Jesse Daniel Son of the San Lorenzo
If you spend more than a couple of minutes on social media, you’re bound to see some yahoo ranting on what’s required to “be a man.” Usually, it’s some kind of misogynistic BS best left buried somewhere in the middle of last century. The latest record from the Bakersfield-influenced singer-songwriter Jesse Daniel, though, eschews mansplaining and basic brutishness for wisdom gained from a life on the road and more than a few mistakes. Son of the San Lorenzo (named for the region of California that Daniel hails from) traces his life from childhood through youthful addictions to the happiest (and, not surprisingly, most productive) period of his life.
Recorded as-live at the The Bomb Shelter in Nashville with a group of ace players dubbed The Restless Riders, Son of the San Lorenzo has the proficient but lived-in feel of a classic country record, but the album’s subject matter spans from traditional to some fully modern issues. The title song, an midtempo country swinger with harmonica from Charlie McCoy and barroom piano from Peter Keys, features both attributes: a tale of bucolic childhood and tempestuous young adulthood, all encapsulated in one verse – “Mine started off in the redwoods and pines/I was eatin’ blackberries right off the vine/But my wild blood, it took me so far away/And I left simpler times in the past where they’d stay.” Daniel has written and sung about those “wild blood” addictions before, and he doesn’t shy away here. “One’s Too Many (And a Thousand Ain’t Enoug)” is an off-kilter rambler of a drinker’s lament that details the difference between your typical Sunday Fun Day drinker and folks (like Daniel himself) who “Spent countless hours under the spell and powers/Of the devil self-medication.” In case this doesn’t drive home the depth of his addictions, Daniel later references “a needle and spoon and a little balloon.” Like I said, he ain’t shy, and he’s also not preachy – his laying out his own shit lends a heap of credbility to his turnaround story.
So, what was it that turned it all around for Daniel, and why talk about it? The sobriety allows him to live the life he wants with now-fiancée (and fellow musician) Jodi Lyford, which he details in the tender ballad “Jodi,” where they evolve from “Two bandits lookin’ for their shotgun rider” to a full-fledged couple who sees a future far beyond the whole die young/good-looking corpse cliché. And that manly advice I mentioned earlier? It shows up in several places, from the words-to-his-younger self “He” to the love-where-you-live “Mountain Home.” But it’s best exemplified in the only song on the record not written by Daniel. “Time Well Spent for a Man,” penned by Northern California songwriter Nick Foster, is a duet with rising star Charles Wesley Godwin, and not only does the song admonish against the casual dismissal of time – “Everyone you’ve ever known and loved who’s gone away” – but it also isolates one simple role each human being can inhabit: “Every breath you take, for everyone who can’t/Is time well spent for a man.” Be where you are, and be the best for those around you. Being a man – a good man – really is that simple.
Song I Can’t Wait to Hear Live: “Crankster” – Daniel’s not afraid to touch on his shadiest past to backstop a rollicking good tune, and this roadhouse rocker is lively enough to revive the ghost of a man indelibly portrayed in its lyrics – “Black sunglasses on a freshly Bic’d dome/Covering his sunken eyes.”
Son of the San Lorenzo was produced by Jesse Daniel, engineered by Andrija Tokic, mixed by Tokic and Daniel and mastered by Nick Townsend. All songs written by Daniel, except “Time Well Spent for a Man,” written by Nick Foster. Musicians on the album include Daniel (acoustic guitar, electric guitar, percussion, lead and background vocals), Nick Chambers (drums, percussion), Sean Peadbody (bass), Joey Kukura (lead guitar, mandolin), Caleb Melo (pedal steel, Dobro), Peter Keys (piano, organ), Billy Contreras (fiddle), Charlie McCoy (harmonica), Richard Bailey (banjo) and Charles Wesley Godwin (vocals).
Go here to order Son of the San Lorenzo (out June 6): https://www.jessedanielmusic.com/store
Check out tour dates here: https://www.jessedanielmusic.com/tour
Enjoy our previous coverage here: REVIEW: Jesse Daniel “Countin’ the Miles”