Daniel Romano

Daniel Romano is a songwriter who channels country crooning and hard luck storytelling with cinematic fidelity. While references to marquee names like Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings and Merle Haggard are apparent in Romano's music, the obvious influences certainly don't demystify his talent. His take on the golden age of country music is much more than a revivalist mission; Romano works with equal parts authenticity and creativity, and his musical world is rich with archetypes and archrivals, wry observations and earnest confessions.

His current release, Come Cry With Me, carries on with his traditional country aesthetic, musical and visual. Self-produced and played, for the most part, by himself, Romano's new album continues with themes of bad choices, hard times, boozing and losing. Amidst the tales of woebegone orphans, family knots and broken hearts, there are spoken word yarns that recall Hank Williams-as-Luke The Drifter. Romano's deep rumbling baritone vocal dips serve, conversely, to lighten the mood, leaving no doubt that this artist knows how to deliver a punch line.