Austin is home to people from all walks of life who are rooted in different parts of the world. Each individual has a different story about what led them to this city and how they discovered Pease Park. In People of Pease Park, we highlight people who make Austin’s green space the dynamically vibrant place we know and love. In this story, we interviewed Daniel R. Palmer, a long-time Austinite well-known for his soothing acoustic guitar playing, alongside his usual bench facing Shoal Creek at Live Oak Meadow.
On this park bench in Live Oak Meadow, Daniel has found the perfect spot to enjoy the stillness that’s found in one of Austin’s many beautiful parks. This is where you can often find him playing his guitar.
PPC: Have you always been an Austin resident? If so, for how long? If not, what drew you here?
Daniel: I moved here in 2006 because my big sister arrived a few years prior. I started off working in the wine business, where I learned all about the world of fine wines and spirits, culminating in an adventure to the South of France to visit the vineyards.
I first came across Pease on a bike ride while exploring the trails and cycling infrastructure, which are truly some of the nicest features of the city. Sometimes when you explore them, you don't even feel like you're in the city.
PPC: Can you share with us your connection to Pease Park and what your experience has been in Pease throughout your time here in Austin?
Daniel: I love walking, running, reading, and especially playing guitar in Pease Park. There is one spot in particular where we’re surrounded by hanging Spanish moss, which reminds me of Florida, where the hanging moss can grow rampant. It’s nicest in the fall, winter, and especially spring months, which are really the most beautiful times of the year in Central Texas. I mostly grew up in the Midwest, where there are four seasons, but I feel right at home here in Pease.
I’ve always said one of the few things Austin is missing is a beach, but relaxing in the park as dog walkers, college kids, moms with strollers, squirrels, and other local weirdos meander by, as the breeze, birds, and I serenade them, suffices just fine.
PPC: While playing your guitar in the park, what kind of responses have you received from other park visitors?
Daniel: Most passersby simply give a nod of acceptance, or amazement, perhaps indifference, seldom scowls, a thumbs up, smile, or wave - I'd say more positive than negative responses. The smiles are always reciprocated, and I will say that children and the elderly almost unanimously dig my tunes, which people describe as folk/classical crossover, but they’re hard to define. I’ve also always said that music without lyrics transcends all ages, languages, and cultures, and unites all walks of life.
It’s always a blessing to start playing in solitude and then people start to congregate around or become drawn to picnic closeby and listen, or even spark up a conversation or ask me if I’m accepting tips, even though making music has never been about money, it’s about the process and catharsis. If asked, I’ll hand out cards with my recordings and play a lot of my own compositions from Shadows on the Bright Side, as well as more refined Baroque, Celtic, and Spanish material.
PPC: What is one thing that still draws you to Pease Park to this day?
Daniel: I think I speak for a lot of people here that we come to the park to unwind, decompress, contemplate, get some rays, the fresh air, and to just be present in nature and with the wildlife. It's very therapeutic. So people seem to enjoy the additional fingerpicking ambiance that contributes to the already pleasant and down-to-earth atmosphere for me, as well as the passersby.
PPC: Do you have any current projects you would like for us to share?
Daniel: A lot of my current and future works delve deeply into themes of immortality and the afterlife. I’d like to work on piano material too, but you can’t exactly hike out there with one on your back. There was a time when the city stationed pianos all over the trails. It would be cool if they did that again! You never know whose path you might cross that has some good “chops” as Louis Armstrong used to say.
