Jesse Dayton is an American musician, actor and record producer from Austin, Texas best known for his guitar contributions to albums by country musicians including Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, and Willie Nelson.[3][4] He is also notable for his collaborations with horror film director Rob Zombie, who has commissioned Dayton on multiple occasions to record music to accompany his films.[4]
Jesse Dayton | |
|---|---|
 Dayton in 2014 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | Beaumont, Texas |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, actor, record producer |
| Instrument(s) | Guitar, singer |
| Website | www |
Career
editDayton was born in Beaumont, Texas, where he was raised on the music of George Jones, Hank Williams, and Lefty Frizzell, all the while harboring an affinity for the spirit of punk with bands like the Clash.[3] After touring with two rockabilly bands, the Road Kings and the Alamo Jets, Dayton ventured off into solo territory, recording his Americana-chart-topping record Raisin' Cain.[5]
With Lucinda Williams Dayton performed at Bill Clinton's second inaugural ball.[4]
Since then Dayton has released several different solo albums and worked with a variety of country rock artists, most notably Waylon Jennings and Johnny Cash on Right for the Time (1996)[6] after Jennings injured his picking thumb and required a guitar stand-in. Dayton also contributed guitarwork on albums by the Supersuckers and Kris Kristofferson.[3]
In 2004, horror film director Rob Zombie commissioned Jesse Dayton to record an album for the fictional characters Banjo and Sullivan from his sophomore feature The Devil's Rejects.[4] The resulting album was a collection of tongue-in-cheek honky-tonk country entitled Banjo & Sullivan: The Ultimate Collection. In Zombie's Halloween II, Dayton performs as the lead singer and guitarist of the fictional psychobilly band Captain Clegg and the Night Creatures. He released an album entitled Rob Zombie Presents...Captain Clegg and the Night Creatures on August 28, same day as the film Halloween II premiered.[7][8] Following this, Jesse Dayton wrote and directed the 2013 horror film Zombex, starring Malcolm McDowell, Lew Temple and Sid Haig.[9][10]
In 2014 he toured with John Doe both as the opening act and a member of Doe's backing band.[4] In 2015 Dayton played guitar in the band X on their US tour, filling in for Billy Zoom who had been diagnosed with cancer.[4] In 2016 he again toured with John Doe as well being the opener on the Supersuckers European and US tours.
On September 16, 2016, he released his ninth album titled The Revealer on his Hardcharger Records imprint through Blue Élan Records.[4] This was followed by The Outsider in 2018.[11] 2019 saw the release of a live album, On Fire in Nashville, and Mixtape Volume 1, a collection of covers.[12][13] In 2020, Dayton released the Gulf Coast Sessions EP, as well as Texas '45 RPM Showdown, a limited 7 inch vinyl made in conjunction with Record Store Day.[14][15]
On October 30 & 31, 2021, Jesse played guitar at the Danzig Sings Elvis shows (along with Glenn Danzig-vocals, Steve Zing-drums, and Ronnie King- piano) at the Hollywood Roosevelt hotel in Los Angeles, California.
Awards and honors
editIn 2023, Dayton and musician Samantha Fish received OffBeat's Best of the Beat Awards in the categories of Best Music Video (for "Deathwish") and Best Blues Album (for Death Wish Blues).[16]
Discography
editAlbums
edit- Raisin' Cain (Justice, 1995)
- Hey Nashvegas! (Stag, 2001)
- Tall Texas Tales (Stag, 2003)
- Country Soul Brother (Stag, 2004)
- Banjo & Sullivan: The Ultimate Collection with Lew Temple (Hip-O/UMe, 2005; as 'Banjo & Sullivan')
- South Austin Sessions (Stag, 2005)
- Holdin' Our Own with Brennen Leigh (Stag, 2007)
- Captain Clegg and the Nightcreatures (Zombie A Go-Go/Stag, 2009; as 'Captain Clegg and the Nightcreatures')
- One for the Dance Halls (Stag, 2010)
- Jesse Sings Kinky (Stag, 2012; tribute to Kinky Friedman)
- Tall Walkin' Texas Trash (Dayton Productions, 2015; limited edition/sold only at shows)
- The Revealer (Hardcharger/Blue Élan, 2016)
- The Outsider (Hardcharger/Blue Élan, 2018)
- On Fire in Nashville (Hardcharger/Blue Élan, 2019)
- Mixtape Vol. 1 (Hardcharger/Blue Élan, 2019)
- Sings Doug Sahm & Townes Van Zandt (Texas 45 RPM Showdown!) [7" single] (Hardcharger/Blue Élan, 2020)[17]
- Gulf Coast Sessions (Hardcharger/Blue Élan, 2020)[18]
- Beaumonster (Hardcharger, 2021)
- Death Wish Blues with Samantha Fish (Rounder, 2023)
- The Hard Way Blues (Hardcharger, 2024)
With The Road Kings
edit- The Roadkings (Bullet, 1993)
- Rockabilly (Bullet/My Way [Finland], 1994)
- Live At The Satellite Lounge! (Alter Ego, 1996 [1997])
- Road Kings (Surfdog/Hollywood, 1999)
- 17 Classics [compilation] (self release)
References
edit- ^ Wood, Roger (September 23, 1999). "Local Rotation". Houston Press. Retrieved July 19, 2023.
- ^ Dansby, Andrew (October 4, 2018). "How Texas musician Jesse Dayton avoided becoming a zombie". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved August 31, 2021.
- ^ a b c "De beste bron van informatie over indie911. Deze website is te koop!" (in Dutch). Indie911.com. Archived from the original on May 7, 2006. Retrieved March 4, 2012.
- ^ a b c d e f g Solomon, Jon (November 5, 2018). "Jesse Dayton Wonders Where the Protest Songs Have Gone". Westword. Retrieved December 3, 2018.
- ^ Gray, Christopher. "Austin Music Database". The Austin Chronicle. Retrieved March 4, 2012.
- ^ "Right for the Time: Waylon Jennings: Music". Amazon. Retrieved March 4, 2012.
- ^ [1] Archived June 7, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ [2] Archived June 20, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Whittaker, Richard (May 20, 2013). "Jesse Dayton Walks With a 'Zombex'". www.austinchronicle.com. Retrieved February 18, 2021.
- ^ Dayton, Jesse (October 26, 2013), Zombex (Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller), Lew Temple, Malcolm McDowell, David Christopher, Sid Haig, Baumant Entertainment, retrieved February 18, 2021
- ^ "Jesse Dayton: The Outsider « American Songwriter". American Songwriter. June 8, 2018. Retrieved February 17, 2021.
- ^ On Fire in Nashville, retrieved February 18, 2021
- ^ Hudak, Joseph (August 5, 2019). "Hear Jesse Dayton Cover Neil Young, AC/DC on New Album 'Mixtape Volume 1'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved February 18, 2021.
- ^ Hudak, Joseph (July 22, 2020). "Jesse Dayton Is a One-Man Band on New EP 'Gulf Coast Sessions'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved February 18, 2021.
- ^ RSD '20 Special Release: Jesse Dayton - Texas 45 RPM Showdown, retrieved February 18, 2021
- ^ "Best of the Beat Award Winners:Complete List - OffBeat Magazine". www.offbeat.com. September 8, 2011. Archived from the original on August 14, 2023. Retrieved February 29, 2024.
- ^ "Jesse Dayton - Texas 45 RPM Showdown - 7"". Rough Trade. Retrieved February 18, 2021.
- ^ Gulf Coast Sessions, retrieved January 26, 2021