then.
The Daniels and Rinehart reunion occurred thanks to Tom Daniels’ son, Ryan, of Dover, who is 28 and now performs as part of the duo Daniels and Chek. The younger musicians, following in the footsteps of Daniels and Rinehart, are creating quite a buzz of their own.
“I always say I wish I had a nickel for every time someone asks me if I’m Tom Daniels’ son, because if I did I’d be a millionaire,” Ryan said.
Ryan said he really would like people to ask his father if he’s “Ryan Daniels’ dad.”
The other half of Ryan’s duo is Michael Chek, 30, of New Philadelphia, who is married to Ryan’s cousin.
The two once played together as part of a rock band, but decided to start a musical duo of their own.
Tom, 57, said he is amazed to see his son follow after him with his own duo.
“He was a shy guy growing up. He was a quiet kid but when he broke out, he broke out,” Tom said. “I always knew he had it in him.”
While Daniels and Rinehart prefer the sounds of early folk artists like Bob Dylan mixed with the storytelling flair of artists like Harry Chapin, the Daniels and Chek duo have a completely different sound.
“When we started, I didn’t really want to play the stuff my dad played,” Ryan said of his duo’s acoustic electric rock sound. “I wanted to play our style - our generation’s music.”
The two different generations of music are what brought Daniels and Rinehart back together.
A year ago Ryan was hosting an open microphone night in Rascal’s at Dover. When he didn’t have enough people to perform that night, he asked his dad and Rinehart to perform. It had been almost 20 years since the two had played together and they only remembered three of their songs.
But the response was great, according to Rinehart, who teaches special education at New Philadelphia High with plans of retiring next year.
“People were saying, ‘Play that song.’ It shocked us,” Rinehart said. “I never realized the impact we had,” adding that even after he and Tom stopped playing, people recognized him from the duo.
Tom said more than 800 people attended the final Daniels and Rinehart concert in 1980. It was the last time the two played together until reuniting a year ago.
“No one did that kind of stuff then,” Tom said, reflecting on how the music scene has changed since he and Rinehart performed. “If you were there, you were a part of that evening. We weren’t there to perform for people, we were there to interact with them.”
“We played a more sophisticated music type,” said Rinehart who referenced a line by singer and songwriter David Wilcox, “An evening of music is a chance to peek around the walls that keep us all feeling like strangers.”
After performing at the request of Ryan, Daniels and Rinehart began to play again, although their music schedule is much different than that of their early days. In the “old” days, the two would perform a couple of times a week; now they play together once or twice a month.
“It was like a job,” Rinehart said. “Now we’re at the point where it’s fun. We’re doing it just for the love of it now.”
Daniels agreed with performing less.
“At this point in my life, I just want to keep it simple. The scary thing is we could be that busy again,” he said.
Daniels is a retired Dover High English, speech and drama teacher. He now substitutes for New Philadelphia’s opportunity school, an alternative education program held evenings.
However, for Ryan Daniels, who works at Balzer’s Tool Coating in Dover, playing music with Chek is something they can do more often.
Ryan said people have asked if he and his father will ever play together as a duo.
“We’d like to play together,” Ryan said. “We know one song together. We’d only have to learn about 10 more.”
That one song is “Cat’s in the Cradle” by Harry Chapin. Tom and Ryan sang it together the first time Ryan played in public. It was with his dad at a 1994 benefit concert at Dover High when Ryan was a senior in high school.
Some of the area venues in which Daniels and Chek perform are the Gathering Place, Broadway Brewhouse and the Canal Days festival at Dover.
Ryan said people have asked Chek and him to play some of the songs his dad and Rinehart once played, but they prefer songs from the 1980s and 1990s.
“We’re far beyond thinking we’re going to be rock stars,” Ryan said. “We pretty much do the songs we grew up listening to - the songs we love.”
Tom said he enjoys watching his son just as much as he does playing again with Rinehart.
“One of my biggest kicks is seeing him play, because he’s my son,” he said. “Seeing young people do stuff like that is cool.”
Ryan Thomas Daniels (b. 21 Feb 1976)
Notes for Ryan Thomas Daniels: