Daniel Donato’s Cosmic Country Debuts ‘Travelin’ Light’ Cover In Oklahoma City

Daniel Donato's Cosmic Country brought their winter tour to Oklahoma City’s Beer City Music Hall for a concert on Sunday night. Donato and his band paid tribute to the late J.J. Cale by premiering a cover of the Oklahoma native’s “Travelin’ Light” to end the first set.

Legendary guitarist/singer-songwriter J.J. Cale was born in Oklahoma City and raised in Tulsa. Cale, who died in 2013 at age 74, originally released “Travelin’ Light” on his 1976 album Troubadour. Widespread Panic has been covering the song since their early days and “Travelin’ Light” remains the most played cover in the band’s history.

Daniel Donato and bandmates bassist Will McGee, keyboardist/guitarist Nathan “Sugar Leg” Aronowitz and drummer Will Clark rolled out “Travelin’ Light” to cap an opening stanza heavy on covers. The quartet also performed George Jones’ “White Lightning,” The Allman Brothers Band’s “Jessica” and traditional tunes “Roll In My Sweet Baby’s Arms” and “Going Down The Road Feeling Bad” during their nine-song first set on Sunday.

Donato handled lead vocals on Cosmic Country’s first performance of “Travelin’ Light,” which featured Aronowitz employing Clavinet and organ tone. The guitarist lit up his Telecaster with an effusive solo before Sugar Leg dug in as the quartet extended their version to nearly 10 minutes.

Watch fan-captured video of Daniel Donato’s Cosmic Country covering “Travelin’ Light” below:

The group put emphasis on original material for their second set in Oklahoma City. After kicking off the frame with “See Through” and “Yonder,” Cosmic Country treated fans to “Ten Feet Of Rope” and “Double Exposure.” The set’s lone cover, Ann Cole’s “Got My Mo-Jo Working (But It Just Won’t Work On You),” came next. Cosmic Country paired “Edge Of The Mountain” and “Down Bedford” to punctuate the set and delivered a take on Merle Haggard’s “Workin’ Man Blues” for their encore.

Daniel Donato’s Cosmic Country now heads to Colorado, where they resume their tour on Wednesday night in Buena Vista. The band will continue their road warrior ways throughout the spring and summer.

Setlist (via DanielBase.com)

Set One: Blame The Train, White Lightning, Translation, Roll in My Sweet Baby’s Arms, Going Down The Road Feeling Bad, Better Deal Blues, Justice > Jessica, Travelin’ Light [1]

Set Two: See Through, Yonder, Ten Feet Of Rope > Double Exposure, Got My Mojo Workin’, Edge Of The Mountain, Down Bedford

Encore: Workin’ Man Blues

[1] – First Time Played (J.J. Cale)