JESSE DAYTON

Jesse Dayton isn’t just an unsung hero of modern-day American music; he’s a towering figure in the realm of Outlaw Country, a master storyteller who effortlessly blurs the boundaries between genres and disciplines. With a career spanning multiple decades, Dayton has left an indelible mark as a chart-topping songwriter, guitar virtuoso, author, frontman, sideman, producer, and relentless road warrior. From his early days with the Road Kings, where he fearlessly melded Texas Rockabilly and Country with the raw energy of Punk Rock, Dayton has been a trailblazer. His innovative style not only earned him acclaim but also paved the way for collaborations with legends like Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, and Kris Kristofferson. Over the years, Dayton’s collaborations have spanned a diverse array of artists, from blues sensation Samantha Fish—his partner on the Grammy-nominated Death Wish Blues—to icons of country like Willie Nelson and Glenn Campbell, rock rebels such as Guns ‘N Roses’ Duff McKagan and Glenn Danzig, and even visionary horror filmmakers like Rob Zombie. Yet amidst this vast spectrum of work, Dayton’s solo albums stand as a testament to his refusal to be confined by genre, earning him recognition as a roots-rock renaissance man.

Collaborating with Shooter Jennings, renowned for his Grammy-winning work with artists Brandi Carlisle and Tanya Tucker, Jesse Dayton once again evolves with The Hard Way Blues.  Building on his signature outlaw sound, Dayton explains, “I wanted to make something that reflected where I’m at right now; so, we turned a musical corner and embraced a big sound with a lot of ripping, bluesy guitar leads. Sometimes, it sounds like Freddie King. Sometimes, it sounds like Jimmy Page. This record was completely liberating for me because it goes back to so many of my longtime influences. I don’t care about genres, trends, or buzz words — I just care about being truthful to my own vision, and that’s what The Hard Way Blues allowed me to do.” Crafted in the heart of Hollywood, “ The Hard Way Blues stands as a testament to Dayton’s esteemed career, meticulously blending his rowdy spirit with timeless influences and showcasing his versatility and artistry in an irresistibly melodic collection of American music.

Jesse’s vision began taking shape during his childhood in Southeast Texas. “Growing up, there were some very loyal scenes — you were either goth or punk or blues or rockabilly or Austin retro country — but I liked a little bit of all of it, to tell you the truth,” he remembers. Years later, his music still mirrors that diversity. “My wheelhouse is rock, country, and blues,” Dayton says. “Whatever I’m doing, it’s somewhere in that world. This record has hints of all of it, but it’s really a rock record with a lot of heavy Texas blues. I’ve been playing big shows lately, and I wanted to do something that was custom-built for bigger stages and not beer joints.”

Big shows, indeed. Dayton’s no stranger to the stage — in addition to playing lead guitar for legends like Willie Nelson and Glen Campbell in the recording studio, he regularly plays more than 100 shows a year, fronting his own band one minute and backing up acts like X and the Supersuckers the next — but he hit a new high-water mark in 2023. Death Wish Blues, his collaboration with blues heroine Samantha Fish, became a global hit and landed the duo a Grammy nomination. Dayton suddenly found himself playing to crowds as large as 4,000. Already a cult hero to legions of fans, Dayton was now something else: a contemporary chart-topper with an audience that continued to soar. Longtime champions like Rolling Stone took note of the new momentum, praising Dayton for “attracting a boisterous crowd at every stage he played [with] his charismatic stage presence and a hard-to-pin-down mix of old-school country, rock and punk.”

“What’s happening to me right now isn’t supposed to happen to someone at my age,” Dayton says. “I’m still getting bigger, and that makes me so grateful. I’m very excited about making the music I want to make.”

Maybe that’s why the new album, The Hard Way Blues, resonates with such energy and electricity. Recorded in less than a week, these songs capture an artist on the ascent, with Dayton honoring his influences even as he molds their inspiration into something new. “The Hard Way” fires twin barrels of ’70s-sized rock & roll and power-pop hooks — “it’s like the Who meets Dave Edmunds,” he explains — while “Navasota” spins its story of small-town conservatism and wanderlust against a backdrop of stomping groove, bluesy muscle, and hard-charging dynamics. Written in the wake of John Prine’s passing, “Angel In My Pocket” unfolds like a gorgeous love letter from a traveling musician to his loved ones back home. Then there’s “Esther Pearl,” a haunting story about a Haitian immigrant’s experience assisting runaway slaves on the Underground Railroad during the mid-1800s. The song is eerie and exhilarating, delivered by Dayton in a burly, barking baritone that’s become richer with each passing year.

Time has been kind to Jesse Dayton. It’s been three decades since he released Raisin’ Cain, a debut album that reached Number 1 on the Americana charts and introduced its creator as equal parts rock & roll greaser, country craftsman, and bluesy rule-breaker. For some artists, that timespan would amount to an entire career. For Dayton, it’s just been prelude to the here and now. He’s a modern artist for the modern moment, and The Hard Way Blues isn’t a victory lap; it’s a rebirth.

GHALIA VOLT

Joshua Tree, California. A place where rock ‘n’ roll mythology is made, for better and worse. It was under these same burnished skies that Gram Parsons’ stolen body was set ablaze. Where U2 announced their bid for global infamy. And as Ghalia Volt reminds us, exactly thirty years ago, it was here that near-mythical producer and Queens Of The Stone Age conspirator David Catching founded the fabled Rancho De La Luna studio that would bring a stream of dust-blown musicians to his door like moths to a candle.

