Daniel Donatoruns his career like he tours: with no destination in mind. With Reflector, he shines a light on his cross-genre journey.
BY ALAN PAUL
DANIEL DONATO ISone of the freshest, most exciting young roots guitarists of recent years. He has played hundreds of shows with his Cosmic Country, while also performing the Allman Brothers Band repertoire with Trouble No More, alongside fellow young gun Brandon “Taz” Niederauer. Donato’s growing acclaim has led to sit-ins with luminaries that include Billy Strings, Widespread Panic and, individually, the Grateful Dead’s Bill Kreutzmann and Bob Weir.
On his new album, Reflector (Retrace Music), the 28-year-old Nashville-based guitarist stretches beyond his first two releases, A Young Man’s Countryand Cosmic Country & Western Songs, with his first full collection of original material. His songs glide effortlessly across genres, fueled by his sturdy, rhythmic Tele picking and high, keening vocals. On the road and on his new recording, Donato is fulfilling the promise he’s shown since he became the youngest musician to be a regular member of the Don Kelley Band at the iconic Nashville honkytonk Robert’s Western World, at age 16. There he mastered playing “super-fast, hard, clean” covers of a wide range of music, performing four hours a night, four nights week. It was a kind of basic training that prepared him to be the road warrior he is today. We caught up with Donato in the midst of his endless tour.
A press release describes Reflector as your first fully realized album. What does that mean to you?
I wouldn’t say it is fully realized, because nothing that exists in this dimension is fully realized. I think the watchword is “progress,” and Reflectoris a great beacon for such an ideal. Many people are solely destination-based, which seems devoid of logic, faith and imagination. I’ve fully committed my life to the service of truth, beauty and goodness through creating music. A lot has happened in the last few years that awakened me.
You and the band have put a lot of miles on your van and played a lot of shows in those years. Can you describe the growth as a musician and a person that comes with that?
You never step in the same river twice. I believe that every time you play a show, it is literally the only show that has ever happened. Each moment, each note, each beat, every second of your life has led up to that moment. Playing all of these shows taught me that.
How has your musical vision changed?
