Watch Daniel Donato’s Cosmic Country Get A Little ‘Respect’ In Seattle

Daniel Donato’s Cosmic Country rolled into Seattle for a show at The High Dive on Saturday night. The four-piece band debuted a cover of the soul classic “Respect.”

Donato and his bandmates began the first set with a pair of covers, opening with the Mickey Newbury-written “Why You Been Gone So Long?” and following with The New Mastersounds’ “Cigar Time.” The band then delivered “Weathervane,” the first of several songs off the excellent 2023 album, Reflector, wrapping the track around a cover of Irving Berlin’s “Blue Skies.”

Additional first-set selections from Reflector, included “’Til the Daylight,” “Locomotive No. 9” and “Half Moon Night.”

Donato pulled from his 2020 album, A Young Man’s Country at the start of the second set, opening with the track “Luck Of The Draw.” The Reflector instrumental, “Sugar Leg Rag,” came next and showcased multi-instrumentalist Nathan “Sugarleg” Aronowitz’s keyboard skills.

A few songs later, Sugarleg sang lead on the group’s first performance of “Respect.” Written by Otis Redding and popularized by Aretha Franklin, “Respect” featured Aronowitz on lead vocals, keyboards and guitar. Watch the spirited debut below:

Audience Recording (Taped by Jerryfreak)