Among the next generation of country, bluegrass, and jam band stars which includes the likes of Billy Strings, Molly Tuttle, and Goose, is the young guitar slinger Daniel Donato. After paying his dues in Nashville bars, Donato tapped into the cosmic side of country music and in recent years has managed to strike a nerve with the jam band and Grateful Dead-adjacent scenes. Much like Billy Strings does with bluegrass, Donato takes an encyclopedic knowledge of country music and interprets it for eager audiences with his youthful, hyper-fast playing. In his review of Donato’s 2023 album Reflector, John Moore perfectly summed up his appeal: “There are few contemporary artists like Donato who have successfully been able to merge that late-1970s Cosmic Cowboy sound coming out of Austin with the trippy Bluegrass psychedelia perfected by the Dead without coming off as contrived.” This confluence of vibes matched by mega talent and a tight band may be why Donato is selling out one show after another, including his stop at The Get Down in Portland, Oregon on Friday, January 12th.
The hallmarks of a Daniel Donato show include a setlist packed with songs, no shortage of tasteful covers, the occasional guest, and plenty of musical peaks that keep the crowd dancing. All of these were in full force in Portland when the band hit the stage with the jubilant road song “Lose Your Mind” that featured Donato’s shimmering guitar blowing up into a full-fledged dance jam only to drop into a rowdy take on the Waylon Jennings tune “Waymore’s Blues” and a careening, funkified rendition of the rockabilly classic “Mystery Train.” And these were only the first three songs. Donato and his bandmates would keep the sensory overload flowing throughout the first set even after slowing things down with the honky tonk number “Better Deal Blues” and keyboardist Nathan Aronowitz laying down some serious R&B soul on the bouncy “Down By The Riverside.” Other highlights of the first set included the breezy guitar-picking bliss of “Hi-Country,” rollicking psychedelic throwdowns on “Rose In a Garden” and “Drivin’ Nails In My Coffin,” and the monster set closer of Marty Robbins’ cowboy tune “Big Iron” played with hyper-speed precision that segued straight into “Ghost Riders In The Sky.”
The band would return to the stage with a nice surprise in the form of Torrin Daniels, the dreaded frontman and banjo player for jam-grass outfit the Kitchen Dwellers, who helped them drop straight into a rollercoaster cover of Bob Dylan’s “Subterranean Homesick Blues” with harmonica intro, heavy doses of loose picking, and loads of organ. Daniels would stick around for nearly half the set, lending his banjo-picking prowess and vocals to tunes like the gambling ode “If I Lose,” the super-cranked “Sunshine In The Rain,” and the intense jam duel on “Fourteen Carat Mind,” with Donato never breaking eye contact as the two faced off.
While the fun of the guest appearance added a different dynamic to the set, the highlight of the night came during “Dance In The Desert,” which began with the band singing a cappella harmonies of the Sons of Pioneers’ “Tumbling Tumbleweeds.” What proceeded was a disco-funk excursion that morphed into serious trance fusion with Donato’s interstellar space solos turning the entire audience into a dance party. Perhaps more than any other moment of the show, it was during this extended jam that Donato was able to truly showcase his incredible versatility as a guitar player who can play seemingly anything all while letting his breezy, easygoing vocals float over the music. Just as impressive was the way his band could keep up with his constant switch-ups and musical impulses throughout the night, culminating in a performance that blew minds and made it clear that this band is destined for even larger venues.
All photos by Greg Homolka.
