Kyle Daniel is a country music singer, guitarist and songwriter based in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

Early life

Born in

Bowling Green, Kentucky Bowling Green is a city in Warren County, Kentucky, United States, and its county seat. Its population was 72,294 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Kentucky, third-most populous city in the stat ...

, Daniel was introduced to

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

at an early age – his father played the

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and in modern forms is usually made of plastic, where early membranes were made of animal skin. ...

in the bluegrass group The Original Lonesome Road Travellers. Daniel came with him to local bluegrass festivals and picking parties. His mother also played the bass and piano. Daniel started playing the drums at six years old, continuing until he was sixteen and broke his leg, making it impossible to continue the instrument. He also tried out the saxophone and piano before getting introduced to the guitar at 13. After breaking his leg at sixteen, he committed to this instrument, and he created a band with Dan Robinson and Jason Williams. It was named The Lonesome Road Travellers after Daniel's father's band. Daniel took guitar lessons with Bobby Baldwin during this time, but he stopped when Baldwin insisted he needed to learn to read music – which Daniel never learned to this day. When the bandmates' styles began diverging, they dissolved the band before heading to college. Kenny Lee was an important mentor for Daniel and suggested that he start a new band, the Kyle Daniel Band, while he was still in high school. Through the years, this band performed at Grand Opening of

Harley-Davidson Harley-Davidson, Inc. (H-D, or simply Harley) is an American motorcycle manufacturer headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Founded in 1903, it is one of two major American motorcycle manufacturers to survive the Great Depression along with i ...

of Bowling Green, Concerts in the Park Rock N River Fest, Kentucky Blues Fest and the Owensboro BBQ Festival. When Daniel was sixteen years old, the Kyle Daniel Band won the Southern Kentucky Blues Society Blues Challenge. The next year the band entered the 2004

International Blues Challenge The International Blues Challenge (IBC) is a music competition run by the Blues Foundation. Notable blues artists that have competed in the IBC over the years also includes Fiona Boyes, Eden Brent, Michael Burks, Tommy Castro, Sean Costello, ...

in Memphis, TN, making it to the finals. In his early twenties, Daniel was named "Nashville's Best Guitarist" at the 102.9 Buzz Rock Awards. He graduated from high school in 2004 and moved onto

Middle Tennessee State University Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU or MT) is a Public university, public research university in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Founded in 1911 as a normal school, the university consists of eight Undergraduate education, undergraduate colleges as ...

(MTSU) to study Recording Industry Management with a concentration in music business. He met up with a group of musicians and created the band The Last Straw, which toured on

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

and Florida.

Career

Both as a songwriter and a performer, Daniel has collaborated with big names in country music. Throughout the years, he has shared the stage with artists such as

Anderson East Michael Cameron Anderson (born July 17, 1987), known professionally as Anderson East, is an American musician from Athens, Alabama, who currently is based in Nashville, Tennessee. East's sound is notable for combining R&B, soul, and roots roc ...

Jimmy Hall Jimmy Hall (born April 26, 1949) is the lead singer and harmonica player for the Southern rock group, Wet Willie. Hall was born in Birmingham, Alabama, and reared in Mobile, Alabama. He first gained recognition in 1970 as the lead vocalist, sa ...

Wet Willie Wet Willie is an American southern rock band from Mobile, Alabama. Their best-known song, " Keep On Smilin'", reached No. 10 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart in August 1974. Several other of the group's songs also appeared on the single ...

Casey James Casey Everett James (born May 31, 1982)"Happy Birthday, Casey James and ...

, Clare Dunn and Jericho Woods and has worked in writing rooms with big names such as Kendell Marvel,

Will Hoge Will Hoge (born November 14, 1972) is an American Americana country music singer, songwriter, and musician from Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Early life Will Hoge was born and grew up in Franklin, Tennessee, located just south of Nashv ...

, Seth Rentfrow,

Brent Cobb Brent Cobb (born August 1, 1986) is an American country music singer-songwriter and artist. Cobb has released six studio albums and one EP. His most recent album, ''Southern Star'', was released on September 22, 2023. ''Providence Canyon'' was h ...

