It's no secret that Kyle Daniel has an ongoing love affair with UK country fans – ever since he made his debut here in 2019, we've been welcoming him back with open arms.
With a slew of festivals under his belt including Nashville Meets London and The Long Road (where he'll be performing again in just a few weeks), he's gained critical acclaim and won over audiences with his country-rock sound and warm, infectious personality. Last month he released his long-awaited debut album, ‘Kentucky Gold', which cemented him as a huge talent and is sure to help him find plenty more listeners.
I recently spoke to Kyle about the response to the record, the process of putting it together, what's coming up next for him and more.
Firstly, huge congratulations on Kentucky Gold!
Thank you, thank you.
How does it feel to finally have it out there?
Yeah, it's a host of emotions, you know? I mean, I woke up that day and didn't really know how to feel, and honestly, didn't think of it as being one of those things where I would feel exponentially different that day. I just figured “I'll wake up, it'll be another day. I'll kind of take it in stride.” And to be honest with you, and this is not just because we're sitting here talking, the first thing I saw was your review of the record, and admittedly got emotional first thing in the morning. Just because, to me, at that point, it was undeniable that, not only have I built something there, but you fully understand the roots of the influences and the things that really make this Kyle Daniel. And so the references and the accolades that came along with it were just… it was a really nice way to wake up and start that day, that's for sure.
How have you found the reaction to the album has been, particularly from UK fans?
You know, all over the board, I think that it's been one of those things that… you know, I've got the friends and family here in the UK and the German audience, and just everybody that that has been a big supporter from day one, kind of came out of the woodwork all at once. And it was really nice, the acceptance and people just overall are, kind of, you know, “man, I love the record.” Like, I just, I hear that a lot. “I love it. The whole thing, like it's hard for me to find one that is my favourite”, you know. So that's good to hear.
Was there anything that you've learned from the process of making this record?
How to be patient, because, you know, the music business is not in a hurry ever, and I think that's one of my biggest probably strengths and weaknesses, is that I don't like to sit on my hands too long, but I also now understand The value behind waiting. And when I cut the record back in 2020 it was in the heat of Covid. It wasn't the time to be trying to, you know, release a new record as a new artist, because people were just trying to hang on to what they had. And so it was tough at that moment for me to kind of just sit and be complacent with it. But we made do and waited it out, and I'm glad that we did.
Were there any songs that were particularly easy or particularly challenging to write?
You know, I feel like the majority of these songs, we had to dig for them. And that was part of the reason that I called the record ‘Kentucky Gold'. Not just because I'm from Kentucky and, you know, we're famous for that good old golden Kentucky bourbon, but, but also because it was like digging into my heart and soul for a lot of these songs. You know, even if they may not necessarily sound autobiographical in the moment, there's a piece of me in every song. And so I don't think anything really came ‘easy', quote, unquote. I will say this, each song, when I went in to write them, I had the title, because I always write from the title. So it always streams from there. And they kind of… you know, you can paint a picture a million different ways. And so we attacked all these differently, but nonetheless I feel like they they had their own quirks about them, trying to work them out.
You've got some amazing collaborators on here – both artists and producers – so was there anyone you particularly enjoyed working with?
Yeah. I mean, honestly everybody, and I know that that's kind of cheesy to say, but every part of it held a special place. You know, when I went down originally with Brian Elmquist, who's in The Lone Bellow, we went down to Muscle Shoals, and we cut the majority of the record there. And that was an experience, because the entire band like holed up in this mansion, and they had created a recording studio out of the living room, the dining room, the sun room, the basement, you know, and so we all stayed upstairs, and it was like I kind of envisioned that they did it back in the era of when most of my influences were doing it. And so that was a cool experience.
