Episode 68: Dan Hubbard
Rachel: Welcome to Redbird Buzz. I'm Rachel Kobus from University Marketing and Communication. When 2007 alum Dan Hubbard learned his first guitar chords in high school, he learned music could also be his outlet for telling his story and the story of others. While majoring in political science at Illinois State, Dan's eyes were open to world culture and history, shaping the way he constructed his songs. Now, as a seasoned singer-songwriter covering genres from indie folk and Americana to R&B and pop, he has released 10 studio albums as an independent artist, toured throughout the United States, opened in headline stages, and shared his voice and talent with many, and now he is coming back to campus to share his talent at Braden Auditorium for Homecoming 2026 Redbirds Reunites Tuesday concert, opening for country artist Averyanna. We are so excited to hear more from Dan today. What's the word Redbird? Tell us a little bit about yourself, Dan.
Dan: Hi, I'm Dan Hubbard. I'm a touring singer-songwriter based right here in Bloomington Normal, and I am a graduate of Illinois State University, class of 2007.
Rachel: Which we figured out, yes. Yes. All right. Well, we're happy that Dan is with us today and going to learn a little bit more about, like we said, you and your music and how it started before Illinois State. So your interest in music started well before becoming a Redbird. If I read correctly, it was actually your older brother who influenced you and taught you those first chords. So when was it though you decided I need to use this and I need to write songs and share my talent with the world?
Dan: Yeah, I was 15 really when I was first able to like form chords or put a couple chords together. But as soon as I was able to do that, songs just kind of started pouring out of me. I mean, they weren't good, but…
Rachel: We'll see.
Dan: You know, I yeah, I had some. I've talked about this a bunch before. My oldest brother and I, we lost our middle brother to brain cancer when he was 12, and so I had some things to get off my chest, and music just became really therapeutic and cathartic, and but I didn't really start thinking about it like as something I needed to do or necessarily share with people until I was at Illinois State.
Rachel: Okay, yeah, yeah. So you came to Illinois State. That was kind of the next stop as you continued in this music path, but you graduated with a degree in political science rather than music. So, can you talk a little bit about what you drew to that poli sci world, and then looking back, did your academics kind of shape how you view storytelling, human behavior, business side? So, how did Illinois State kind of give you this next step into your music career, even though you were a poli sci major, right?
Dan: Well, initially I was a music major, so you know, songwriting has always been kind of a mysterious, sometimes magical thing, and so I felt like at the time I don't feel this way now, but at the time it felt like it was you know studying the technical aspect of it and the theory aspect of music was kind of stealing the joy from it, and I was already kind of just doing my own thing. And so, you know, my parents really wanted me to get a backup plan, and so, but politics and government was something I knew that I could lock into and get done, and I was always interested in history and studying other worldviews, and I would say it definitely, you know, shaped my songwriting. I had some amazing professors, and you know, one of the things you study over and over again in politics and government is conflict and and war and the fact that you know we let our differences divide us instead of respecting those differences and you see what powerful people and nations do to exploit their their people instead of taking care of them and so it's always been kind of obvious to me, like what if we just respected one another as human beings, and that's that's become a big part of my my my songwriting, for sure. It's always been about… There's always been an aspect about it that's about love, you know. So that certainly, and just like I said, sometimes you know you just take courses on you know other countries. I remember taking a whole course on China and our relationship to them, an entire course on Africa. So I loved you know getting that perspective and just spending a bunch of time on someone else and their worldviews, and I think that really helps shape you as a human.
Rachel: Yeah, wow! I would never think of it that way, but yeah. And then how it writes into your stories and the music that you produce and play and what-very cool. And I think it's good to point out too that that's the amazing part about higher education in college is that you can start one place and see that no, I want to take my path a different way, and doesn't mean I have to give up my passion for something. But there's still another path in higher ed to complete a degree and continue to do what you love to do, no matter what. So the fact that you found that, and it's okay to try different things and know what's going to strengthen you and what you don't want to be taken away from you then either. It's great to know.
Dan: No doubt, and I think, you know, I took education for granted at that time in my life. You know, now I have, you know, I wish I could go back to school now. You know what I mean? So, but that was something like I said. I felt like I could show up and get something out of it. Yeah, very cool.
Rachel: So, when you were in school, did you play and write a lot? And if you did, how did you juggle then using your, you know, getting through your political science degree and then still performing while at Illinois State?
Dan: Not very well. That's why it took me five and a half, six years to get my undergrad degree. I mean, so I went to school here between 2001 and 2007, and I released three albums in that time. So I was just like, I was writing and recording, and I was out. I was playing at the bars by the time I was 18, 19 years old. So I had kind of started my career already, and I was still needing to finish school, so it took a little longer than I'd hoped. You know, I got it. I got it. I didn't realize you released three albums during your time as a student. That's most. That's mostly what I was doing, unfortunately.
