By Jules Mansell
Choosing our first interview for Wild Heart was no easy task, but once Jules came up with the idea to chat with Nashville-based singer/songwriter Kyle Daniel it seemed like such an obvious fit.
We started by chatting about Kyle becoming a dad; he explained how covid and the madness of the last few years had slowed him down enough to get engaged, married and have a child. In describing his love of fatherhood, Kyle said: “Archie is an incredible baby, sleeping through the night since he came home from the hospital.” It should be noted that all three of us (Jules, Clare, and Ieva) were on the call, and this was met with a chorus of ‘aaah’.
Kyle was originally due to come to Europe for the Country to Country Festival (C2C) when the pandemic hit. Kyle said: “We suddenly got phone calls saying that we had to get back to the US”. He continued: “We were so disappointed as we had come to play, but safety had to come first”
Kyle has been looking for the perfect opportunity to visit the UK since and much to our delight, and his, he is here now with his full band – Tim Prottey-Jones (a well known face on the UK country music scene) on drums, Joe Truscott on bass, Chris on keys, and his buddy, the “Swedish guitar phenomenon”, David Henriksson on guitars. With eight shows in 12 days sadly Kyle will not get to ‘play’ tourist but he fully intends to bring his wife to, in his words, “nerd out on all the royal family stuff” another time.
When asked about songwriting, and collaborations he’s enjoyed, Kyle said his favourite person to write with is Adam Wright: “Adam is such a sweet human being who has a way of breaking down the bars and the lyrics, he has a way of taking a line and running with it”. Adam is a singer in his own right and has a vast back catalogue of songs – seven of the 11 tracks on Kyle’s debut EP Kyle Daniel were co-written with Adam, and Kyle strongly recommends we check him out.
Kyle continues: “When writing a song sometimes it’s just a line or an emotion, with both the music and lyrics coming at the same time. Usually it starts with a guitar riff and I think ‘that sounds like this song’, or ‘this title will go well with that’. You set a platform for the song to grow.”
Kyle’s influence appears vast, with a love for all kinds of music. He has always been attracted to a unique voice and a song with a ‘super hook’. Describing the music of his youth, he spoke about his love of Boyz II Men, saying their songs have great hooks. It was these songs that led Kyle to other musicians and confirmed his love of the guitar. “Early on for me it was about emulation – the likes of Stevie Ray Vaughn, Jimmy Hendricks, this led me down the wormhole to discover who inspired them.”
Both Kyle’s parents played were musicians, his father playing the banjo and mum played bass to just keep up with him, and the ‘pickin’ parties’ they took him to when he was younger was a great way for them to let their hair down and for Kyle to play with other kids.
Kyle’s career nearly took a different path. Kyle was a hardcore baseball player but sadly broke his leg on his last day of his Freshman year playing a Babe Ruth game. Whilst recovering Kyle took up the guitar and has never looked back – he discovered he had a natural flare for it. In Junior year of high school Kyle won the Kentucky Blues Challenge, which led him in his Senior year of high school to play in the finals of the International Blues Challenge in Memphis.
“Both parents saw I had an immediate passion an immediate fire for guitar playing.” When he told his parents he wanted to pursue a career in music he found them supportive, “No parent wants to hear their 16-year-old say ‘Mom, Dad, I want to play in bars until 11pm’ or maybe start playing at 11pm and not come home until 2am. Kyle describes his father as “one of the most realistic people that I have ever met in my life” so it was naturally obvious that Kyle would listen to his wise words: “son if you’re gonna do this you got to have a back-up plan, that industry is like playing the lottery”. With that in mind Kyle attended Middle Tennessee State university and achieved a degree in Music Business Management. He wanted to ensure that he had the knowledge behind him to support any negotiations and deals he made later down the line.
Kyle lives in East Nashville, moving there from Bowling Green, Kentucky 13 years ago. His recommendation for a tourist visiting Nashville is to “go on a scavenger hunt, check out Country Music Hall of Fame, Ryman Auditorium, try Nashville Hot Chicken (and you have to have it hot, none of the mild stuff), have a beer at the Red Door Saloon finishing off with a visit to Grimeys record store.” Stating that “an unwritten rule of Nashvillians” is that they “don’t go downtown”, in fact the only time he has been there recently was to spend some time with the UK Country Music Attendees Facebook group who were over for the CMA Fest.
“Downtown is changing; the 2nd Ave bombing didn’t help, that tragic event set the wheels in motion to rebuild various bars. So many older bars are being knocked down and being replaced with artists’ bars and this somehow has made downtown lose its charm.” That said, it won’t stop us from visiting downtown next time we’re in Nashville and hopefully Kyle will join us for a drink!
Our final question is one that is very close to our wild hearts: What makes your hear wild? Without a breath Kyle replied: ‘my wife!” He elaborated recounting his first meeting with her and how she continues to amaze him every day. His new song More Than a Woman co-written with Ronnie Bowman and Brian Elmquist was inspired by Kyle’s wife. He told us: “it is all about her and it was part of my wedding vows”. He continued: “to be honest I don’t know how I am going to get through singing this live. When I sang it the other day in my living room I became overwhelmed and could not get the words out. I am a ‘wear my heart on my sleeve’ kind of guy and that’s OK” It’s more than ok with us – we will be sure to take our tissues to hear you sing!
Check out Kyle at the following shows: Nashville Meets London – 19 August, Nashville Meets London – 25 August, and The Long Road – 28 August
Rapid Round
Cats v Dogs – Dogs
Beatles v Rolling Stones – Rolling Stones all the way
Beach v Mountain – Beach
Gin v Whisky – Whisky, preferably bourbon
Film v Book – Film
Starter v Dessert – Dessert, I have an incredibly sweet tooth and cannot get enough of cake. Kyle spoke of his love of Cadbury’s chocolate and said that when he was over in the UK the last time he couldn’t get enough Cream Eggs, although he wouldn’t disclose how he eats his
Wild Heart 