From a young age Jesse Daniel aspired to be a musician. He just ran into a few bumps in the road along the way, many of which he documents on his fourth studio album Countin’ The Miles, released on June 7.
Being raised in California’s San Lorenzo Valley by a musical and paint-selling father and welding wizard of a mother collectively lit the creative spark under him. Daniel quickly became drawn to music from frequenting the honky tonks his dad played while growing up.
“Even then I knew that was what I wanted to do too because I saw how happy it made people feel,” Daniel tells C&I. “I fed off that energy and cool they looked on stage. I already was in love with songwriting, but that’s what really drew me into being a performer.”
Despite his parents being the source of his imagination, Daniel’s home life was a tumultuous one that led to him struggling to focus and keep up in school. However, one subject he did excel in was English, which led him to further explore writing as a way of escaping that reality. This would manifest itself as short stories and, later, songs.
“I used to write a lot of poems and short stories when I was young and had a pretty wild imagination, “ jokes Daniel. “Most were these extravagant and fantastical tales about crazy scenarios playing out, but I would also use it as an outlet to write about things happening in my immediate world. In a way, that was the first form of songwriting that I ever got into.”
But, of course, life has a means of getting in the way. Daniel’s teenage years were turned upside down when year’s of substance abuse culminated in an ugly and drawn out divorce that haunted him for years. Daniel’s own battles with drug abuse and dealing followed by several trips in and out of jail are instances he touches on in the song “Coming Apart At The Seams.”
“The divorce was the catalyst for all that, but without those things my life would’ve also been very different, and not necessarily for the better because those experiences and hard times have ultimately made me a stronger person and better artist,” explains Daniel.
As much as the divorce was a catalyst for his bad ways, the turning point that pulled him out of them was meeting his future wife, band member, and songwriting partner Jodi Lyford during a brief moment of clarity at a gig. The two immediately fell in love and all seemed well before Daniel eventually went back on his old habits, leading to Lyford giving him an ultimatum — get clean or lose her. He obviously chose the first, with Lyford featuring central not only to his turnaround, but also his nostalgic country sound.
The two — who now live in Austin — have become each other’s biggest confidants and collaborators. They worked together on a handful of songs on Countin’ The Miles including two duets, “Steppin’ Out” and “When Your Tomorrow’s In The Past.” The latter is one that directly ties into the two’s bond and Daniel’s road to recovery as it focuses on the actions people can take in the present to better themselves in the future, starting the process of turning their dreams into reality.
“Don’t let your dreams only be dreams, but actually put the work in,” advises Daniel. “It takes more than love and wanting to truly will something to be.”
Also helping to keep Daniel on the right track has been his relentless approach to touring and performing. Out on the road for 170 days per year can break a lot of folks, but for Daniel constantly being on the move has helped keep him grounded, busy, and bucking any temptation that may come his way. The record’s title track delves into that and much more.
“It’s kind of this circus freak lifestyle where you all pile into a van and become inseparably close with everyone you’re traveling with,” describes Daniel. “My goal with the song was to capture that weird feeling in a way that people not living that life themselves could understand the beauty and complexities of.”
While much of Daniel’s songwriting comes from personal experiences, he still lets his childhood imagination take hold from time to time. A prime example of this comes on “Ol Montana,” a song that combines real experiences and fabricated folklore to spin a captivating tale of a man who kills the younger buck his lover cheated on him with.
“I remember meeting someone at a rehab program who’d done prison time and knew a guy from there who killed his wife’s lover and got sent there for life,” recalls Daniel. “I’ve tucked anecdotes like that away in my brain through the years, and when I’m writing bits of them end up resurfacing as inspiration.”
Whether looking at it from the distance he’s traveled on the road or the experiences he’s gone through that have shaped who he is, Jesse Daniel’s Countin’ The Miles is an empowering reminder of how to turn tragedy into strength. It’s also proof that he’s a d*** good songwriter with an appreciation for preserving the history of country music for future generations in a way that few, if any, can match.
“This is my most mature piece of work to date and the production represents everything I love about country music,” declares Daniel. “It’s a very cohesive collection of songs that I hope gives people a better idea of who I am and what they can expect when they come to see our band live.”
Check out Jesse Daniel on Spotify and Apple Music.
PHOTOGRAPHY: Lyza Renee, Jody Domingue
