Canadian songwriter Daniel Romano has been presenting us with self-proclaimed “Mosey music” since his 2010 debut record Working For The Music Man.
Later records Sleep Beneath The Willow, and Come Cry With Me added honky-tonk and confessional country to the Mosey mix.
Romano writes, performs, and records his songs, which borrow from and expand upon his old-country, and folk influences. His stories are full of hard luck cases, nights alone at the bar, and love gone wrong, while they conversely hint at finding something new around the next corner. Instead of letting the songs drown in sadness, Romano throws in dry humor, and an earnest tone.
This year, Romano will release two new records and tour extensively. His tour makes an early stop at the Lightbulb Club on Saturday, March 14, where he will showcase his new songs.
I talked to Daniel before the start of his tour, and here it goes…
Who: Daniel Romano (Welland, Ontario) / Willi Goehring (Fayetteville) / Keyless Gentry (members of Swampbird)
When: 8 p.m. Saturday, March 14, 2015
Where: JR’s Lightbulb Club, 19 N. Block Ave.
More: $7 / Tickets at Block Street Records / Facebook event
What have you been doing since the last record? When did you realize you were going to release two records this year?
A lot of touring took place after Come Cry With Me in 2013, and a lot of writing happened during that tour. I recorded the first new record over a year ago, and sat on it for too long, and I was just over it, so I recorded another record and wanted to bury the first one. But I did some revisions to it and now I’m feeling good about it again.
You’re about to leave for a long tour, Do you have any pre-tour rituals?
Panic. Trying to get out of it.
I’m in the zone right now, and it’s so damn cold up here, so I’m really looking forward to heading south.
You’re obviously inspired by older country music, do you listen to new Country and does it inspire you?
Maybe as what not to do. I like all kinds of music and I do like some new country songs, as long as they’re not about beer. …I like songs about sober girls that drive Kias, are afraid of the water, and are straight-edge.
Have you toured the Southern U.S. before?
Yes. I love it. It seems to be the heart of everything.
No one releases two records a year anymore – Why did you decide to release two this year?
It happens in hip-hop all the time, releasing mixtapes and what-not. It seems natural. I get painfully inspired and I’m always reaching for something better. If I had it my way I would just bury everything, and when the new record comes out, I’d put together a squad to go to people’s houses and destroy the old records.
Are there any mysterious or guilty pleasures you’d like to share for the first time? Anything that inspired a new song?
I’m proud of everything I like. I just try to make something that doesn’t sound like anything else. I just try to make interesting music that I like. But I did watch a movie called Blood From The Mummy’s Tomb that triggered something on the newest record. That’s the best that I got.
Have you been to Fayetteville?
No, I haven’t. I’m excited to play Fayetteville.
What can we expect at the show?
I don’t know yet. It will be stripped down, without a lot of the production. I’ll mostly be playing new songs.
