Daniel Donato’s Cosmic Country Plays All-Cover Acoustic Set At The Caverns

Daniel Donato Cosmic Country pulled off Camp Cosmic III last weekend at The Caverns in Pelham, Tennessee. Donato led a covers-filled pre-Mother’s Day set on Saturday featuring several motherly song choices.

Held above ground in the Shady Grove area, Donato and his bandmates — keyboardist/guitarist Nathan “Sugar Leg” Aronowitz, drummer Will “Bronco” Clark and bassist Will “Mustang” McGee — played in a stripped-down, mostly acoustic setup.

The afternoon performance began with Merle Haggard’s “Mama Tried.” DDCC’s first attempt at the often-covered “Tryin’ to Live My Life Without You” came next with Mustang singing lead. Donato then followed with another cover debut, the Johnny Paycheck-popularized “I’m The Only Hell (My Mama Ever Raised).”

Sugar Leg was handed lead vocal duties on the subsequent premiere take on Simon & Garfunkel’s “The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy).” Donato broke out the country staple “Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys,” and then Bronco sang lead on George Gershwin’s classic, “Summertime.”

Donato then strung together live debuts of Al Green’s “Take Me To The River” (led by Mustang), Dire Straits’ “Once Upon A Time In The West, and the gospel standard “Peace In The Valley” (sung by Sugar Leg and dedicated to his late grandmother).

The John Prine/Steve Goodman-composed “You Never Even Called Me By My Name,” best-known for the version by David Allen Coe (who died last month at age 86), was the last of the set’s first-time-played covers.

The Band’s sturdy sing-along, “The Weight,” was the closing song of the matinee performance. Scroll down to watch videos and stream audio of the special covers set.

Audio (Taped by J. Dern)

Setlist (via DanielBase)

Set: Mama Tried, Trying To Live My Life Without You (FTP) [1], I’m The Only Hell (My Mama Ever Raised) (FTP), The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy) (FTP) [2], Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys, Summertime [3], Take Me To The River (FTP) [1], Once Upon A Time In The West (FTP), Peace In The Valley (FTP) [2], You Never Even Called Me By My Name (FTP), The Weight [4]

Notes:

• [1] Will McGee On Lead Vocals
• [2] Nathan Aronowitz On Lead Vocals
• [3] Will Clark On Vocals
• [4] Whole Band Alternating Lead Vocals