Stevie Daniel’s debut single ‘Down by the River’ out this Friday

Sep 22

Sep 22 Stevie Daniel’s debut single ‘Down by the River’ out this Friday

The much anticipated debut single by 30 year old, Peterborough based country music artist, Stevie Daniels, supported by Halo Music Creative, is released on Friday 25th September 2020. Despite this being his first single, Stevie is no stranger to the country music scene and recently organised the successful Saloony Tune Festival alongside Jamie Mongardi.

He has also been a Finalist for Best Original Song at the SW20 Country music festival 2020.

Stevie takes his inspiration from legends of country including Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson to more modern day artists including Cody Jinks, Colter Wall, Sturgill Simpson and Tyler Childers.

Although he’s been on the UK country music scene for a while, this is his first single release, and one I’ve been looking forward to reviewing. I’ve always liked music that’s ‘raw’…. kinda on the edge or away from the mainstream of it’s genre a little. It’s where you find some of the real musical gems out there ! A great example is the raw edginess of someone like The Delta Bombers… Fantastic blues rock but with a dark side, songs about hard drinking and murderous revenge on a cheating lover.

Many people see the words Country music and switch off. But it’s a wonderfully diverse genre of music and in the UK we have some excellent artists who are well worth a listen including the likes of Kezia Gill, Stuart Landon and Stevie Daniels each with a distinctive style. Stevie especially intrigued me because he is heavily influenced by the blues and outlaw country. So don’t expect any spangles and rhinestones here….

What you get here with Down by the River is wonderfully different, it has raw & gritty vocals mixed with hillbilly harmonies, to which Stevie applies his distinctive tone and catchy melodies. You can just imagine a lonely figure sat by his campfire singing this one, it has that feel of the old wild west, of lawlessness, of danger….. It’s sure to get your foot tappin’

Lyrically Down by the River is at it’s heart a simple song….about being down by the river bank and seeing the power of water and how it can cause flooding and the destruction of the river bank itself. But this in turn developed and Stevie makes a link to the damage caused by, and the health risks of hard drinking and how the body can be destroyed. The double meaning in the lyrics works well, to illustrate what an unhealthy place alcoholism can be, how destructive and dangerous it can be…. just like a river, and also, how lonely….. I guess it’s ‘riding the whiskey river’.

Despite it’s raw campfire feel, the music is finely crafted too. Keeping that rough feel, the dominant element is the pacey tone of the acoustic guitar, backed with a slightly muted electric guitar. It’s beauty for me, is actually in it’s simplicity. Not overcrowded with too many competing elements which helps it carry off the raw feel.

Not what many would expect, but for me, this is what country music is all about – a simple life, with simple but heartfelt music. If you want to give country a try, I’d recommend this highly - A breath of fresh air, and well worth a 9.0 from LiveWire Music.