In 1976, a 21-year-old Jeff Daniels moved from Michigan to New York, determined to make it as an actor. Aware that this endeavor would include “sitting by the phone, waiting for it to ring,” he bought a guitar.
Over the years, his phone rang a lot. The actor has appeared in hits like “Terms of Endearment,” “Speed” and “Dumb and Dumber.” He’s been nominated for Golden Globes and a Tony, and won an Emmy this year for his role as news anchor Will McAvoy on the HBO show “The Newsroom.”
But he’s never stopped playing guitar. Now a veteran musician with five albums, he’ll perform six shows at 54 Below, Jan. 2 to 4.
Daniels — who says he’s written about 400 songs, and that “300 of them are crap” — never thought about performing live until around 2000, when the theater company he founded in his hometown of Chelsea, Mich. suggested he play some shows to raise funds.
“People said, ‘If you took your guitar out on stage and sold tickets, we’d make a lot of money,’ ” says Daniels, 58. “I was like, ‘Yeah, but I don’t know how to do that.’ ”
But he figured it out, performing his blues-inflected roots music with songs like “How ‘Bout We Take Our Pants Off and Relax?” and “Baby, Take Your Tongue Outta My Mouth, I’m Kissin’ You G’bye.”
As the titles indicate, Daniels always aims to entertain, mixing in funny tales between songs.
“The last thing I wanted to do was come out and tell everybody, ‘Please, take me seriously,’ ” he says.
His desire to branch out into new, often unserious areas is one that’s marked every aspect of his career. He recalls how his agent squirmed when Daniels announced his intention to make the 1994 Farrelly brothers film “Dumb and Dumber” with Jim Carrey, in which he played an imbecile. (He will reprise the role in an upcoming sequel.)
“My agent was like, ‘We’ve got you on the serious track. You’re on your way to an Oscar,’ ” he says. “And I’m like, ‘Yeah, but this is funny. I like that. Last time I looked, the Greeks were holding two masks.’ ”
Daniels now feels he’s come into his own. He even got the thrill of a lifetime in 2011, when the Martin Guitar company bestowed on him an honor usually reserved for the likes of Jimmy Page — his own signature guitar model.
“I’m walking in the lobby at Martin, and Dick [Boak, guitar designer] took a look at [my] guitar and said, ‘We don’t have this. We could make this version of it and call it your custom edition.’ I said, ‘It’s official. I can die now.’”