You know, obviously, working with Jaren Johnston was a joy. The dude is a mastermind, and I don't think – I know that he's popular there, but I don't think the dude gets near enough credit for how amazing he is, just in his understanding of a song, I think that is what it really boils down to. Jaren is a monster songbird. And, you know, although formulaic at times, I think for the right reasons, just because he understands what it takes to make a great song. And then Mike Krompass and Clay Mills, you know, this last little bit when we did ‘Can't Hold Me Back', probably the most unique way I have ever recorded in my life, which was we wrote the song on Zoom, just like we're sitting here talking right now. We wrote the song. I sent him an acoustic guitar and a vocal to a click track. The dude sends me back the whole song. And I was like, “Whoa. Alright, so now I get to go back in, get to play electric guitar over the top of it, put a solo down, sing to the band the way that it is”, and that's what you hear from ‘Can't Hold Me Back'. So each one of them, they hold a special place. That's for sure.
Speaking of the collaborators on the album, I wanted to ask you about ‘Fire Me Up', the duet with Maggie Rose on the record and which you've just put out the video for. Tell us a bit more about that…
Yeah, you know, I love Maggie. I've known Maggie for a long, long time. She's one of my favorite soul singers that's ever lived, and she happens to be somebody that I can pick up the phone and say, “Hey, man, I got this song that I think you'd be perfect for. Would you want to sing on it?” And, you know, thankfully, she said yes and agreed to it. And, you know, it was awesome.
The music video was shot here in Bowling Green in my hometown. A buddy of mine was gracious enough to let us use his land, and he's in a band called The Damn Shames, who are sure to make a splash in the kind of country, alt-country, Southern rock sound and stuff. Hopefully I can bring them over at some point with me. And, you know, it was really cool. Justin Key was the director and producer of the video, great guys to work with, great crew of people. I just had all my buddies. You know, the Damn Shames were there. There's another group that was represented called The Josephines, some of those dudes were in the videos. My buddy, Brandon Owen, who is a worldwide artist, is in there. And so just my friends, you know, I just wanted it to be like friends and loved ones, and I hope it turned out as cool as I felt like it did.
We've touched on this a bit already but one thing that really stands out to me is the guitar work on the album. Was incorporating that into the record quite important to you?
Yeah. And I was super lucky to have Drew Smithers play on the original part of these recordings. Drew plays with Marcus King. And he is absolutely astonishing. I mean, if you've ever seen Marcus King, you know, Marcus is a blistering guitar player. So to have another guitar player sitting next to you, it's got to say something about that dude, and his slide guitar work reminds me a lot of Dwayne Allman, very Dwayne Allman sounding slide guitar work. Also a huge Allman brothers fan. We connected kind of over that. And so you hear some of those influences in the outro of ‘Me And My Old Man' and and things of that nature. You know, I'm a guitar player and I pride myself in having a smoking hot guitar player standing next to me as well, often times like that is way, way better than I am, just because I think that that's an important element.
You know, the guitar slinger is not dead. You know that. And I think people love that when you can let a guitar player go and he can really create a moment live or in the studio, because it's just something that you don't see it a ton, but when you do see it, like John Osborne is a prime example in country music. Like the dude steps out front and he blows your brains out, like he's just, mind boggling as a guitar player. And that is something that is very, very cool to me. So yeah, it was important early on.
I particularly wanted to ask you about the song ‘A Man Like That' because it felt like a real departure for you. There's this real almost undercurrent of rage in there which feels kind of at odds with what we know of you, so how was it to tap into that side of things?
Yeah, it definitely has almost that, like crossroads, cryptic blues kind of feeling, you know, like hellfire and brimstone kind of thing, a little bit, and it was a lot, probably hard to say or even swallow, But that, you know, a very autobiographical song about where I was at one point in time and and not necessarily piece by piece. You know that, like you write a song, to write a song, you fabricate certain things, but to an extent, maybe it was me, kind of ashamed at myself and talking to myself in the way of, like, you know, “dude, look, why? How could you be a man like that? Like, how do you call yourself a man like that?”