“Going to the desert to record Shout Sister Shout! with David Catching was something unique,” says the acclaimed Belgian singer-songwriter of her latest album that adds its own thumbprint to the Rancho De La Luna legend. “I have so many memories. Being on top of the hills facing the Joshua Tree Park. The stars, the moon, the coyote howls, the old vintage car that sat in front of the studio. And then, the history of Rancho De La Luna and all the rock ‘n’ roll neighbours. You just never know who’s gonna push the door…”

Driving deep into the desert put a few more miles on the clock of a young nomad who has made the world her home. Six years have passed since Volt quit the busking circuit of her native Brussels for the heady throb of New Orleans, where she made her first ripples as the livewire frontwoman of local heroes Mama’s Boys.

That hook-up led to Volt’s acclaimed debut album Let The Demons Out (declared “an irresistible force” by Classic Rock) and to Volt’s next stepping stone, to the hill country of Coldwater, Mississippi, for sessions with the Southern state’s Cody Dickinson, Watermelon Slim and Cedric Burnside on 2019’s Mississippi Blend. That album saw Volt dubbed “a natural-born star” by Henry Yates (NME, Classic Rock, The Guardian) and broke into the Billboard Blues Chart Top 3 on three separate occasions.

Even Covid couldn’t clip her wings, with the fierce multi-instrumentalist writing songs for her project on a month-long Amtrak train journey that carved across America, before loading up her van for solo shows. “I surfed the waves,” she reflects. “If it was bad in Europe, I’d tour in the States. If it was bad in the South, I’d go to the northern Midwest. One Woman Band opened lots of doors, let me play the biggest stages yet. But Shout Sister Shout! is my best material so far.”

This album simply wouldn’t have sounded the same without the desert seeping into her bones and Rancho De La Luna casting its strange spell. Perhaps most famous for hosting Josh Homme’s collaborative Desert Sessions, (since 1993) this studio has added its bewitching vibe to recordings by the likes of Iggy Pop, Arctic Monkeys, Foo Fighters, and PJ Harvey, all of them greeted by Catching with a glass of home-made mezcal and invited to fall into the laid-back rhythm.

“There is something about this studio,” considers the snow-bearded producer. “Everyone that’s been here and recorded here feels it, so there is something to it. Maybe it’s just all the love that’s here from over the years.”

Love and chemistry were evident as Volt locked in with the local A-list musicians who would be her studio band for the sessions, including former Dr John keys man Ben Alleman and Lou Reed’s long-serving drummer Danny Frankel. As touring guitarist for Eagles of Death Metal amongst others, Catching also lent his six-string skills. “David himself will grab the guitar every now and then,” recalls Volt, “and rip some solos and mean grooves. There were endless vintage guitars and amps to choose from.”

The desert backdrop reflected Volt’s evolution as a songwriter. “My previous albums were more based on hill country blues and traditional Delta blues,” she considers. “But here I’m bringing a kinda psychedelic, almost ’70s rock vibe to the picture. And recording it in a studio that prizes the ’90s… which as we know is a revival of the ’70s! My goal was to get this album to sound more modern, with more hooks, catchy licks, more singalongs.”

For the next few days, the walls of Rancho De La Luna shook with Volt’s best songs. “Every Cloud” kicks off like a road movie soundtrack, its jutting lick and battle cry vocal interrupted by a woozy organ freakout worthy of The Doors’ Ray Manzarek. “Can’t Afford To Die” pairs its propulsive rockabilly rattle with a sobering lyric. “That one talks about the hard financial situation of a musician during his life and after his death,” says Volt. “You can’t afford your rent and you most likely won’t afford your grave plot. Dying is expensive.”

“Insomnia” is a trip, its slow-burn psychedelia swirling from the speakers. The seething “Hell Is Not Gonna Deal With You” finds Volt spitting venom onto the mic and Frankel practically battering holes in his kit, while “Po’ Boy John” is a cathouse rave-up, Volt imagining the backstory of an old guitar. “What if a vintage guitar could talk?” she muses. “It’s been there way before you, and most likely will be here way after you.”

With its addictive beat and ghostly alt-gospel vocals, title track “Shout Sister Shout!” demands to be heard. “It’s a song encouraging women to speak loud for what they deserve,” says Volt. “Fight back, stare back, scream back. It takes courage, but it’s rewarding and we need this for future generations. Right now the world is going backward.”

As for Volt, her unstoppable motion is palpable on brittle roots reboot “Hop On A Ride,” a song co-written with fellow Ruf star Eddie 9V, which subtly namechecks all the US music cities and record labels that have touched her musical journey. “I guess it’s really my story of young adulthood,” she says, “as it’s exactly what I did when I came from Belgium. I visited all those cities, dug all those vinyls from those labels – and definitely hopped on a lot of trains.”

Some artists get lost in the desert. Others find themselves. After the smash-hit One Woman Band, Ghalia Volt has returned from the wilderness with the album of her career and the songs that will ignite venues across the globe. “Maybe I’ll come back to solo shows later in my career,” she considers, “but right now, I’m ready to jump back into a band, play these new songs live and run all around the stage…”