The number of musical roads criss-crossing Nashville is unlimited. For centuries, musicians have flocked to the Tennessee capitol to showcase their chops in country, bluegrass, folk, rock, and so much more. Regardless of your musical slant, the longest of those musical roads runs from playing on the streets for tips to headlining the Grand Ole Opry. Thousands have begun the perilous trip down this path only to be derailed along the way.
For Cosmic Country wunderkind Daniel Donato, completing the arduous journey was one of many life changing musical moments he achieved in 2024. Not to be outdone was joining country god Willie Nelson at his Luck Reunion in March.
It’s no surprise Donato has spent a majority of the year away from his Nashville homestead. He’ll end the year with around 150 concerts supporting his latest album Reflector. While a stretch for most, Donato revels in his opportunity to bring his unique Cosmic Country sound to the growing masses. He still has numerous high profile gigs on his schedule before ringing in 2025. Including an all-star Hawaiian excursion with Grateful Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann. Donato’s year ending Cosmic Christmas has been expanded to two nights at the Brooklyn Bowl Nashville December 13th and 14th.
photo Ant Braaten
Donato, whose Nashville journey began as a 15-year old busking the streets for hours playing for tips, has earned the constant accolades he receives. His future is as unlimited as his unlimited imagination.
Cruising down his Cosmic Highway, Donato offered Slideandbanjo.com a ride in the passenger seat for a drive into his past, present, and future. The normally loquacious Donato, begins by barely finding the words to explain the emotions of his Opry debut. “I’m looking at my parking sign right now. Yeah, yeah. Aug 24, 2024. The path is the same but the manifestations look different. It’s on a personal basis. It’s for the people involved. That’s the archetypal story. It started with me playing on the strip for tips and then you get to play the Grand Ole Opry. Yeah man. Yeah man.”
photo Jon Walder
It’s on those Nashville streets a teen aged Donato built the stamina to play 150 shows or more in a calendar year. Still on the good side of thirty, Donato is filled with the youthful exuberance and natural energy to maintain his rigorous schedule. Focused deep into his cosmos, Donato has found a path to continually replenish his cosmic fuel. “Physically, mentally, and spiritually. That’s the trinity. You find there’s a spiritual thing that happens and a physical thing that happens. The spiritual thing ironically is the least visible and most logical answer as to how there’s an unending reservoir of fuel to keep going for. I feel I’ve had a great wish and a sincere desire with my heart when I was really young to do this with my life. As my life moves forward, there’s an expansion of the reservoir I can draw from and do all this.”
Reflecting on his youth, he continues, “It reminds me of my parents. They were young while raising my sister and me. They worked three jobs. Three jobs each. How do you do that? When you’re trying to do something that’s spiritually sincere, you can keep drawing and keep going. It gets hard. There’s a thing that happens when you get what you want but you also get what you need. Sometimes those are conflicting. In hindsight there’s always a harmonious connection between the two. At times, it gets to be hard to play that much. To be sincere and come up with something new and inspired. I don’t think it has to do with the music. It’s all on me.”
Riding the cosmic highway with Donato are his perfectly matched bandmates. Sugar Legg, Mustang, and Bronco if you know them well. Nathan Aronowitz (keys, vocals), Will McGee (bass, vocals) and Will Clark (drums) are essential copilots for Donato’s travels. Donato insists without his crew, Cosmic Country would have crashed and burned long ago. “Everyone is getting so much better. With the upright bass sound by Mustang, he and our drummer Bronco are accessing new things on the country western side that’s only available at Robert’s Western World.”
photo Ant Braaten
He adds, “The whole band is listening at a new level and we’re able to see far more in the present moment. Not allow certain temptations that are low hanging to cut us at the knees. We’re able to access deeper emotional realities musically as a band. Any growth I experience as a musician is in reality inseparable from the growth I’d have with my band. Every show I play for the most part is with my band. I did get to play with Widespread Panic and the late Phil Lesh a couple of times. I get to sit in with friends Eggy, The Kitchen Dwellers, Maggie Rose, Duane Betts. Any growth I really experience is inseparably linked to my band.”
Like many of his musical peers, Donato is finding his success onstage is transferring into his productivity off stage exclaiming, “On a songwriting level, I’ve been able to translate what’s going on inside to an external form much better. As a guitar player I’ve grown a lot this year. I still practice a similar regimen now than I did when I was first starting on guitar. That used to be playing eight hours a day. I don’t do that anymore. I’ll do two or three. All of my speed and knowledge of scales is growing. Learning chords and new modes. New things to throw in jams. There’s progress which is inevitable.”
For Donato, 2024 was filled with the foundational growth and stability to explore the deeper recesses of his unique musical visions. His spot at Willie Nelson’s Luck Reunion didn’t go unnoticed. “It was amazing to be a part of. I’m more on the outlaw side in Nashville. I’m not signed to a major label. I’m still able to do the things artists attached to big enterprise are doing.”
On the psychedelic side, Donato joined Phil Lesh and friends for multiple Terrapin Clubhouse jam sessions early in the year. He’ll take part in Grateful Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann’s Mahalo Dead November 22-24. Joining him are Eggy’s Jake Brownstein, Grateful Shred/CATS Adam MacDougall, JFJO’s Reed Mathis, and String Cheese Incident’s Jason Hahn. Playing with his friends alongside one of his musical inspirations sends Donato spinning. “I’ve always loved the spirit that created the Grateful Dead. That spirit is by no means gone. Some of the vessels that brought it in are moving on. The spirit is still here. I have faith and love in that spirit. I feel it’s divine. It’s the opposite of the way a lot of earthly things work and that’s awesome! I’m right at home in that frequency and framework. I love it. Anyone who plays on stage with Reed is lucky. I’ve played on stage with Jake. Never in the capacity of this music. With everyone involved, if you can play this music with them, you are better off after than you were prior to it.”
Another vital area Donato is seeing foundational growth is with his expanding fan base. He is resolute in his devotion to those who support him no matter when they steered onto the cosmic highway. His “Cosmic Chocolate Factory” Willie Wonka themed Halloween show took months to plan. The same goes for his year end, star studded Cosmic Christmas which has grown to a fan pleasing two days December 13th and 14th. Donato notes, “We’re coming off our Halloween show which was 3-4 months in planning. The Christmas show has had as much planning. The end of the year show in Nashville is unifying and celebratory. Cosmic Country comes from Nashville. It makes sense we do our last show each year in the town where it starts. Each year the guests are mostly different. Some are the same. They’re our brothers and sisters in the same frequency of music. It also includes people off stage. They’re not playing an instrument but they are contributing to the experience. A lot of people come into town for the show. This year is going to be very fun. We’re not reinventing the wheel.”
Coming up in part two of our cosmic journey, Donato continues to open up about his core truths and visions for his future. At the top of the list is his next album. What to expect when he hits the studio in early 2025. Searching deep inside, Donato explores the balance of expanding his cosmic highway while trying to pinpoint a specific and instantly recognizable sound.
Steadfast on the necessity of growth, Donato discusses any changes he needs to make physically, spiritually, or musically to bring his truth into the world. On a lighter note, Donato offers several musings of everyday life including which Grateful Dead song terrifies him to listen to. Stay tuned.
cover photo- Jon Walder