And I think that that kind of, you know, that internal, push pull thing, we all feel that way sometimes, because we all get angered at ourselves for the way that we behave, for the way that we act, and, you know, some of the things that we may do, and I felt like that was one of those things that took me back to my roots of playing music, which was blues and so very heavily influenced in that kind of like soul, Memphis, blues sound, you know.
Coming onto live shows – you're back in the UK in a few weeks to play at The Long Road again and opening for Southall. Are there any songs you're particularly enjoying playing live at the moment?
You know what's funny? I'm just enjoying playing my own songs again. Because it's, you know, the time I've taken off, the time that I've been patient. You know, I haven't just sat on my ass the whole time. Like I've played with other bands and had things that, you know, that I've wanted to do and needed to stay sharp on, you know. And so coming back to my own material has kind of been a breath of fresh air, to be honest with you. So I'm honestly looking forward to every single show we play, every song we play. It's going to be nice to just be back in that driver's seat, because, like I said, you know, I mean, as a guitar player, you fill one cup. And I'm an artist by heart and trade, and whether I want to, like, admit it or not, you know, that's one of the things that throughout my journey, that's what I started as. I kind of wavered and kind of got away from that, and then I realized that, like, I can't hide it, I gotta come back to it. And so it's nice to re-attack these songs again. Because for the past couple years, admittedly, I haven't been like, sitting in my studio here playing these songs on repeat, because I didn't really have anything that I was, like, prepared to go do. So like it really fires me back up when things like this happen, because it reignites the bike riding process. I call it, you know, it's just like riding a bike. You get back in the saddle and it's like, “alright, I remember how to do this”.
Is there anything you've taken from playing with other artists, such as Van Winkle and the Spirits, that you've applied to your own performance or artistry?
Yeah, I mean, I feel like I've done that long enough as a guitar player that you just kind of take it for what it is, right? That there's certain points and aspects. Like I've definitely tried to to help out Van Winkle and The Spirits. I did that recording with them back in, like, late last year. The other group, tThe Josephines, I played with them quite a bit. They've got a smoking new record that they're holding on to and I'm just kind of filling in for them. Because I know that they've had some lineup changes and stuff. But, you know, I think that you have to learn how when it's not your baby, you have to learn how to separate yourself from it. And as much as you don't want to call it a job, you have to almost treat it like a job, that it is you when you clock out, you leave it there. And so not to say that I haven't learned from those because both of those bands are wildly different, and I've learned some cool new guitar licks and things of that nature that I was like, “Well, I didn't really think about it like that, but that's kind of cool”. So, you know, little trinkets along the way that you could take with you.
Is there a song from your career that you're particularly proud of?
Yeah, you know, I actually wrote a song that did not make this record, but will probably be an extension of this record into whatever may come next. It's called ‘More Than a Woman', and it just, there's so much, like, heart behind the song. I know that a lot of folks have often gravitated towards the heartbreak songs that I write, like ‘What's There To Say'. Or even, you know, on this new record, I know ‘Following The Rain' was kind of a hit over there because of the reality that we all go through really tough times, you know, and that, like sometimes we feel like we're never going to get out of it.
And this song, particularly to me, celebrates the woman, you know, and the woman particularly that is your soulmate, that you have this undying, fiery love for. And it's not an upbeat song, it's obviously a ballad song, and the way that we recorded it is just so gorgeous, and it builds into this beautiful ending. And it's almost orchestral sounding. It was probably the most emotional song that I've ever recorded, because it almost feels like at certain points that you can almost hear me about to start crying. And I think that it's just because it's real, you know. And I think that I've tried to do that with all of my projects, all of my songs, I've tried to be as real and transparent and just like us sitting here, you know. Like I'm going to come over, we're going to have beers, we're going to sit around, you know, I'll hug you three or four too many times, and that's going to be what you're going to get with me, right?
