Great artists take the pulse of their times. In his half-century as a street-level social observer and scaldingly honest songwriter, blues-rock’s resilient icon Walter Trout has never told his fans what to think, how to feel, where to stand politically, or what to scrawl on their protest placards. But in an era when his home nation – and the wider world – is ripping at the seams over the battlelines of modern life, the iconic US bluesman’s hard-rocking new album, Sign Of The Times, is the primal scream and pressure valve we all desperately need. “I wanted to convey the anger and angst going on in the world,” explains the 74-year-old. “For me, writing these songs is therapy. They’re not just about what’s happening out there, but how it affects you in your head. Sign Of The Times just became the obvious title…”

Right now, it feels like the amps have barely cooled from 2024’s Broken (“That record debuted on Billboard at #1 – I was very, very pleased with that”). But the era-chronicling songs from Sign Of The Times wouldn’t wait, these urgent riffs flying off the guitarist’s fingers, assisted once again by Dr Marie Trout, Walter’s wife, manager and latterly co-writer, whose eloquent lyrics struck each subject on the head. “This album flowed pretty easily,” he reflects of the writing process. “I had so many song ideas and pages of lyrics from Marie. We could have kept going and made a triple album.”

With ten new songs written and arranged, Trout was ready to call up his studio band – longtime drummer Michael Leasure, bassist John Avila and keys man Teddy ‘Zig Zag’ Andreadis – for sessions at producer Thomas Ross Johansen’s Strawhorse Studios in Los Angeles. Immediately, the tinderbox subject matter sparked one of the toughest-sounding records in his catalogue. “Let me put it this way,” considers Trout, “after we finished recording the title track, my keys player Teddy said, ‘Well, you won’t be winning a blues award this year’. But I really felt like rocking on this album. We had heavy things to talk about, and we went for it musically too.”

Finding authentic raw power is rare in evolutionary contemporary Blues/Rock. Danny Avila can ramp it up with the best, yet still retain a fluid movement that is polished and ported.

Danny Avila was born May 1988 in Pasadena CA. Son of renowned B3 Organ blues master Hammond Sam Avila (Walter Trout) (Los Lobos) and nephew to bassist/producer John Avila (Oingo Boingo) (Neal Young) (Walter Trout), he has learned his lessons well. Danny’s influences spectrum eclectically from Freddie King to Hendrix, Duane Allman to Johnny Winter, Little Feat to Radiohead.

As a child, Danny was raised in the ring of musicians in Los Angeles, being a 3rd generation musician. Grandparents Andy and Jennie Avila paved the way for music to flow in his family’s life, playing guitar and singing together at every family gathering. Danny first learned to play trumpet in grade school, joining the ensemble concert band, and later also joined the jazz band while learning bass at age 11. At age 16 the dream of being a musician was realized and by 17, bass was his life. 
Shortly after high school Danny made a change to join the 6 string slingers club (guitar) which led to the birth of the band Philosophy Of Soul with brothers Andee Avila (vocals & drums) & Supa Man (bass).

​Education continued with real-world experience at age 18, when he became the guitar tech and stage manager for his mentor, Walter Trout. In 2009 Danny joined Andy Frasco and the U.N. as guitar player, and sometimes bass player, soon after joined by his brothers Supa and Andee (currently still with Andy Frasco). 

In 2012, after about a decade of jamming with his musical family, they decided it was time to start a family band. The Avila Band was created of pure talent, a couple sets of brothers, John (bass) and Sammy (organ), Andee (drums) and Danny (guitar), their cousin, Liela (vocals), and a few honorary Avilas, including Ray Solis (percussion, RIP), and Jeff Waldon (sax). One can only be so lucky to catch one of their precious and rare local shows when the stars align and all musicians have the same weekend off from their busy tour/gig schedules. 

In 2017, the Imperial Crowns of Los Angeles invited Danny to play bass, taking him on tours in Europe. Online videos of Danny caught the eye of Walter Trout who then called him to join his band playing bass alongside his dad, Sammy on organ, and the powerful, heavy hitter, Michael Leasure on drums.  ​

In 2020, Danny joined Grammy-nominated and 2020 BBking Entertainer of the Year, Sugaray Rayford. After a brief pause for the pandemic, in 2021 he began touring as lead guitarist for Sugaray's band now known as The War Machine.