Daniel Donato's Cosmic Country Christmas Jam

There are a lot of musical influences and sources that Daniel Donato has drawn on during his career and that inform his latest album, Horizon (Retrace Music), his second all-original album. But within those, Donato has carved out a unique and individualized spot for himself, one that speaks to the deep American music heritage that inspires him — and that he’s pushing towards the future with inspired, intentional vigor.

He calls it Cosmic Country, a moniker that’s both self-descriptive and a statement of purpose. It’s an organic rock band aesthetic with plenty of roadhouse twang; a showcase for Donato’s instrumental virtuosity and facility for melodically infectious songcraft. Bridging Nashville and the Great West, Kentucky and mid-60s northern California, tie-dye and plaid, it’s a world of his own, and a wide world of musical adventure at that.

While growing up in Nashville his his father, who turned his young son on to music of all genres, suggested the fledgling and industriously minded (even at just 14) artist start busking in Nashville’s lower Broadway area and outside concerts, for eight hours at a time on the weekends. One night, the two happened by Robert’s Western World where legendary honky-tonk local mainstay the Don Kelly Band were performing. Donato eventually became a member of the band, playing four hours a night at Robert’s (464 shows in total).

Horizons is the follow up to 2023’s Reflector, which received critical acclaim from a wide range of press, including No Depression, Glide Magazine, Magnet Magazine, and more. Donato the subject of features in Rolling Stone, UPROXX, Garden & Gun and Relix. Daniel Donato’s Cosmic Country made their network television debut on CBS Saturday Morning and appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert’s #LateShowMeMusic online series.

The whole package of player, singer, writer and band leader was in place. Three albums in, Daniel Donato’s Cosmic Country, featuring Nathan “Sugarlegg” Aronowitz (keyboards/guitars/vocals), Will “Mustang” McGee (bass/vocals) and Will “Bronco” Clark (drums, percussion/vocals) are selling out venues throughout the country and bringing their brand of Cosmic Country to an ever growing, passionate fanbase

Vince Herman is out to have some fun. 33 years after founding Leftover Salmon, Vince released an album of his own and hit the road to play a batch of songs developed in his new Nashville home. It’s a bit of a departure from the “Salmon sound” as he digs into his idea of what country music is. There’s some bluegrass and Cajun influences and honky tonk ballads all piled atop great players taking the tunes for a ride.

“With his immersion into Nashville, Herman’s also peeling back the pages of Music City history, harkening back to the early days of country music, where the genre lines were blurred or not yet defined by record labels and marketing teams,” writes Rolling Stone’s Garret K. Woodward.

“I’m gonna try to keep my solo repertoire separate from Leftover Salmon so people can expect something different than they would see at a Salmon show,” says Vince to Relix Magazine’s Mike Greenhaus. “I want them to live in different worlds, but one of the reasons I made this record is that I’m a fan of country music. And I’ve always thought of Salmon as a country band. You can look at the Grateful Dead as a country band—to me, bluegrass, cajun music, ballads and all that stuff is what makes up country music… But, though I’ve always seen Salmon as somewhat of a country band, the country and jamband worlds are absolutely miles apart—not so much musically, but culturally. And at this point, so much of this country needs to come together, with all the walls between the different sides and all the perceived little niches that we’re supposed to stay in, man. We need to come together as a country. And music can play a big role in that. So I guess you can say that I want to bring the hippies to country. I want to say, ‘We’re kind of doing the same thing here, folks. Can we talk?’”

Vince formed a craft band consisting of some of Nashville’s finest musicians, all also vocalists, to take on the road! Joining him in the Vince Herman Band for their Fall tour dates are Nathan Graham (upright bass), Dakota Holden (pedal steel), Ian Cory (banjo/fiddle), his son Silas Herman (mandolin/guitar), Alex Johnson (drums) [Sept Tour], and Lawrence Nemenz (drums) [October/November].