Key to the Highway: Jesse Dayton

Jesse Dayton photo by Ray Redding

Americana Highways’ Key to the Highway series

Fans always clamor to learn more about their favorite, most beloved musicians and those who travel with them. There’s such an allure to the road, with its serendipity, inevitable surprises, and sometimes unexpected discomforts. This interview series is a set of questions we are asking some of our favorite roots rock Americana artists to get to know more about them and what they’ve learned and experienced on the road for music. We are sure they have key insights to share and stories to tell. Here’s one from Jesse Dayton.

Americana Highways: How do you like your coffee or other morning wake-up beverage?

Jesse Dayton: I like cream no sugar in my coffee and at least one cup before anything happens

AH: What’s the most interesting or strangest motel/hotel or place you have stayed (while on the road for music?)

JD: Craziest hotel Ive stayed at was in New Orleans called the Lamothe House Hotel. The rooms are old slave quarters & they are definitely haunted. I do not believe in ghosts, but I heard things in my room that kept me up the entire night.

AH: If one CD is stuck in the player in the van for the entire tour, what do you hope it is? And why?

JD: Either Freddy King Sings or Townes Van Zandt’s High, Low and In Between. Great guitar playing, soulful voices & some of the best songs to ever come out of Texas.

AH: What’s one personal item you must have with you on your road trip?

JD: Before cell phones I used to bring a pillow case full of books to read & stash them under the seats in the van. Now I read books on my phone on our bus. So yea, books are a life savor on that 8 hour drive between Salt Lake to Denver.

AH: What is your relationship with food? How do you handle this on the road, and what’s your favorite dish on the road, (or restaurant, and what do you order there)?

JD: My relationship with food has changed over the years. When I was younger I would eat anything I wanted, anytime I wanted to. While I love gumbo, soul food, bbq & Tex-Mex I can’t eat it as much now that I’m older. So now I’m a protein & greens guy…abs are built in the kitchen!

AH: If you could pause your life for a few weeks and spend some time living in a place you only have passed through, which would you choose, and why?

JD: We’ve thought seriously about moving part time to Gijón Spain, and still might at some point. It’s on the ocean so the climate is amazing, the food is incredible & the people are some of the kindest. (and they accept our broken Spanglish)

AH: What quote or piece of advice have you gotten from someone on the road that has really stuck with you?

JD: “Comparison is the thief of Joy” It really holds true, especially in today’s social media climate. Comparing yourself to others, or to what they have is sure fire way to get depressed. Our only competition is being the best version of ourselves, not anyone else.

Find more information about his new album, and tour dates for Jesse Dayton, here: https://www.jessedayton.com

See other Key to the Highway interviews here: https://americanahighways.org/category/interviews/key-to-the-highway-series/ (click here for: Vince Herman Jimmy Smith Ben Nichols Bruce Cockburn Charlie Musselwhite Nicki Bluhm Jim White Danny Barnes Patterson Hood Jerry Joseph BJ Barham Rodney Crowell Todd Snider Elizabeth Cook Tommy Womack Eric Ambel, Dan Baird, Robbie Fulks, Malcolm Holcombe Jon Langford Steve Poltz, Lilly Hiatt Sarah Shook & the Disarmers Sadler Vaden )