Dion Teams With Danielle Nicole For 'I Aim To Please'

01-26-2024

(Noble) Anticipation continues to build for the March 8 release of Girl Friends, the new album from rock and blues legend Dion that finds him collaborating with a stellar array of female musicians. This week sees the release of "I Aim To Please," a duet with Danielle Nicole and an accompanying video.

The song, like 11 of the album's 12 tracks, was written by Dion with Mike Aquilina; one other song in the set was written by Dion and the late Scott Kepner (The Dictators, The Del-Lords). "I Aim To Please" is a mirthful look at relationships and the chorus includes reference to an issue making news these days: "no strings attached, no hidden fees, I aim to please." The video features Dion and Danielle in performance as well as vintage silent film footage that underscores the good nature of the piece. Dion commented, "On this song, she lets the good times roll."

Danielle Nicole first emerged from the Kansas City music scene as part of the group Trampled Under Foot that she formed with her brothers Nick and Kris Schnebelen, going solo to great acclaim thereafter. Apart from having been nominated for a Grammy, she's won four of the Blue Foundation's Blues Music Awards to date. Dion unabashedly calls her "one of the greatest singers on the planet."

Girl Fiends is Dion's third album in recent years to be released through Keeping The Blues Alive, the imprint founded by Joe Bonamassa and Roy Weisman to do just what the label's name implies. Two tracks with accompanying videos have been released earlier and are now streaming; they are "Soul Force" with Susan Tedeschi and "An American Hero" with Carlene Carter. Dion's other collaborators on the album are Rory Block, Shemekia Copeland, Debbie Davies, Randi Fishenfeld, Sue Foley, Christine Ohlman, Maggie Rose, Joanne Shaw Taylor and Valerie Tyson.

The album includes liner notes by Darlene Love who writes, "I've been a huge fan since I was a young girl. In fact, when I sang 'He's a Rebel' I was singing about outsiders like Dion. I'm a bigger fan today. I'm still trying to emulate his unique bluesy overtones. Now I'm thrilled again with these new collaborations - not just friends, but all girl friends - great women vocalist and musicians. This is just what the world needs now. These duets are riveting."

The new album is emblematic of Dion's renewed creative output over the past few years continuing a storied career that now touches eight decades. He kicked off this decade with 2020's Blues With Friends and followed with 2021's Stomping Ground. Those two albums, with liner notes by Bob Dylan and Pete Townshend, respectively, include musical contributions from, among others, Joe Bonamassa, Brian Setzer, the late Jeff Beck, John Hammond, Van Morrison, Joe Louis Walker, Jimmy Vivino, Billy Gibbons, Sonny Landreth, Paul Simon, Samantha Fish, Rory Block, Patti Scialfa, Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon, Boz Scaggs, Eric Clapton, G. E. Smith, Keb' Mo', Marcia Ball, Mark Knopfler, Peter Frampton and Rickie Lee Jones. All three of Dion's album releases for KTBA were produced by the artist, and Wayne Hood.