Jesse Dayton

The Hard Way Blues

Hardcharger / Blue Elan Records

Ever see the TV show Somebody Feed Phil? When Phil Rosenthal (the man behind the historic sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond) becomes especially excited by some kind of ethnic food during an episode, he shakes his hands up on the sides of his head and puts on a big, shit-eating grin. That was me hearing the opening to “The Hard Way,” which lights up The Hard Way Blues right properly. The first words out of Jesse Dayton’s mouth are “Bangin’ my head up against the wall ever since I was a kid,” sung to a righteous, Rockpile-inspired rhythm caked with Texas-Louisiana loam. What’s not to be thrilled about there?

Dayton’s twelfth solo album arrives hot on the stiletto heels of Death Wish Blues, his winning collaboration with guitarist and blues-rock sensation Samantha Fish. The Shooter Jennings-produced album distills into one very potent package everything that has made this Texan such a wide-ranging, commanding roots artist ever since his debut, Raisin’ Cain, raised eyebrows 30 years ago.

Just as Raisin’ Cain was, The Hard Way Blues is aptly titled. And, as with Death Wish Blues, it uses the word blues loosely and broadcasts versions of the music rife with artistic passion. But these blues are organic, entirely different from those on the more polished Death Wish Blues. The band—Dayton on guitars and vocals, Todd Russell Camp on bass, Jamie Douglas on drums, either Matt Hubbard or Jennings on keys, and Courtney Santana lending background vocals—bends the blues into forms easy to digest, all illustrating Dayton’s not quite death wish of a lifestyle, but certainly his long-held desire to do things a little differently.

Right behind that rocking opener, “Night Brain” starts in on front porch strums of acoustic guitar before dropping down into an explosive torrent about insomnia, written at 4 a.m. to boot, apparently. Cut live in the studio, the song features the first taste of Dayton searing the air with his guitar. The languid “Talkin’ Company Man Blues” gets its vibe from Bob Dylan and his Infidels album in both ideal and delivery, the groove soulful as it builds its head of steam. The haunted, countrified “Baby’s Long Gone,” which Dayton wrote about his ex-wife’s passing during Covid, finds the players locked into the genuine sorrow, Dayton’s subtle twists of phrase adding to the knockout punches of it all. Genuine outlaw country a la Waylon Jennings and Billy Joe Shaver surrounds “Ballad of Boyd Elder,” and “Angel in My Pocket” needs to be heard for its simply gorgeous feeling. And there’s more. “God ain’t Makin’ No More of it” finishes off Hard Way Blues with ferocity, Dayton proving himself a singer, songwriter, and guitarist of electrifying stature.

The variety and pace could not be better. The Hard Way Blues is an album in the truest sense of the word. Jesse Dayton stands at a pinnacle here in the wide-open plains of American roots music.

Tom Clarke for MAS

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