8 BUDDY NOVEMBER 2019

BUDDYTHE ORIGINAL TEXAS MUSIC MAGAZINE

NOVEMBER 2019VOLUME XLVII, NUMBER 5

Mixtape Volume 1 is a collec-tion of cover songs that onlyJesse Dayton could put togetherand pull off. When you haveperformed for President BillClinton with Lucinda Williamsand recorded guitar on recordsand film with such legends asWaylon Jennings, Johnny Cash,Willie Nelson, Glen Campbell,Ray Price, Johnny Bush and RobZombie, you can release any-thing you want. “Mixtape Vol-ume 1” is a masterfully executedcollection of pop radio faves, deepcuts, a lost punk song and rockand roll anthems.

So why do a cover albumwhen your own stuff is amazing?Dayton explains, “I’d been think-ing about recording a full albumof cover songs, after we did aGeorge Jones style country ver-sion of the Cars song “Just WhatI Needed” that was a big hit withour audiences every night. Wehad so much fun doing this andthat’s why I named it VolumeOne. I actually had songs by BobDylan, Randy Newman, WarrenZevon and a Grateful Dead songthat did not make the cut. I amsure at some point there will be aVolume Two.”

A great song can’t be ownedby a genre. Great songs are ownedby generations, and the reallygreat ones are passed down tothe next generation. The tapekicks off rocking with JacksonBrowne’s “Redneck Friend,”drenched with classic countryguitar that merges the Californiavibe with Texas swagger whenhe screeches the line, “Well,Honey, You shake, and I’ll rattleand we’ll roll on down the line.”And yes, I did mean tape. MixtapeVolume 1 is available, like theself-produced mixtapes of ourmisspent youth on actual cas-sette tape.

The next two songs slowdown the pace but keep yourfoot tapping. Neil Young’s “Har-vest” and Gordon Lightfoot’s “IfYou Could Read My Mind” bothconvey melancholy and sadnesswith crying lap steel guitars thatswirl around your heart. How-ever, the surf’s up with a faster

tempo version of the Clash’s“Bankrobber.” The original hada slower reggae vibe and Jesserevs it up with fists in the air,hand claps and pounding drums.

ZZ Top’s “She’s a Heart-breaker” has the spice of Cajunfiddles in a hot tribute to BillyGibbons, a huge influence onJesse. An additional factor thathelped in selecting this song forthe record is the mention of hishometown Beaumont. EltonJohn is another big influence onDayton and he absolutely nails“Country Comfort” and makes ithis own. He has been perform-ing it for a while and his versiongives you that old fashioned feel-ing of easy living. You can smellthe sweet countryside when hesings “Country comfort in a truckthat’s going back home.”

Then it’s a pure punk partywith Dr. Feelgood’s mid-’70sBritish pub rock gem “She does itright.” Jesse keeps it close to the

a classic song, regardless of thesource and Dayton crafts it intohis own unique expression ofoutlaw country. The mixtapeconcept was spawned from hislive shows, and Dayton will haveplenty of time now to work inenough new material for Vol-ume 2.

In the middle of a whirlwindtour of the East coast and Canadaand playing a different state eachnight, on the road until the endof the year, Jesse is a hard-work-ing musician and crowd pleaser.Headlining tours without thesupport of major labels, Jessetours nonstop. Playing night af-ter night takes a toll, and Daytonhas learned some hard earnedlessons for staying sharp on theroad. Dayton shared, “I eat reallyclean on tour and try to drink agallon of water a day and exer-cise. You can’t eat trashy foodand get hammered every nightwhen you’re playing 44 cities in9 weeks. Besides it’s a businessand none of us are KeithRichards.”

I had the chance to ask Jessea few questions about his newrelease and current tour and hequickly obliged, it was just whatI needed to finish the story. As aplayer, I wanted to know aboutthe tools of trade, and he sharedsome of the tools he used to craftMixtape Volume 1. Dayton said,“I used my King that’s a custom-made guitar by the Blast CultInstrument Co. in California that

Mixed up and dead on.Jesse Dayton’s latest release’Mixtape Volume 1 draws from influential waters both deep and wide.

