‘Western Outlaws’ by Stevie Daniels is out 23 December

Back in September we reviewed the debut single from Peterborough based country music artist, Stevie Daniels Down by the River which we gave a score of 9.0

Well known on the UK country music scene Stevie has also been a Finalist for Best Original Song at the SW20 Country music festival 2020 and lists his inspirations as legends such as Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson to more modern day artists such as Colter Wall, Cody Jinks, Sturgill Simpson and Tyler Childers.

Well, he’s back to round off 2020 with his second single, Western Outlaws which is out tomorrow (Wednesday 23 December 2020), and the first track from his upcoming EP Quickdraw.

When we reviewed Down by the River I said that what we loved most about his debut was that it was raw…. Kind of on the edge and away from the mainstream of it’s genre. For me, it’s what made the track stand out from the pack, and this new release Western Outlaws carries on where it left off.

The music starts simply with just an acoustic guitar mirroring the old western feel, but it soon develops a more modern style with crashing cymbals and crisp, clear electric guitar. The vocals are raw and delivered in a style reminiscent of an old story teller, sipping a glass of frontier whiskey and chewing tobacco. In the first verse, telling a cautionary tale for the traveller of the notorious outlaws Jesse and Frank James, their bank and train robbing exploits. The track continues on, as the second verse tells of Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull and the third verse ends on Wyatt Earp and Doc Holiday at the OK Corral. The track builds to a loud crescendo before dying away dramatically.

In some ways, the vocals make the track quite brutal in its delivery. The lyrics are deep and husky and almost spoken. Some may not like this style, but I really enjoyed it. It creates a darkness and has that genuine wild west feel to it and a sense of foreboding, and tension. This is juxta positioned nicely with the modern electric guitar driven track. The guitar solo is particularly good, souring above the vocals and giving the track additional depth.

I really love the take on country music Stevie is going for here - It’s dark, raw and rough, just like it’s subject matter. Not what many would expect from the genre, but for me, this is what country music is all about – simple…. and heartfelt music with raw, uncompromising lyrics/subject matters. Something different, and we always love that at LiveWire, so a creditable score of 8.5. We look forward to the release of the Quickdraw EP in 2021 !