Singer · Lyricist · Songwriter
Michael Dane Hager is a San Francisco Bay Area singer, lyricist, and songwriter whose music braids folk, Americana, country and rock into a classic-sounding collection infused with his unique musical personality and sensitivity.
His dense and cathartic prose is woven throughout his songs — an impassioned, textured voice that fills every forlorn lyric with the feeling of what an echo of our inner thoughts might sound like. He is a songwriter determined to imbue each song with hard-won authority while not afraid to show vulnerability.
Beyond music, Hager is a successful songwriter with over 40 songs recorded by a variety of artists. In 2004 he turned his creative talents to writing novels and theatrical plays. His first novel Just Beyond the Edge (2011) received rave reviews. His theatrical play The Last Ride was produced in 2008 to sold-out audiences.
From the album Echoes Across the Divide · featuring Stevie Gurr
New Video Release A music video for “Swept Away” by Michael Dane Hager, from the album Echoes Across the Divide. The video captures the emotional aftermath of a lost relationship—memories that linger, questions left unanswered, and the struggle to move forward. Blending reflective imagery with themes of longing and vulnerability, “Swept Away” explores how love can endure through memory, even when everything else has changed.
Photographs
Two albums on Yellow Curb Records
"Michael Dane Hager Displays Resonating Blend Of Wisdom & Vulnerability On New Album 'Fire On The Water'" — Hannah Bohn, Music Mecca
"Michael Dane Hager's Album 'Echoes Across the Divide' Changing Lives" — Music Insider • Songs have passed 40,000 Spotify streams with "Swept Away" reaching 28,000+
What they're saying
"Fire on the Water braids folk, Americana and country together into a classic sounding collection infused with Michael Dane Hager's unique musical personality and sensitivity. This album feels like a conversation with a close friend who's been through it, who's searched through the light and shadows — and is better for it."
"Michael Dane Hager shares with his listeners his message of hope and concern around important issues of our time and invites us to contemplate our daily lives from a compassionate perspective. Conveyed in simple yet eloquent rock and folk settings, this collection of songs presents an acoustic/electric sound that is the ideal background for Michael's plaintive outcry and soulful vocals."
"Tender Love clearly demonstrates Michael's dedication to the craft of songwriting. There are few songs that speak so deeply about the struggles and complexity of maintaining a faltering relationship."
"There are few albums that demand the full attention of the listeners as Echoes Across the Divide. Whether speaking to important issues of the today or drilling down deep into our emotions, these songs provide a place to reflect on our place in the world."
The collaborators who helped make these records
Award-winning Singer/Songwriter, Guitarist, Record Producer, Recording Engineer and Arranger. (Universal Music Group)
Guitar Maestro & Songwriter. Written hits for The Carpenters, Art Garfunkel and Lee Greenwood. Billboard Magazine Top 20. (Capitol Records, RCA/Victor)
Musician, Vocalist, Songwriter, Freelance Writer
Cellist, Multi-instrumentalist
All 11 songs from the album
Now you sit alone, my old friend
Like a stranger I never knew
I watch you almost every single night
At the coffee shop downtown
The times they are a changing
Sang the jester with his crooked smile
His mocking words are fading fast
As we slowly burn these highway miles
There are angels on the stairway
There are voices in the hall
There are strangers in the shadows
That I cannot recognize
I wanted you to know on this special day
To leave no question in your mind
That your everything to me
You're a woman one of a kind
I was truckin' down the road I'd just emptied my freight
I've been drinking hundred-mile coffee since I left my home
Then I saw the neon lights that said
Oh when the pain stops rolling like thunder
And the rain stops pouring down
And the voices start calling out
That everything will be all right
I've traveled around this world
I've had my share of thrills
I've tasted the joys of life
I've treasured all the good times
Springtime was on its way when we first met
I can see you walking there along the beach
You never saw me there
You never knew how much I cared
There is this thing called music
That keeps playing in my head
It grooves, it moves
And it damn well soothes
I remember the way the west used to be
Blue skies just as far as you can see
But now your cities have drowned my prairies
Self-made smile, shining pair of boots,
My father's guitar that's all I claim
Looking for my fortune, a sentimental dream
All 11 songs from the album
I was thinking about the day we left each other standing in the rain
And I was wondering how you are and how much you've really changed
And I remember the things we said and thought we both understood
There's a cold wind blowing through my heart
As I watch the games go down
And all across the room, the scene unfolds
Of empty smiles and faithless love
I was talking to the bums on 42nd Street
I was listening to their sad lives
It was down at the depot they would meet
It was there they spoke of their strife
There is a beginning to every ending
In all the stages of your life
And your light will keep on burning
Somewhere in the stars at night
There's a great forest burning
To the south of our homeland
They say it's all in the name
To promote the lives of man
I can see you walking down the dark avenues
Past my lonely room
You're like the moonlight shining bright
Drowning all the stars
He left his home just a boy of eighteen years old
Couldn't take the family life he was forced to live
Struggling to find his dreams like a lost fool in the night
Just a simple man
With a simple dream
Hoping the world can see
What it takes to be free
Oh the cantos on my bookshelf
With the words of a crazy man
Don't you know he lived by truth but died alone
We're headed into darker waters
Into places we don't know
But as long as we have each other
We'll never be alone
Born in the year of nineteen seventy-eight
A product of a war he never would appreciate
Raised on heroes he never knew
In a fantasy land built on empty plans