Because, yeah, that's where I am, right? Like, I mean, that's the kind of guy I am, and that's the kind of guy I'm in Bowling Green. That's the kind of guy I am around my family, you know? And so I think it's, for me, it's very important to just be straight up, just to be real, just to be something that people can go, man, I want to have a beer with that guy, because he's real. Like, this isn't some fabricated act. He's not up there clowning. There's a level of show business, right? And I understand that. But then there's also, like, a point where, like, some of these, you know, things that go out look like a circus, you know, it looks like a clown show. And I don't want to be that guy, right? Like, I don't want to be known for, like, a shtick or an act. I want to be known as the, the real dude that you did have a beer with after the show because he, you know, was hanging out at the merch stand or whatever, you know. So I think that for me, that's, that's just the most important part.
Definitely. I know when I've seen you at shows and then watched you take half an hour, 45 minutes afterwards to talk to everybody that came out, and I think that's why you're so loved over here…
And I love doing it, though, Laura, and I think that that's the thing. I don't do that because I feel obligated to do that, I do that because I want to do that, like I want to connect with you. I want to know you, and I want to be able to say that like we shared a moment together. Because I think that at the end of the day, you know, as I get older now that I'm a father of my own, and you just really start to put life into perspective, and you start to go like, “it's all about the moments that we create, the moments that we remember as children”, you know. And as a newer parent, I think that I have started to really live my entire life like that now. It's like those moments that are unforgettable, and trying to like, create as many of those as possible and stay inside the moment. Because I'm very capable of being one of those people that pushes and pushes and drives and tries to, like, go, go, go, go, go, step up the ladder and like, miss all of the good emotion that happens in that moment. So like trying to live in those singular moments, I think I'm real. I'm really looking forward to coming back this time for that very reason, because there's a lot of places that I haven't visited, so it will be very nice to connect with people that, like have either been listening to my music or that have never heard me before. You know, you never know. Maybe one of these songs is going to touch them in a moment that is, as you know, created something that we can share a beer, have a moment with, you know, right?
For sure. So what's next for you for the rest of this year? Will it mainly be touring and promoting the record?
You know, to be honest, I really, I don't know. I don't have plans. There's nothing planned as of yet. Obviously, I would like to come back over. If it doesn't make sense to come back over this year in the winter, then maybe the head of next year. Maybe we get another swing at that moment, at C2C, but it's full band this next time, and it looks a little bit different. And I don't know. Who knows? I think that this has kind of been one of those things that, obviously plans are in place to do certain things, but like, learning how to kind of let the music lead in the scenario has been something that has been important as well.
I was going to ask if you had plans to come back but what I really want to know is when we're getting the UK headline tour, because we're well overdue for that…
Ah! Hey, you know what? I would, I would really love to do that. But I think that this is really cool, because this is a, you know, 30, 45 minute opening set, live, full band. We're going to absolutely just every single moment that we can let it rip, we're going to do so, you know. It's going to be a fun, quick, quick but fun show every time.
Have you started thinking about the next album at all yet?
Yeah, always, always, yeah. I mean, I've got songs that didn't make it, that I want on the next record, some that I'll be playing at The Long Road, that that I love, that just didn't make the cut, you know.
Is it going to be a similar sound to ‘Kentucky Gold' or is that still up in the air at this point?
I think that's up in the air. You know, I think it'll probably be more rock and roll, to be honest with you. It'll kind of start to make the turn, not to depart from country, but like to kind of lean into more the Southern rock sound. I think so.
Kyle Daniel's debut album, ‘Kentucky Gold', is out now on Snakefarm Records.
See Kyle live in the UK this August:
Wednesday 21 August – King Tuts Wah Wah Hut, Glasgow (with Southall)
Thursday 22 August – O2 Academy 3, Birmingham (with Southall)
Saturday 24 August – The Long Road Festival, Lutterworth
Monday 26 August – The Deaf Institute, Manchester (with Southall)
Tuesday 27 August – Bush Hall, London (with Southall)
