Minstrel Daniel Kosel of Roberts has a third album out. It’s a solo endeavor, recorded live at Kirk’s Grocery in Billings and chock-full of original songs and great pickin’.
Kosel describes his style as “robust vocals within an eclectic blend of country, rock, and blues,“ or “Crues Music.” The poet and songwriter possesses nimble digits and a resonant baritone that is equally at home in the deep bass realm. He moves easily in that range, all the while playing tasteful chords or tearing up fleet-fingered electric guitar notes.
His 15 compositions cover many emotions. Kosel is at war with himself at times, having overcome life-shattering bereavement along with a gambling addiction, and he sings about the pain he carries from that prior life. The musician wants his poetry and songs to help people find peace, triumph over their hardships, and treat others well. He feels music can heal.
The first song, “Mississippi Jackson,” is the tale of a man from long ago. It’s da blues, man! Kosel growls and croons, and sends his voice down lo-ow before snapping out a wicked solo. The title song, “More Than Enough,” starts with the guitar nuances of “Summertime”; it’s got a swampy, spooky ambience, and Kosel sometimes whispers lyrics, and throws in some spoken-word lines.
“Get By Today” is a slow rocker with a fuzzed-up guitar intro. Kosel laments losing a paramour, and feels “caught up in a loveless Hell.” Later he cuts loose on “Common Man Blues,” pouring out his emotions with fiery fretboard pyrotechnics on the souped-up instrumental.
“Street Poem” is a keeper. A snooty, elitist woman haughtily ignores a street person, but her blinged-out “candy canine” runs right up to get petted. It’s, as Kosel opines, “the simple exchange of a mutual kindness seldom assigned its true worth.” Spot on!
Visit danielkoselmusic.com.
– Mariss McTucker