Michael Dane Hager

Michael Dane Hager

Singer · Lyricist · Songwriter

Americana Folk Rock Country

About

Michael Dane Hager writing

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.

Swept Away — Music Video

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.

Discography

Two albums on Yellow Curb Records

Fire on the Water
Fire on the Water
2023

"Michael Dane Hager Displays Resonating Blend Of Wisdom & Vulnerability On New Album 'Fire On The Water'" — Hannah Bohn, Music Mecca

  • 1. Smoke & Mirrors 4:25
  • 2. Fire on the Water 5:27
  • 3. Dazed & Confused 4:22
  • 4. Loving You Is Easy 4:12
  • 5. Pavement Princess 4:52
  • 6. Settle Down 3:11
  • 7. Nothing as Good as a Friend 2:33
  • 8. You Left Me Half Crazy 4:27
  • 9. There Is This Thing Called Music 1:03
  • 10. Lonesome Cowboy 4:21
  • 11. Night Dreams 4:20
Genre: Folk / Americana / Country
Producer: Zach Balch
Recorded at: Cinder Sound Studio, Longmont, CO
Mastering: Jeff Gross
Cover Art: Stephen Goodfellow
Echoes Across the Divide
Echoes Across the Divide
2021

"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+

  • 1. Swept Away 4:44
  • 2. Tender Love 4:07
  • 3. Bums on 42nd Street 4:42
  • 4. Beginning to Every Ending 4:25
  • 5. The Age of Indifference 5:31
  • 6. Shadows of Your Heart 4:47
  • 7. High Flying Man 3:43
  • 8. Simple Man 3:16
  • 9. Cantos 4:40
  • 10. Let Your Heart Be Your Guide 4:17
  • 11. Born in 1978 5:05
Genre: Americana / Folk / Rock
Executive Producer: X DOT 25 Music
Producers: Aldoush Alpanian, Zach Balch, John McVey
Mastered at: Rocket Lab, San Francisco (Michael Romanowski)

Supporting Suicide Prevention

All artist proceeds from Echoes Across the Divide go to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

Press & Reviews

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."

Music Mecca — Hannah Bohn, December 2023

"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."

San Francisco Chronicle

"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."

Steve Eaton — Gold & Platinum Singer/Songwriter (Capitol Records, RCA/Victor)

"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."

Michael Sanders — Former Executive, MTA Records

The Musicians

The collaborators who helped make these records

Zach Balch
Zach Balch
Producer, Engineer, Guitarist, Vocals

Award-winning Singer/Songwriter, Guitarist, Record Producer, Recording Engineer and Arranger. (Universal Music Group)

Steve Eaton
Steve Eaton
Harmonica, Guitar

Guitar Maestro & Songwriter. Written hits for The Carpenters, Art Garfunkel and Lee Greenwood. Billboard Magazine Top 20. (Capitol Records, RCA/Victor)

Karyna Balch
Karyna Balch
Harmony Vocals

Musician, Vocalist, Songwriter, Freelance Writer

James Hoskins
James Hoskins
Cello

Cellist, Multi-instrumentalist

Lyrics — Fire on the Water

All 11 songs from the album

1. Smoke & Mirrors
Fire on the Water · Michael Dane Hager

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

2. Fire on the Water
Fire on the Water · Michael Dane Hager

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

3. Dazed & Confused
Fire on the Water · Michael Dane Hager

There are angels on the stairway

There are voices in the hall

There are strangers in the shadows

That I cannot recognize

4. Loving You Is Easy
Fire on the Water · Michael Dane Hager

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

5. Pavement Princess
Fire on the Water · Michael Dane Hager

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

6. Settle Down
Fire on the Water · Michael Dane Hager

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

7. Nothing as Good as a Friend
Fire on the Water · Michael Dane Hager

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

8. You Left Me Half Crazy
Fire on the Water · Michael Dane Hager

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

9. There Is This Thing Called Music
Fire on the Water · Michael Dane Hager

There is this thing called music

That keeps playing in my head

It grooves, it moves

And it damn well soothes

10. Lonesome Cowboy
Fire on the Water · Michael Dane Hager

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

11. Night Dreams
Fire on the Water · Michael Dane Hager

Self-made smile, shining pair of boots,

My father's guitar that's all I claim

Looking for my fortune, a sentimental dream

Lyrics — Echoes Across the Divide

All 11 songs from the album

1. Swept Away
Echoes Across the Divide · Michael Dane Hager

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

2. Tender Love
Echoes Across the Divide · Michael Dane Hager

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

3. Bums on 42nd Street
Echoes Across the Divide · Michael Dane Hager

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

4. Beginning to Every Ending
Echoes Across the Divide · Michael Dane Hager

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

5. The Age of Indifference
Echoes Across the Divide · Michael Dane Hager

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

6. Shadows of Your Heart
Echoes Across the Divide · Michael Dane Hager

I can see you walking down the dark avenues

Past my lonely room

You're like the moonlight shining bright

Drowning all the stars

7. High Flying Man
Echoes Across the Divide · Michael Dane Hager

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

8. Simple Man
Echoes Across the Divide · Michael Dane Hager

Just a simple man

With a simple dream

Hoping the world can see

What it takes to be free

9. Cantos
Echoes Across the Divide · Michael Dane Hager

Oh the cantos on my bookshelf

With the words of a crazy man

Don't you know he lived by truth but died alone

10. Let Your Heart Be Your Guide
Echoes Across the Divide · Michael Dane Hager

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

11. Born in 1978
Echoes Across the Divide · Michael Dane Hager

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