In the last few months my connections are expanding and more and more my blog (and the related Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/TrexRoads ), in its small way, it is becoming a reference for those looking for new artists to discover.
Many “American digital friends” follow me to find out about the latest releases that I try to group together in my Friday column “Trex Music Friday” (you can find it every Friday afternoon always on Facebook) and they are always numerous: it is a beautiful “job” to report new music.
However, often, I am the one who takes advantage of the “American tips” and from a posted song or a concert in a small remote venue, I find a new artist worthy of attention.
This is what happened with Daniel Johnson.
A dear friend of mine from Florida has a farm and every year she holds a music festival called “The Sundowner” on her farm.
Every year there are so many fantastic artists and through his posts I always discover juicy news and Daniel struck me right away.
He is a boy born and raised in Iowa, but then moved to Texas in the homeland of music that loves and plays with great talent.
This Chasin’ A Song is a revelation for those who love the most bloody and true country, that of the man who works, but who knows how to tell stories like a true poet.
10 beautiful and intense songs, aided by the magical production of the legendary Jim “Moose” Brown and David Lee, who slip away like a sunset ride with a warm breeze caressing our faces.
The band is of superior quality: Justin Ostrander and Josh “Goose” Brown on lead guitars and Carl Miner on rhythm, Mark Hill on bass, Russ Pahl on steel-guitar, the producer Brown himself on piano, Lonnie Wilson on percussion.
There is also the presence on background vocals of the very talented daughter of David Lee, Jessee (whose debut I had told here: https://www.trexroads.com/dive-bar-superstar-jessee-lee-2023-english/ ).
The album opens with the guitars of Too Late, the arrangement is beautiful and its rock pace is the backdrop to Johnson‘s powerful and deep voice.
What a start!
The drums instead introduce Sang Themselves To Death, a piece that has the flavor of a country western to which the voice gives depth and intensity, while the following What Happened to Tough is still rock, the guitars whizz but in the distance we can hear a very Texan soul.
The ballad Wrong Side of The Rio is my favorite: Daniel Johnson‘s voice is intensity and then the lyrics are poetry. I could have seen it very well in Yellowstone.
I would have liked to press repeat on this gem, but it’s the turn of a cover of the legendary Brent Cobb: Shine on a Rainy Day.
Johnson pays a great tribute to one of the best American singer-songwriters of the latest generations.
The title track is a beautiful powerful ballad of country and rock: Texas has had a big impact on Daniel‘s songwriting and that’s a great compliment.
The piece is another little lyrical and musical gem, this guy has talent to spare.
The guitars do an extraordinary job and in Some Horses they give intensity in abundance. An intense song, a ride between guitars and pedal-steel, between ranches and honky tonk clubs.
A debut that makes us think we’ve found an artist who will soon rise in the ranks of the independent circuit.
A powerful, intense and poetic album that darts on horseback through the dust of the Texan desert to the electric sparkle of the clubs in Fort Worth.
A voice that gives emotions and that, the wise production of two legends of country music, has set in a very personal and uncategorizable sound: there’s country, there’s rock, but there’s also a poetic soul.
I can’t wait to hear where his talent will take him in his next songs, for now I enjoy and recommend a beautiful album of independent music that will surely be among the highs of this 2025 that has just begun.
Enjoy,
Trex
