The actual Gulf Coast may be out of reach for the foreseeable future. But you don’t have to wait to get your hands on this party-hearty EP of blues, Zydeco and southern-fried hijinks from rangy Texas twangmaster and one-man-band Jesse Dayton. Crank it up, bust out the tequila, fire up the BBQ and have your own private Mardi Gras. Just remember to throw those beads from a safe distance.
THE PRESS RELEASE: “If you open your arms to the world, it’s amazing what will come back atcha,” drawls East Texas native, singer/songwriter/filmmaker/author Jesse Dayton, who has a bunch more homespun wisdoms where that came from. A veteran of more than 30 years as a musician, Dayton was discovered as a young teenager playing “a toilet dive” in his hometown of Beaumont by legendary club owner Clifford Antone, who booked him into his famed Austin venue, then immediately shifted him over to the honky-tonk Broken Spoke, where the likes of Willie Nelson, George Strait and Ernest Tubb have had residencies. Equally steeped in Texas/Louisiana blues, old-school country and punk-rock, Dayton is the music world’s best-kept secret, hiding in plain sight as a guitarist for Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash, Ryan Bingham and L.A. punk pioneers X, as well as touring alongside Social Distortion, Supersuckers and John Doe. Dayton was also tapped by Rob Zombie to record soundtracks for three of his horror flicks, including The Devils Rejects and Halloween 2 (performing a cameo as Captain Clegg, a role he revived nightly as the support act on Zombie’s U.S. tour that year). “The Gulf Coast Sessions is a six-song EP w/ all new songs I wrote & played all the instruments on myself, (drums, bass, piano, harmonica, guitar), except for two Cajuns I recruited to play accordion & fiddle on two songs. It’s all Gulf Coast house party music w/ East Texas Blues, Red Hot Zydeco & New Orleans R&B. Can’t wait for y’all to hear … it’s loaded w/ vibe & reminds me of the music the grownups played at the hurricane parties I went to as a kid.”
