True Grit. in life & in music.

Kentucky brings out the best country musicians..Kyle Daniel is one of em’

Kyle Daniel was a newcomer on my country radar.. A product of my Spotify discover weekly. I owe the streaming service a lot over the past few years, but after discovering Kyle, I may be indebted forever.

Kentucky & country music are hot right now. The state is scattered with the birthplaces of many current country greats. Stapleton’s from Lexington, Sturgill’s from Jackson, and Kyle? Well he hails from Bowling Green. You can hear his emotion screaming through his Dr. Z amp.

After listening to his latest EP “What’s There To Say?” I could see that Kyle’s been through the ringer. “Born to Lose” invokes a story of a man who’s given up on not only those around him, but himself as well. The title track “What’s There To Say” shows a relationship in turmoil and the side effects that it brings. Reading into the life that Kyle lived in Bowling Green, it wasn’t without struggle. Stories of losing close friends to opioid addictions brought the track “Born to Lose’ to the world. This songwriting showed that Kyle is bringing a bigger issue to light. This is more than a song…more that an EP.

Artists that forge their own path in songwriting have a lot to prove. Listening to “What’s There To Say” brought me back to the first time I ever listened to “High Top Mountain” by fellow Kentuckian Sturgill Simpson. I feel these two albums share similarities, in that they talk about the hard stuff. The hard shit in life that involves real emotion and real struggle. That takes a lot of guts to do. This isn’t your typical three minute and thirty second song about (insert generic country theme here)

This music is about real life. What Kyle and other amazing artists from Kentucky do so well is they write from the heart. They don’t dance around the subject, they hit you straight in the face with it. They bring up topics that may not be Music Row friendly. The beautiful thing is that people care, and people relate.

Kyle’s live show was equally impressive. With an incredible band behind him, this was one of the tightest acts i’ve seen in a very long time. Mostly originals with a few covers in between, I really hope Kyle comes back to Charlotte soon. Whether it’s in life or on stage, Kyle Daniel proved to me that the power of a song is very much alive in country music.

Kyle fits right up there with other Kentucky greats who’ve come along to shape the future of country music.