KYLE DANIEL: Kentucky Gold (ROCK): review / opinion to read on Music Waves

Although “Kentucky Gold” is his first album, Kyle Daniel is by no means a beginner. He's been a fixture on the southern U.S. scene for many years, having played guitar in various combos, including Clare Dunn, with whom he opened for Bob Seger. A talented six-stringer and singer with a voice raised on bourbon, he embarked on a solo career in 2018, just long enough to show the extent of his qualities and convince such big names as Jaren Johnston (The Cadillac Three), Brian Elmquist (The Lone Bellow) and Mike Krompass to assist him in the production of his first opus, as well as writing a few tracks. In the southern-rock scene, which is more renowned for its bands than for solo artists, these credentials should convince even the most reluctant that the Bowling Green native deserves a modicum of attention.

And the fact is, “Kentucky Gold” is likely to be a landmark in the Southern music scene, as its author demonstrates above-average skills and an identity as strong as it is kaleidoscopic. For while Kyle Daniel clearly grew up with the guitar harmonies of the Allman Brothers Band ('Me And My Old Man'), while ZZ Top and the Black Crowes contributed to his musical education ('Fire Me Up'), and while he shares not only his Kentucky origins with Black Stone Cherry ('Can't Hold Me Back'), his musical spectrum extends far beyond the boundaries of southern-rock. Country is never far away, whether on 'Runnin' From Me', whose boogie is illuminated by flashes of slide, or on Kendell Marvel, whose deep voice reinforces the heat haze of the unifying 'Southern Sounds'.

Heartland-rock is also part of the landscape, particularly on the crepuscular 'Following The Rain', which would have been at home on Bruce Springsteen's 'Nebraska'. The Boss' influence can also be heard in the deep, committed lyrics. In this respect, the ballad 'Devided We Are' closes this journey with a moving and captivating piano-song, lamenting the divisions of American society before soaring to its finale with a surge of intensity evoking the hope of better days. If we add to all this a soulful touch provided by Maggie Rose's intervention on 'Fire Me Up', or distilled on 'A Man Like That' with its hammered and stimulating chorus, the frenzied rock'n'roll of 'Summer Down South' shared with the members of The Cadillac Three, or the superb guitar duel between Kyle and Sara Zimmerman (Striking Matches) on 'Everybody's Talkin' ', we have an almost complete panorama of the scenery traversed throughout the twelve stages of this album.

With “Kentucky Gold”, Kyle Daniel takes us on a journey through the American South that will be hard not to be deeply affected by. Varied but always intense and sincere, this opus directly establishes its author as the great hope of a genre currently in full revival. With a blinding genius and a personality already strongly asserted, this is an artist we'll have to keep a close eye on as this first work squats for a long time in the headphones of all fans of the style.
- Official website

KYLE DANIEL

KENTUCKY GOLD

AUTRE LABEL

ROCK