10.29.23 – By Max Filter

Daniel Donato is going to be big. The twenty eight year old Nashville guitarist has already been making a name for himself over the past ten years, bringing his upbeat, high-octane take on country music to bars and clubs around the country. Right now though, he seems to be on the edge of greatness.

Daniel and his Cosmic Country Band, which features Nathan Aronowitz on keyboards/vocals, Will McGee on bass/vocals, and Will Clark on drums/percussion, visited Amsterdam Bar & Hall in Saint Paul on Sunday, October 29th and delivered three hours of nonstop Country Fried Rock and Roll to a sold out crowd.

Daniel charmingly flubbed one of the verses in the first song of the night after looking out into the crowd for the first time, seemingly surprised by the sea of smiling faces that greeted him. He thanked the crowd for bringing “beauty and depth to the environment” before continuing with “Hi-Country,” one of the twangy new singles from the soon-to-be-released album, Reflector (due out on Nov. 10th.) Just two weeks shy of dropping their third album, Daniel Donato’s Cosmic Country is poised to make huge waves in the coming months and years.

In a recent press release regarding the new album, Daniel Donato defines Cosmic Country as two sides of the same coin. “It’s yin and yang in a musical form. It’s three chords and the truth, and then on the other side it’s exploration and bravery.” This philosophy was on full display on Sunday night. The first set, just a little over an hour long, was focused on more composed tunes showcasing the songwriting abilities of the young artist. In addition to “Hi-Country,” three new songs off the album each got a turn, including “Faded Lovin’,” “Rose In A Garden,” and “Till The Morning,” as did covers by The New Mastersounds (“Cigar Time”) and Ernest Tubb (“Drivin’ Nails In My Coffin.”) Weaving a mix of country, funk, cowboy ballads, and bluegrass, the band showed off their versatility all while keeping the tempo high and the crowd dancing. Lyrics meditating on lovers lost, bottles of booze, and a battle on the Ohio River all blended together into a beautiful tapestry of Americana glory. Towards the end of the set the band began to turn up the heat a little bit, jamming out the songs more and giving a hint of what was to come. 

After a brief twenty minute set break, Daniel Donato’s Cosmic Country returned to the stage, ready to lean into the “Cosmic” aspect of their moniker. They launched into an almost seamless hour of music, jamming in and out of different themes and styles. The set opened with the lead single from Reflector, “Lose Your Mind,” before transitioning into an instrumental cover of Phish’s “Back On The Train.” “Waymore’s Blues” and “Mystery Train” followed before giving way to a high energy cover of Muddy Waters’ “Got My Mojo Working,” which gradually grew into a massive funk jam that was easily one of the highlights of the night. After spending some time sharing in the groove, the band changed tracks for a high energy take on “Dance In The Desert,” another new song off of Reflector, with this rendition featuring some Daft Punk teases tucked into the mix. After working the crowd into a frenzy, the band provided a little bit of relief via the new track “Weathervane,” sandwiching a few verses of The Allman Brothers’ “Blue Skies” into the middle before returning to “Weathervane” to close out the set some time around 11:00 pm. 

Daniel Donato and Cosmic Country returned to thunderous applause to perform a fun, bright, upbeat funk jam for the encore, putting a punctuation mark on an already lengthy and solid night of music. Throughout the night, from the looks on the faces of the band, it was clear that they were having just as much fun as the audience, if not more. To see a young band so clearly on top of their craft is exhilarating, and to know they’ll be releasing their first album of all original tunes in less than two weeks is incredibly promising. It’s pretty clear to anyone who was in the audience on Sunday or who has gotten a chance to see him perform before: Daniel Donato is going to be big.