Austin Americana Review October 28, 2001 by Bill Groll
One of these days I've got to get organized... I don't have a clue how this CD came to me. I'd been hearing good things about Jesse Dayton's latest recording and I liked the name, so figured I might like the CD. Then one day it just showed up in my mailbox... my lucky day, it seems. Thanks!
Ithink what I like about this guy is that he is one hell of a guitar picker, the songs seem to just roll off his pen and he doesn't take himself too seriously. He takes the music seriously and respects & honors the genre, yet doesn't let it weigh him down. He can whip out a honky-tonk weeper that's head and shoulders above what most folks are trying to do and then say, "Aw, hell... it's just a two-beat dancehall love song."
Like a gold-medal gymnast, he makes it seem so effortless. Placing the words one after the other in combinations that sound like they were meant to go together only that way and no other. Ten of the 13 songs on this recording were written entirely by Jesse Dayton. 'Heartbreak California' was co-written with Rosie Flores, 'Date With the Angels' with Trish Murphy and 'I Dream Too' was written by the team of Jim Lauderdale and Bruce Robison.
Although I'd classify this as traditional-style country with its two-step shuffles, honky-tonk tearjerkers, lonesome ballads and cowboy polkas, it has some fun variety on it and manages to sound modern & up-to-date, too. My favorite is the dynamite rockabilly 'Panhandle Jane' with the Dixie Chicks singing back-up! Jesse can write from the heart and have fun, too.
I wish the lyrics were included with the CD, but they are available on Jesse's web site along with his personal remarks about each song. I found this very interesting. I wish all the young, wannabe country songwriters would look carefully at these songs, and Jesse's comments, as an example of the craft and how it should be done.
Technically, this is a damn fine recording, too. Kudos to producer Randall Jamail and the other recording/mixing personnel. The energy level is high, the sound is full & pure and Jesse's voice is clear and at center stage, where it should be.
Jesse has a great country voice and plays various lead guitars. He is backed by a talented band: the amazing Brian Thomas on pedal steel & dobro, Charlie Sanders, Jr. on bass guitar & upright & vocals and Richie Vasquez on drums. They are joined by a who's-who of players: Floyd Domino, piano; Johnny Gimble and Brantley Kerns, fiddle; Flaco Jimenez, accordion; Mickey Raphael, harmonica; and Mandy Barnett, Jim Lauderdale and the Dixie Chicks on vocals.