Joliet native keeps singing after car accident

Tricia Danieli had always loved music. She participated in choir and was performing at coffee shops while she attending Minooka Community High School.

Her genre of interests ranged from pop artists such as Christina Aguilera to older artists such as jazz and R&B artist Roberta Flack. When she graduated she decided to move to California to pursue her dreams of a career in music. She wanted to be around Hollywood and be discovered, but her parents were not exactly thrilled with the idea.

“At first it was kind of like, ‘You’re crazy,’ ” Danieli said. “Because they don’t do entertainment.”

But Danieli was persistent and, when she was only 18, she went off on her own to the San Francisco area to pursue music as well as modeling. She didn’t have a manager, so she said it was tough. She learned difficult lessons about scam artists and producers looking to take advantage of young talent who don’t know any better.

She eventually would accumulate gigs singing background vocals and rub shoulders with the likes of producer and songwriter Berry Gordy Jr. and Marvin Gay III. She also recorded an album last year, "Brand New Day."

But her career suddenly seemed to change one night in February as she was driving home from Napa back to the Bay Area. It was raining and she needed to get home because she had a TV performance the next day. Danieli’s car hydroplaned, and she lost control. The last thing she remembers is her car crashing and her holding on to her dog and then going unconscious.

Danieli was taken to San Francisco Hospital with a scalp avulsion in which the skin on her forehead was torn off and needed to be stitched back together. Her neck also was fractured. Her parents got the call that night and made their way to California.

“That was really a hard call to get,” said Danieli’s mother, Rose. “When I went out there, I was pretty much in shock for the couple weeks taking care of her.”

Danieli went through a solid month of needing her mother to care for her as she recovered and went to therapy. But it was during this recovery process that she rediscovered her passion for the arts, but now with a more independent mindset.

Since she was recovering, she’s been working from home a lot and had to find ways to work on her own. She is able to produce her own music and is putting her work out via social media and websites such as SoundCloud.

“It was kind of empowering,” Danieli said. “It was kind of a blessing to come back from something like that.”

Despite an occasional headache and minor scarring, she’s recovered and she’s planning her comeback. One of her first events included returning to her roots. On Saturday, she returned home to her family now living in Shorewood and performed at her uncle’s restaurant, Big Chill, in Joliet.

Being back home allowed her to reconnect with other family she hasn’t been able to see since her accident.

She still will be going back and forth between Illinois and California, but she is interested in getting involved with different opportunities in the Joliet area. Her motivation comes not only from a renewed independence, but also from the support from not just her family but from people around the world who have reached out because of her business and social media network as she is restarting her career.

“The response to my accident was overwhelming,” she said. “They’re so inspired. I’m inspired by people who are inspired by me.”

Danieli has a GoFundMe page for her medical bills, and you can listen to her music on CDBaby and SoundCloud.