Rachel: But you still juggled it. You still completed both. You still must. That's amazing. So you know, listening to your music, which I'll have to say, my favorite song is probably "Run Towards the River.”
Dan: Thank you, thank you.
Rachel: I was listening as I wrote these questions. I'm not gonna lie, I was listening to your albums. Like as I had to get some like
Dan: Somebody's listening.
Rachel: But so listen to that one if you're all listening. So you fall into a few different genres, in my opinion, from listening to you. So, kind of a mix of indie, Americana, but you've in this more recent album have some R and B and pop. So, how do you go about developing your sound and making it uniquely Dan Hubbard?
Dan: Yeah, I think as songwriters, we, and this is the case with many artists and just people in general, but you're just taking in all this information. I've always been a wallflower. I'm always just kind of observing things. I'm pretty a quiet guy, and then it and then it comes out. It's the same thing with taking in music, and you hope that the combinations of music you love and get exposed to in your life, come out in a cool way, in a cool mix. Like my my dad turned me on to the Beatles, of course, and like classic singer songwriters like Neil Young and Van Morrison and Elton John, and then my oldest brother turned me on to Tom Petty, who is my favorite artist to this day, and like 90s grunge rock, and and now being older and being married with kids, my wife is excellent at like staying current with music and what's new, and she will like send me stuff that is new, but she thinks I'll like it, and just driving my kids every day, and we're listening to pop music, and so all that stuff. I can't help but come out in my music, and like you said, for this this last album was a little more pop and R and B, and I just wanted to do something different. I never really ventured into those genres, and so to keep doing this, you have to find ways to stay interested and motivate yourself, and that's that's how I did it. So it's probably, you know, maybe a little disappointment to my longtime fans, but I just I can't think about that. I have to do what feels good and feels right to me. Feels like a true songwriter then too to try different genres.
Rachel: And like you said, your music comes from your life, so why not showcase it in different ways? So yeah. So, but you've done so many different genres because I think we've seen 10 studio releases. So I mean, that's a lot of, you can put a lot of genres. I feel like, into that. And then you just released your volume one, Letting Go, and that's a rare feat for an independent artist. Yeah. So when you look back at your earliest recordings compared to the songs you're writing now, and you kind of touched on this a little bit, what part of your artistic voice feels like it's transformed? Formed throughout those 10 albums, besides the genre, I guess.
Dan: That's crazy to hear that, 10 albums. That should be a flex, but it's like, but I've sold a total of 10 copies.
Rachel: Stop that! No, he's fine.
Dan: It's spot on, but all to my parents. But no, I think I think literally my voice is what has transformed the most. Like my wife and I, we hear some of my old stuff will come on a playlist, and we're like, "Who is that young boy who didn't know how to sing?” You know. So there's that, and I look back and I wish, like we talk about education, I wish I would have spent more time just getting better before I just jumped into making albums because I think I spent a lot of money doing that and that would definitely be my advice to like young singer stars like get really good and then go in the studio, you know, but at the same time I'm also proud of looking back at that kid because that that was my education. I just learned it all on my own, and I do feel like now I'm 44 years old, and I do still feel like the best is coming. Like now, I feel like I'm actually ready to make great music. You know, yeah.
Rachel: Your life hasn't even started yet.
Dan: Exactly the world to you. That's what I'm saying.
Rachel: Yeah, but 10, but you still got 10 albums. Okay, so maybe by the time you have 30.
Dan: Exactly, then I'll make a good one.
Rachel: Got it. Yeah, but I mean, but it's good to, you know. I'm glad you mentioned that education is important, but the fact I think we have to remember you did all these albums, you got your degree, you have a family. You travel. You tour. You open. You you're the headliner. I mean.
Dan: Yeah.
Rachel: And you're only 44. So I mean, I think you're doing…
Dan: Thank you and for everyone else. I've been really lucky. I had a lot of great people around me. That's for sure. Yeah.
Rachel: Well, and then in just the last two years, several of your tracks were recognized as semifinalists in international songwriting competitions. So, someone who writes from such a personal space, what did that level of global peer recognition mean to you at that point in your career in these past two years?
