Daniel Donato's Cosmic Country
Horizons
*** out of *****
Donato plays a mean guitar and takes over lead vocals while Nathan "Sugarlegg" Aronowitz, Will "Mustang" McGee, and Will "Bronco" Clark form the band that make two different styles work throughout the record. For the first half of Horizons the group throws it back to the classic days of honkytonking in Nashville, with tighter twangy numbers and for the second half of the record the acid hits and the band turns up the rock and jams out.
Opening with the upbeat skittering of quick piano and guitar on "Blame That Train" DDCC's deep respect for the classic country art form is on full display. "Sunshine in the Rain" has a hyper bass intro and cooks with a touch of "Big River" from early 80's Grateful Dead to it while "Better Deal Blues" feels like a Marty Robbins meets Hank Williams number and is the best of the country fried bunch as Donato's more nasal leaning vocal approach works well.
The head bopping country twang keeps rolling with "Along The Trail", the acoustic guitar picking goodness of "About The Angels", the bar room piano of the upbeat "Broadside Ballad", and the easy rolling bass bumping of "Yonder". Tracks like "Translation" with its Allman Brothers vibes and "Hangman's Reel", which feels more open yet still contains a fiddle hoedown, are where Donato and company find the most engaging ground, mixing his two loves together. More of this combining his loves in the same song going forward would yield exciting results.
The second half of the album shifts into rock mode as "Prairie Spin" comes straight of smokey 70's classic rock radio while the more pop sounding "See Through" has touches of Hootie and the Blowfish with a dynamic guitar closing. "Chore" is custom made for the stage but feels awkward on record as it is two songs in one. The first half is spacey echoing psychedelia transforming without any warning into a disco-on-speed jam that shoots laser like guitars and prog-like changes to wrap up.
A duet with Elle King for "Another Dimension" is a pretty piece of vocals and playing while "Valhalla" retreats to the jamming disco beat. The finale also goes long as "Down Bedford" starts acoustic and mellow, expanding in electricity and energy with spiral like jamming before returning home in solid fashion.
There is a lot to digest here. Daniel Donato's Cosmic Country wear their influences, like Graham Parsons and Phish on their collective sleeves while being adept in playing both genres. As Donato continues to integrate classic country and modern jam things will stand out, but as it flows, Horizons is lot for fans of both genres to admire.
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