KEVIN DANIEL Returns with New Single “POUR ME A DRINK” on March 1st

January 28, 2019 by 1888media

 

On March 1st, acclaimed troubadour Kevin Daniel will serve up “Pour Me A Drink,” the anthemic first single from his forthcoming debut album to be released this fall. Recorded at Degraw Sound in the gritty Gowanus section of his borough, the song embraces the ephemeral world of love, loss and redemption with the full vigor of a potent malt liquor.

Joining him on this expansive journey to the heart of the matter are Muddy Shews (bass) John Hummel (drums), Anthony Krizan (Tenor/Slide guitar), Judd Nielsen (Organ), Erica Mancini (Accordion) and vocalists Irene Blackman and Roman Urbanski.

Producer Ben Rice (Norah Jones, The Candles, Aoife O’Donovan, The Skins) captured the catharsis of a pure musical moment as a bevy of musicians turn painful remembrances into an open-hearted expression of joy.

Daniel recalls the process, “I wrote “Pour Me A Drink” over a year ago and never stopped making little adjustments. What started out as a small, simple song about drinking away sad memories turned into something much bigger once me and the band started poking holes in its structure. The story of forgetting selective memories is simple, but the sound got more complex and beautiful as we added in slide guitar, accordion, and harmonies. Like all of my sessions with Ben, things sort of took on a mind of their own once we really got going.”

Drink is the first new music since the release of Daniel’s second EP, Myself Through You, a spiritual awakening that featured the climatic conversations, “Born A Preacher, “Golden,” and “Hardcore Medicine.” With flourishes of pedal steel guitar, flugelhorn, and bluegrass banjo, Myself Through You is a sublime lamentation of the country-tinged Americana Daniel wears with eyes wide open.

His music career started when he was five years old, singing Disney songs into a turkey baster turned microphone. A year later he was enrolled in music lessons, starting on piano and saxophone, and by middle school was playing in state symphonic bands, touring with classical horn trios, and singing his heart out while exploring a growing passion for guitar.

By the time he graduated from George Washington University, Daniel had played in two quartets, four high school orchestras, two jazz and blue bands, one bluegrass band, one punk ska group, and even sang tenor in an acapella group. But it was his move to New York City in 2013, and a sudden and unexpected tragedy, that set Kevin on new path.

That winter, he received a devastating phone call from his sister. His mother and stepfather, adventure-seekers and amateur pilots, had been flying back from their mountain house in western North Carolina when their plane crashed, killing them both. During his return to Tarboro to help with family business, a dozen songs poured forth, all fueled by grief while celebrating the large lives his parents were known for.

Six songs became his inaugural EP, FLY, including “Denny’s Song” written specifically for the memorial service. Excavating a passageway out of the depth of distress, Southern sounds of banjo and country-loving three-part harmonies were backed by rock riffs and pop lyrics, which spoke true to life and the celebration of living.

In the years since, Kevin’s songs, with their ability to burrow into one’s soul, have become his salvation. As 2019 comes into focus, he has his eyes on the horizon. With the refrain of “Pour me a drink as sweet as the sunset, as sweet as the day you were born,” he’ll soldier on the path he loves the most, the open road.

2/01 – New York, NY @ Rockwood Music Hall
2/22 – Harrisburg, PA @ The Abbey Bar (Millennium Music Conference)
2/23 – Harrisburg, PA @ The Midtown Tavern (Millennium Music Conference)
2/28 – New York, NY @ The Bitter End (A Tribute To R.E.M.)
3/09 – Rochester, NY @ Sofar Sounds
3/20 – Washington, DC @ Sofar Sounds
3/22 – N. Andover, MA @ The Wine Lab
3/23 – Washington, DC @ Ebenezers
3/24 – Raleigh, NC @ Sofar Sounds
3/26 – Charleston, WV @ Bluegrass Kitchen
3/30 – Cape May, NJ @ Singer-Songwriter of Cape May
4/27 – New York, NY @ Piano’s (w/ Devon O’Connor)
5/10 – Statesville, NC @ WAME Radio 92.9
5/11 – Atlanta, GA @ Sofar Sounds