Born into a musical family, he began to play drums at age 2 and branched out into bass, guitar and piano in his early teens.
Later he incorporated bouzouki, mandolin, banjo, mandola, keyboards, accordion, melodica, and harmonica into his skill set.
Rader, along with the rest of his family, performed in The Ocean Opry Music Show in Panama City Beach, Florida, which operated from 1978-2005.
Rader toured with Kenny Chesney, Jason Aldean, LeAnn Rimes, Gretchen Wilson, Carolyn Dawn Johnson and Julianne Hough.
In 2014, Danny was nominated for the Academy of Country Music's "Specialty Musician of the Year" award.