Texan Jesse Dayton’s been doing a difficult thing for more than ten years-working the virtually traditional territory where hard honky-tonk and rockabilly overlap, and keeping what he produces there fresh and alive.
Videos by American Songwriter
Label: Stag
[Rating: 3 and 1/2 stars]
Texan Jesse Dayton’s been doing a difficult thing for more than ten years-working the virtually traditional territory where hard honky-tonk and rockabilly overlap, and keeping what he produces there fresh and alive. An arresting, deep and rough, but smooth singer who has played guitar for Ray Price and opened for Social Distortion, Dayton’s strong recent releases have been indie enough to be under-noticed; this new duet disc with twangy, tangy young ex-bluegrasser Brennan Leigh should not be. They bring affecting, neatly matched male-female duo singing to a combo of clever, contemporary country-wise originals and gutsy covers (the Everlys’ “Brand New Heartache,” George and Tammy’s “Take Me”), rendering the familiar ones well enough that you hear the songs again-not just the ghost of the originals. One of the stronger country releases of the year.
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