Jesse Daniel is the "Son of the San Lorenzo" on New Album out via Lightning Rod Records

Jesse Daniel is the “Son of the San Lorenzo” on New Album out via Lightning Rod Records

Peter Anderson
June 7, 2025

“…one of the premiere traditional country artists in the genre.” – Whiskey Riff

This week rising country artist Jesse Daniel releases his new album Son of the San Lorenzo via Lightning Rod Records. Recorded live to tape at The Bomb Shelter in Nashville and featuring a collaboration with Charles Wesley Godwin, the 11-song collection offers up a candid accounting of Daniel’s remarkable journey, from his early years hitchhiking in the shadow of the Santa Cruz Mountains to his tumultuous adolescence and battles with addiction, to the people, and music, that ultimately saved his life.

“I wrote, arranged and produced this record myself,” shares Daniel. “I also took on much of the sonic direction, including percussion, rhythm and lead guitar, harmonies and more, which I think is a really important piece of the puzzle given how personal these songs are. I felt like I was finally ready to stop running and face things head on with this record. I felt like I’d matured enough to go deeper than I ever had before, to try and understand how I get here and where I’m headed.”

Taking shape while he was on the road last year, the album expands on his sound in a way that wears its influences on its sleeve, from the California country of the Eagles and the Flying Burrito Brothers to classic rock like Led Zeppelin and the Allman Brothers. In addition to the Charles Wesley Godwin feature, it includes instrumentation from Charlie McCoy, Lynyrd Skynyrd keyboardist Peter Keys and SteelDrivers banjo player Richard Bailey.

Daniel shared a series of pre-release singles including the nostalgic ‘Mountain Home’, which Wide Open Country lauded as “a warm and relaxing song that paints a beautifully vivid picture.” It followed the heartfelt reflection ‘Time Well Spent For A Man’ (ft. Charles Wesley Godwin) that earned a rave 9.1 review from Country Central who called it “beautiful” and the hopeful and soulful first single ‘My Time Is Gonna Come’, which garnered praise from American Songwriter, Whiskey Riff, Holler, All Country News and more.