, Channing Wilson and Rob Snyder. After supporting other artists for years, Kyle Daniel broke off to make a name for himself, releasing a self-titled EP in 2018 that he self-published without a label. It was well received: later that year, ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' praised Kyle Daniel as one of their "10 Country Artists You Need to Know in 2018" and as the "Best Crunchy Rocker" on their "2018 AmericanaFest: Best Things We Saw at Nashville Event" list. Raised Rowdy celebrated his self-titled EP as one of their "Top EPs of 2018." Daniel opened for the

Vintage Trouble Vintage Trouble (sometimes abbreviated as VT) is an American rhythm & blues band. The band formed in Hollywood, California, in 2010. They have released five albums: ''The Bomb Shelter Sessions'' (2011), ''The Swing House Acoustic Sessions'' (2014 ...

in their 2019 tour. In 2019, Daniel played in Country Music Week (CMW), including a performance with

Brandy Clark Brandy Lynn Clark (born October 9, 1975) is an American country music singer-songwriter. Her songs have been recorded by Sheryl Crow, Miranda Lambert, The Band Perry, Reba McEntire, LeAnn Rimes, Billy Currington, Darius Rucker, and Kacey Mu ...

at the

O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire Shepherd's Bush Empire (currently known as O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire for sponsorship reasons, and formerly known as the BBC Television Theatre) is a music venue in Shepherd's Bush, West London, run by the Academy Music Group. It was original ...

. He was invited back to the 2020 Country 2 Country Festival and performed in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

and

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, but the festival was cancelled halfway through due to concerns over

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. He returned to the US before being able to perform at the O2 Arena London. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Daniel has been staying in

East Nashville East Nashville is an area east of downtown Nashville in Tennessee across the Cumberland River. The area is mostly residential and mixed-use areas with businesses lining the main boulevards. The main thoroughfares are Gallatin Ave (also known a ...

, working on his first full-length album and writing new music.

Artistry

His music was heavily influenced from the get-go by the songwriting and storytelling of

The Allman Brothers The Allman Brothers Band was an American rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1969. Its founding members were brothers Duane Allman (slide guitar, lead guitar) and Gregg Allman (vocals, keyboards), as well as Dickey Betts (lead guitar, ...

and

Gregg Allman Gregory LeNoir Allman (December 8, 1947 – May 27, 2017) was an American musician, singer and songwriter. He was known for performing in the Allman Brothers Band. Allman grew up with an interest in rhythm and blues music, and the Allman B ...

. Later, he was inspired by

Chris Stapleton Christopher Alvin Stapleton (born April 15, 1978) is an American country singer-songwriter and guitarist. Born in Kentucky, Stapleton moved to Nashville in 1996 to study for an engineering degree from Vanderbilt University, but dropped out to pur ...

Jason Isbell Michael Jason Isbell ( ; born February 1, 1979) is an American singer-songwriter and actor. One of the most celebrated contemporary songwriters in his genre, his lyrics are defined by their raw emotional honesty. Isbell began his career as a me ...

and

. Daniel self-described his music as "a mix of

Country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

Southern rock Southern rock is a subgenre of rock music and a genre of Americana. It developed in the Southern United States from rock and roll, country and blues, and is focused generally on electric guitars and vocals. History 1950s and 1960s: origin ...

and

Americana Americana may refer to: *Americana music, a genre or style of American music * Americana (culture), artifacts of the culture of the United States Film, radio and television * ''Americana'' (1981 film), an American drama film * ''Americana'' (20 ...

: I like to call it Homegrown Kentucky Rock N Soul." ''Rolling Stone'' describes Daniel as having "the gravely twang of

Steve Earle Stephen Fain Earle (; born January 17, 1955) is an American country, rock, and folk singer-songwriter. He began his career as a songwriter in Nashville and released his first EP in 1982. Earle's breakthrough album was his 1986 debut album '' ...

with

's range, plus bigger hooks" with his own "rich, melodic breed of

baritone A baritone is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the bass (voice type), bass and the tenor voice type, voice-types. It is the most common male voice. The term originates from the ...

country."

Discography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Daniel, Kyle Living people 21st-century American singer-songwriters Singer-songwriters from Kentucky American male singer-songwriters Country musicians from Kentucky 1985 births Musicians from Bowling Green, Kentucky American country singer-songwriters Middle Tennessee State University alumni