Dan: Yeah, I mean, I love the way you said it. Writing from a personal space, I've been talking about this with certain people on the road, and the fact that I think I do go pretty deep in my music, and I think that makes for some really meaningful relationships, and it can really touch people. At the same time, maybe it doesn't allow for me to have a Huge audience, so, but but getting that kind of recognition kind of goes goes back to what we talked about about like you know I I am getting better you know and I and so you know it's it's really it's validating. At the same time, the music industry is a roller coaster, and so you can't get too high or too low. But that's one of those acknowledgements, especially all from. It's validating. It's one of those things that like will keep me going for another six months. You know what I mean? Because that's what's what you need in the music industry. And I think just remind you know, just to be a musician, you have to constantly be doing this, thinking, what's the next six months? What's the next year? What's the next like tour? What's the next concert? What's the like? Your brain has to always just be forward thinking. I know, and that said, that's like today I'm going golfing because I'm like, you're gonna shut your brain off and just like enjoy like taking a break and having a fun day, you know. So yeah.
Rachel: You deserve that. Yes. So hopefully you get maybe a hole in one. You ever gotten a hole in one in golf?
Dan: No, never.
Rachel: Yeah. But like you said, part of that, you know, when we talk about forward thinking, you had you do tours, you open, you headlines, so you were on tour for a bit, and now you're kind of doing a mix of local going out into Illinois. You said Wisconsin, whatnot, but how do you build a tour and decide on all these stopping points?
Dan: Right. Yeah, I mean, I say I've been on tour all year, really, is the way I look at it, but it's not like, hey, see you, see you next year, family. It's like, go out for you know three or four or five days, come back, and so I pick a spot where I've been, hopefully had some success, and it's just a really grassroots operation. It's mostly me with help from my wife, booking these places, doing all the promoting, and the way I'll do it is, I'll pick a spot and be like, "Who do I know there?” And I keep lists of who I know in every city, and I will reach out to a few different people and be like, "Hey, I'm coming through. Do you have any ideas? What’s a good venue for me to play, or would you consider hosting a house concert?” which have become like my favorite things things to do, and people will go out of their way to help me, and that's what I talked about. Like my following, my fans. It's it's it's not a huge group, but they're really loyal because they they believe in me, and the songs have have touched them in some way, and so I rely on on my fans a lot to to come through and and not only provide concerts but places to stay, and so you know just kind of putting it together the best I can, and hopefully making it worthwhile, you know.
Rachel: Yeah. Well, that's yeah. It's always fun to know how like tour stops work and how you decide to be an opener versus make your own house concert, be a headliner, anything like that. Right. Yeah.
Dan: You know. Hopefully, something comes your way in a different city, and that makes you think. Oh, I got a good opportunity that kind of fell into my lap. Why don't I build something around it out there with people I know?
Rachel: Yeah, yeah, that makes sense. Yeah. So one little stop on your tour is you're taking the Braden Auditorium stage for Illinois State's homecoming concert this year, and you're opening for Avery Anna on Tuesday, October 20th. So I want to put a plug out there because tickets are still available on Ticketmaster at the Braden box office. So as an ISU alum, what goes through your mind stepping onto a particular stage in front of students, alumni, the community that you're part of daily, and what can we expect to hear from you?
Dan: Yeah, I'm so excited! What an honor! I mean, I remember being a freshman at ISU and going to my first show there, and it was OAR. You know that band?
Rachel: I know the name. I've never seen it. Yes, but yeah.
Dan: And just I remember being up in the balcony and literally thinking, I wonder if I could ever play here. You know, so that's that's right. It's happened a lot in my career. I've had those moments, and so this feels like another one of those things that will keep me going for six months. Like a really cool opportunity, and I know it's not my show. It's Avery Anna’s show, who's who's amazing. But I'm gonna receive it and enjoy every second of it, and I think what's cool like this whole year I've really been doing small rooms, which I love because I love telling stories and interacting with audiences, but this is kind of that on a bigger level. Like it's a seated venue, so like people are locked in, paying attention, so I get to do those things. It's just on the biggest level I've ever done, you know. So that's exciting.
Rachel: That's exciting. I want to say again, October 20, 2026, Braden Auditorium, and Dan Hubbard is opening for Avery Anna for Homecoming 2026, and we're so excited to hear him on that stage as well too. So I would be amiss if I didn't end our session together by saying, "Would you be willing to perform something for us, Dan?” I mean, I see your guitars here. You might as well.
Dan: Might as well, right? Yeah. So, is that an option for me right now?
Rachel: Absolutely, always.
Dan: Yeah, I'm gonna do this tune. It's called "Open Up.” It's from my new EP, one of the songs that was selected by the international songwriting competition, and this kind of goes back to what we talked about in politics and government and conflict and just what if we just respected one another for our differences and loved one another. So this is definitely about that.
Rachel: Okay, great. We can't wait to hear it.
Dan: Performs “Open Up.”
Rachel: And that was 2007 Redbird alum, the ever-so-talented Dan Hubbard. Thanks for listening to Redbird Buzz. Tune in next time for more stories from beyond the quad.