Kyle Daniel - Kentucky Gold (CD) - CD

Details: Firing twin barrels of classic southern rock and modern country, Kyle Daniel makes blue collar music for rock clubs, honky-tonks and everywhere in between. At the center of that southern sound is a guitar hero, storyteller and songwriter who has built up his audience the old-school way: by hitting the highways year after year, playing everywhere from dive bars in Tennessee to the Shepherd's Bush Empire in London. Produced by The Cadillac Three's Jaren Johnston, The Lone Bellow's Brian Elmquist and songwriter/multi-instrumentalist, Mike Krompass, a Canadian who has written and played on a host of Billboard hits, Kentucky Gold shines as brightly as it's title, weaving it's own path through the worlds of Muscle Shoals soul, Nashville twang, bluesy boogie-woogie and the slash-and-burn of Daniel's electric guitar. The guest list is as diverse as the music itself, with appearances by The Cadillac Three, Kendell Marvel, Sarah Zimmermann (of Nashville duo Striking Matches) and the aforementioned Maggie Rose; there's also co-writes with fellow genre-benders like Will Hoge and Clay Mills, who co-penned the unrepentant, hard rockin' "Can't Hold Me Back" - produced by Krompass, also a co-writer on the track. Hundreds of shows and thousands of miles later, Kyle Daniel reaches a new destination with Kentucky Gold - an anthemic debut album filled to the brim with Gibson grit, Telecaster twang, plus the hard-won resilience of a road warrior who's spent years paying his dues.