It is no secret that Jesse Daniel puts on one hell of a live show. With his top notch band, he’s been touring the country for years and earning fans the old fashioned way; with honest songs played well. The California native is blazing the trail for a new wave of traditional artists, bringing his hard core country music to stages all over the US. There are many making traditional country music in modern times, but there is no one making it like Daniel. His sound is uniquely his own, while rooted in the tradition of his Bakersfield heroes like Merle Haggard and Buck Owens. This one-of-a-kind sound has earned Jesse a place at the table among the best of the country music world and has garnered the support of his contemporaries and fans alike. Over the past few years, he and his band have toured and shared stages with artists like Colter Wall, Tyler Childers, Sierra Ferrell, Charley Crockett, American Aquarium, Turnpike Troubadours, Shane Smith, Mike and the Moonpies, Raul Malo and many others. Jesse’s touring schedule has taken him and his band over 50,000 miles in 2022 alone and this year they aim to surpass that by a longshot. Touring this extensively can be tough on a band, but it has proven to be what truly makes a band great. There is nothing that will make a group tighter than grinding it out on the road, night after night, club after club. That is why Jesse and his songwriting partner, fellow band member, manager and fiance Jodi Lyford decided it was time to make a live album.
“My Kind Of Country Live at The Catalyst '' was recorded in front of a sold out crowd at Santa Cruz, CA’s biggest live music venue. It’s the only album made at The Catalyst since Neil Young & Crazy Horse recorded “Touch The Night - Santa Cruz 1984” on the same stage. This was a monumental achievement for Daniel, considering he used to work as a stage hand and security at the venue years ago. He played his first ever show at the tiny upstairs bar and spent years battling addiction on the very street that The Catalyst resides. “The Catalyst was kind of as big as it gets in my world. I grew up there, going to shows, playing shows on their smaller stages. To headline the main stage, let alone sell it out and make a record there, is a huge accomplishment for me and I’m forever grateful to my Santa Cruz County friends, fans and family for supporting what we do.” said Daniel. What better way to thank the community that raised and supported you than to make a live album with them.
This recording includes songs from all three of Daniel’s studio albums - Jesse Daniel (2018), Rollin’ On (2020) and Beyond These Walls (2021), as well as his own hometown rendition of Homer Joy’s country classic “Streets Of Bakersfield”, made famous by Dwight Yoakam and Buck Owens. When the band breaks down you can hear every soul in the room shouting, singing along and celebrating the phrase that they themselves coined - “My Kind Of Country”. This captured live performance showcases Daniel and his band’s live energy and transports you directly to that place in time, as if you were there for it all.
In a town known for dealing hard knocks, country singer/songwriter Brit Taylor hasn’t flinched. After a decade “of playing by the rules”, she broke out on her own and did it her way. Her hard work and determination are paying off. Today, she is quickly becoming known for her loyalty to tradition while embracing a uniquely modern sound, for her unwaveringly honest and relatable lyrics, and for her sultry yet powerful alto. Her highly acclaimed debut album Real Me (opening after just 10 days as the highest-ranking debut album on the AMA/CDX Radio Chart at No. 37 and receiving positive reviews from American Songwriter, Rolling Stone, NPR’s World Cafe and others) was a self-reflective journey to self-awareness from the depths of despair. Next up was her break-out year sophomore album, Kentucky Blue, a happier, more upbeat record that is feisty, funky and pure country. Produced by the legendary duo of Sturgill Simpson and David Ferguson, the album debuted at No. 4 on the Bluegrass albums Billboard chart and stationed itself on the Americana chart for weeks in the Top 20. Her Kentucky Blue tour took her from Maine to San Diego and from Key West to Seattle, including 14 headliner shows on the West Coast, as well as solo performances at major music festivals including CMA Fest, Railbird, Key West, Laurel Cove, Master Musicians, and multiple stages at Americanafest. Recognized repeatedly as one of country music’s emerging artists, the Kentucky native had a song on the TV hit show “Tulsa King” and has supported musicians across the country including Dwight Yoakum, Margo Price, Brent Cobb, Blackberry Smoke, Turnpike Troubadours, Kelsey Waldon, Charles Wesley Godwin, Dayton Farley and others.
Born where the famed Country Music Highway 23 slices through the Kentucky mountains, she grew up with family and music – and idols she loved – Chris Stapleton, Loretta Lynn, Tyler Childers, Dwight Yoakum, Patty Loveless, Ricky Skaggs and so many more. Life was good for the singer who spent her childhood years on the Kentucky Opry, followed by a move to Nashville, a college degree, a music deal, marriage, and a mini-farm. All that was good suddenly went bad. A husband gone AWOL, a band that dissolved, a beloved dog that died, a car that just quit, a music deal gone sour and a bank that wanted her home made for a winter of despair. After a brief wallow in self-pity, Brit went to work, determined to make her music her way.
Sick, tired and broken hearted from the “new Nashville” and the type of songs she was expected to write, she boldly walked away from her song writing deal. Brit cleaned houses to pay the bills and successfully turned her side hustle into a bona-fide small business. At the same time, she served as “general contractor” for her self-financed first album, pulling together a cast of professionals to write with her, play with her and market her, all while recording on her own, newly-created record label, Cut A Shine Records. Her acclaimed second album of original music soon followed, and, as she proudly said on the Grand Ole Opry stage, “I am not too proud to clean toilets” if it makes it possible for me to make music that I love and am proud to share. What could have broken her only strengthened her; instead she is thankful for the hardships that shaped her into the person she is and led her to the life she enjoys.
It is why the power of her songwriting and music is that they are refreshingly simple yet surprisingly complex. She gifts listeners with songs that offer a background for life’s laughter or a shoulder to lean on for life’s tears. Authentically true in her life, in her music and in her songs, Brit Taylor is the real deal.