By Jackie Don Loeoriginal and drives it straightahead with a repeating roughguitar riff and pummelingdrums. On AC/DC’s “WholeLotta Rosie” Dayton begins thesong like a back-porch blues thenpumps up the boogie to give thisrocker a whole new feel. I sus-pect every blues band in Texaswill start covering this song likeJesse’s arrangement. Both aregreat songs for an encore or toget the place jumping.

HighlightA highlight on the record is “JustWhat I Needed.” When Jesseannounces in concert, “Here isGeorge Jones singing the Cars.”The crowd wonders what is go-ing on until they hear it - and itis jukebox gold. Fresh arrange-ments and outstanding guitarwork with vocals evoking theghost of George Jones, twangheavily on each song. Althoughthere aren’t any George Jonessongs on the tape; Jesse, who isobviously a huge fan of “the Pos-sum” could have channeled Jonesthroughout the collection, espe-cially on this Car’s classic.

Mixtape Volume 1 is roundedoff with Bruce Springsteen’s“State Trooper,” and it has thatjangly surf/spy guitar sound, andwhen he screams, “Mr. StateTrooper, please don’t stop me,”it ends like a wild murder sce-nario from a Tarantino movie.Every single cut on the tape takes

He is scheduled to perfom at Dan’s Silverleaf on November 21 and Love and War in Texas Plano on November 24: Jesse Dayton

THE WHOLE POINT OF OUTLAW COUN-Ttry IS doing what you want, the way you wantTto do it. That’s what separates the wheat fromthe chaff, and Jesse Dayton’s music has alwaysechoed the original spirit of outlaw country. Theself-proclaimed “hillbilly punk” puts his prowesson full display in his latest release,” Mixtape Volume1 where his command of outlaw country blendedwith Cajun Rockabilly and deep East Texas Blues;straddles the line between Americana and rawpunk.

I used in the Rob Zombie movieHalloween. I also used a ‘72 Tele-caster for the chicken-pickin’country stuff and a custom Mar-tin D45 Dreadnought for all ofthe acoustic tracks. I used a 1966Blackface Fender Super Reverband a brand-new Fender BluesJr. I don’t use guitar pedals muchbut for a Waylon phase or I usea MXR phase 90 and an echoplexfor some slapback.”

Dayton also shared some wis-dom for other new musicianshoping to make it in the indus-try. He added, “There is no

secret to gettingbetter or mak-ing it. Your fu-ture success as amusician de-pends entirelyon how bad youwant it and whatyou are willingto do to achieveit. Most musi-cians say theywant it, but dothey really? Arethey willing tobe broke, slug itout on the road,sleep onp e o p l e ’ scouches or putup everythingthey have to fi-nance a tour ora record?

“Ninety per-cent of the mu-sicians I’ve met,no matter howmuch talentthey have, arenot willing to dothat.”

W h i l eclimbing the

ladder of success, Jesse foundthat fame was not that big of adeal. Getting attention and mak-ing things happen has never beena problem. Making enoughmoney to produce the next big-ger product was always a meansto an end. These days Jesse Day-ton doesn’t worry about the lad-ders of fame and fortune, hissuccess is defined by being hisown boss and creating the musiche wants for his own self-preser-vation.

Every little detail of MixtapeVolume 1 is retro raw and refinedand cool. The packaging is spoton and reminds you of whenmaking a mix tape was a work ofart. The selections Jesse pickedgo great together and should turnon a new generation who havenever heard the original songs togo back and discover thosebands.

With no end in sight, he isreceiving rave reviews for MixtapeVolume 1 and has sold-out showswith new and old fans. He hasover 50 songs licensed in audioand film productions and is al-ways on tour or in the studio.

Inducted as a Buddy TexasTornado in 2018, Jesse has beena musician’s musician with alongtime cult-like following. Hishillbilly punk attitude, Texascharm and consistent work habit,have enabled him to carve outhis own niche as a Texas legend,and legend has it, if you’re sittingin the crowd at a Jesse Daytonlive show you listen close enough,you might even hear the ghost ofGeorge Jones.

Jesse Dayton is scheduled toperform at Dan’s Silverleaf inDenton on November 21 andLove and War in Texas on No-vember 24.

“I’d been thinking aboutrecording a full album of coversongs, after we did a GeorgeJones style country version ofthe Cars song “Just What INeeded” that was a big hit withour audiences every night. Wehad so much fun doing this andthat’s why I named it VolumeOne.”

–JESSE DAYTON