“What’s There To Say” – Kyle Daniel leaves Charlotte speechless

Kyle Daniel at The Evening Muse in Charlotte North Carolina

By: Michael Bragg (Photo Gallery & Review) of MJBragg Photography

Charlotte, NC (March 21st, 2019) – Fresh on the heels of his March 15th sophomore EP release “What’s There To Say” Americana/Rock/Country artist Kyle Daniel rolled into Charlotte, NC this evening for a stop on his current album release tour. You may not have heard of Kyle before, if not you’re really missing out, but he’s already received accolades from the likes of Billboard and Rolling Stone and has also opened shows for acts like Jason Isbell, The Cadillac Three and Miranda Lambert. He will soon be joining up with Black Stone Cherry for some dates as well. I’d personally like to see Kyle added to a Blackberry Smoke or Whiskey Myers tour.

The Kentucky native has been earning praises since the age of 16 winning multiple music contests and has just been named as a member of ASCAP’s 2019 GPS Songwriters Group. With his residency now in Nashville, TN Kyle spent most of 2018 around the town promoting his self titled debut EP. Upon his second release Daniel’s has ventured out on to the open road bringing his self reflective music to fans who have been waiting awhile to see him live.

After having written an EP review for Kyle last March I have been hooked on his music. Almost feeling like a stalker of sorts, spending hours watching YouTube videos, reading other outlets reviews and even at times enjoyed some small talk with Kyle about shared musical interests. Finally a year later I get to see his music brought to life as he takes to the stage on a cold rainy night at The Evening Muse.

Now Daniel’s may reside in Nashville however you will not hear any of what that town now likes to call “Country Music” from him. Kyle has a way with words that draw you in, topics you can connect with…not some tailgate, girls dancing, dirt road mess that is force fed to the mainstream.

With a raspy yet soulful voice, that has received comparison to Steve Earle and Chris Stapleton, Daniel’s backs his lyric content with just as much emotion in the music. Whether it’s the driving rock infused riffs of songs like “Hangover Town,” “Keep On Rollin’,” and “Halfway To Your Heart” that opened up tonight’s show or something more mellow and laid back like “Don’t Give Up On Me” from the “What’s There To Say” EP where Kyle sings about dealing with adversity and staying true to your path when others begin to question your choices, he makes you feel everything about the song. Kyle makes you feel that sense of conviction about what he’s saying with the raw emotion he emits on stage.

With influences like Gregg Allman it’s no surprise to see that not only can Daniel’s write a well composed song but he can hold his own in a jam environment also. Kyle spoke of the Allman Brothers for a moment before leading the band into a cover of the legendary groups song “Revival.”

Backed by his band of “secret weapons” featuring David Henriksson (lead guitar/vocals) and Ben Guidry (Bass)…who both formerly toured backing 90’ country star Tracy Lawrence, writing partner Seth Rentfrow (acoustic/vocals), Pearce Harrison (drums) and Andy Smith (keys) the group mixed in “Love The One You’re With” (Crosby, Stills, Nash) and “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” (Rolling Stones) for an interesting three part layered vocals mash up taking the crowd by surprise.

Kyle isn’t always serious though when it comes to writing. Showing his jokester side the band played an unreleased tune titled “A Friend With Weed” with a tag line of “is a friend in deed. You can also find another humorous song on YouTube by the name of “All I Want For Christmas Is Xanax.”

Going on to play “God Bless America (Damn Rock ‘n’ Roll)” the group continued the set with it’s throwback raw rock sound backing lyrical content with a little bit of a rebellious nature. Followed up by “Somewhere In Between.”

One of my favorite songs of the night was the title track of the new release “What’s There To Say.” Kyle went on to say,

“We’ve all made mistakes, done things we shouldn’t have that’s hurt others but sometimes you have to forget about that person that may never forgive you and learn to forgive yourself so you can move on”

before going into this emotional inside look at how sometimes you just mess things up so bad, the self acknowledgement of that and finding the strength to move on and better yourself.

Kyle and band ended the night on a high note with the Rolling Stone – Song You Need To Know tune “Born To Lose” before joining fans for some autographs and pictures.