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20 Things You Probably Didn't Know About: Danielle Young

  • Kevin D. Hendricks Contributing Writer
  • Published Oct 16, 2003
20 Things You Probably Didn't Know About:  Danielle Young

Danielle Young is the sole female voice in the acoustic-folk group Caedmon’s Call. While we don’t usually hear much from this 27-year-old mother of two, it’s not because she’s quiet. Mainly it’s because she’s a mother of two.

Overall, she’s enjoyed a peaceful summer as Caedmon’s Call has performed a few gigs here and there, but now she’s gearing up for the fall leg of the tour with Jars of Clay.

Here are a few things you might not know about the “soft” voice in Caedmon’s Call:


20. Will play for food
In Danielle’s house growing up, the rule was that if you wanted to eat supper, you had to practice piano. So Danielle has been playing piano since the age of 5. It may sound harsh, but she says she appreciated learning from such an early age. Danielle also plays a little guitar, which she picked up “by osmosis” after hanging around the guitar gurus in Caedmon’s for so long.

19. A whole new musical world
Growing up with a limited musical palette, Danielle credits husband and fellow Caedmon’s Call vocalist Cliff Young with introducing her to a wider world of music, including U2, The Beatles and Paul Simon.

18. Coldplay and kids’ songs
Lately Danielle’s been listening to Coldplay, Allison Krause, Griffin House (“He’s not nationally released yet, but he will be”), “The Wheels on the Bus” and “The Itsy-Bitsy Spider.”

17. Total request live
Thanks to those last two songs, Danielle convinced her 3-year-old and 1-year-old to like Coldplay and U2 in an effort to save her sanity. And it worked. Her oldest, Rachel, requests them all the time. “Elevation” is her favorite song (Who wouldn’t want to sing along to the “wohoo’s”?), and she often puts on Danielle’s sunglasses and asks if she looks like Bono.

16. All things Cliff and beautiful
Cliff and Danielle went on their first date the night before their first performance together in Caedmon’s Call. A week later, they talked about getting married (Danielle was 16); and five years later they tied the knot.

15. Leave it behind
She may have been an A/B student in school, but, nevertheless, procrastination and disorganization rank as Danielle’s worst traits. “That’d be great to get rid of those,” she says.

14. Jar Jar, I am Your Father
Like many Star Wars fans, Danielle was a bit disappointed with the latest movies, The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones. As Clones is playing on cable during the interview, she keeps catching pieces of it, holding out hope that it will get better. But despite the lackluster performance of “Jar Jar Binks,” she’s dying to see Episode III.

13. A classic with cheese
You’ll have to go to the Hollywood vault for Danielle’s favorite flick pick: The Philadelphia Story. It’s from 1940 and stars Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant and Jimmy Stewart. She’s drawn to the classics because “there’s always a happy ending, the good guy always wins, and the guy gets the girl.”

12. She’s not “Down with Love”
And when Danielle doesn’t like a movie, she knows what to do. She walked out of summer flick Down with Love, while Cliff was so bored he played video games on his cell phone.

11. White girls can’t jump
At a whopping 5’4” Danielle is no Michael Jordan, but that didn’t stop her from playing guard through junior high and high school. Basketball is still Danielle’s sport of choice as she roots for the hometown team—the Houston Rockets.

10. Irresistible reading
C.S. Lewis may have written the series for kids, but Danielle likes reading The Chronicles of Narnia anyway. However, her favorite author, she says, is Minneapolis pastor and founder of Desiring God Ministries, John Piper.

9. Drama queen
If singing didn’t work out, Danielle would probably be acting. “I loved drama in high school,” she comments.

8. A glamour queen without the effort
Danielle’s fashion advice? “Don’t care too much about it.” Overalls used to be her outfit of choice for Caedmon’s Call performances, but lately she’s decided that the only girl in the band should look like a girl. 

7.  Mmm ... bribery
If you’re going to bribe Danielle, rocky road ice cream is the way to go. She also likes sugary snacks at the end of the day –– usually either ice cream or cereal. She actually buys the sugar-packed cereals strictly for late-night snack attacks.

6. Making needlepoint chic again
While two children under age 4 have pretty much eliminated any time for hobbies for Danielle, she likes to write and has tried needlepoint. A daisy she framed for her mother-in-law is Danielle’s proudest needlepoint accomplishment—and perhaps the only project she’s finished.

5. Dr. Danielle?
In case you haven’t figured it out yet, Danielle is a parent. And those domestic demands have given her wisdom. Danielle counsels on unconditional love in the face of constant change. “They change as they get older,” Danielle says, “But the love needs to remain consistent, and you need to communicate that in a way they can receive––and that will be different with each child.”

4. Now for the worst question ever …
If you’re going to interview Danielle, don’t ask her: “If you were a food or animal, what would you be?” She hates that question. “I’m not one of those people who comes up with a clever answer,” Danielle says, “Cliff is good at that.”

3. Playing dress up
In answer to her favorite dress-up outfit as a kid: “Wonder Woman, by far,” Danielle says without thinking, recalling a Halloween when she was 4 or 5. While pregnant with Rachel, one of the first things she thought of were cute little Halloween costumes. Last year, the kids dressed up as bunnies for their neighborhood’s block party.

2. She’s not one of the guys
Being the only girl in an otherwise all-guy band is no easy feat. But being a “girly-girl” has pulled her through.  “I don’t ever get accused of being one of the guys,” she says, “and I like that.”

1. Normal is as normal does
Danielle is so incredibly normal, she finds it odd that anyone would even want to read this article. “The only time I have anything in my life that is at all different than most people reading this article is that I get up on a stage and sing for an hour and a half a couple times a week,” Danielle says.


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