Singled Out: Kyle Daniel “Born to Lose”

There is a certain grit and honesty that cakes itself onto Kyle Daniel’s voice. Struggles and hardships line the margins of his lyrical palette. Hitting on the upsides and detriments of being a touring musician. Coping with long drives and longer nights. The emotion in his voice an authentic take on grasping with those questions. The question “What’s there to say when you’ve conceded to the hardships of life?” Its something that Daniel wrestles with this question throughout his sophomore EP (out March 15), aptly titled What’s There to Say? And for the heaviness of the content buried within his songs, the guy has a knack for giving it buoyancy with riffing guitars and a vocal that could gnaw its way through steel.

Who: Kyle Daniel

From: Nashville, TN

Song: ‘Born to Lose’

Latest Record: What’s There to Say? (out March 15)

What About It: “This song is about the current issue our nation is facing with opioid addictions and other various vices we seem to struggle with. I have had a fair share of people close to me take a turn for the worst and I felt like I should bring awareness to the issue without totally being negative. Although I’ve never struggled with that type of addiction, it’s a very honest song with raw emotion.

I grew up in Bowling Green, Kentucky and although it’s a very quaint little college town, there’s a lot of countryside where things aren’t exactly like Mayberry. I have had people who are close to me, or have been at one time that have traveled down the wrong road and I think this was more or less my way of understanding the situation. I can’t imagine what it would be like to be broke, need a fix and be willing to do whatever you have to in order to get it or you’re going to physically become ill. My mind doesn’t really process that, so I think this song was a therapeutic way for me to attempt to understand.

I remember specifically how this song came together. I woke up one rainy morning with a chorus melody searing itself into my brain, and I called my buddy Jordan Young, who at the time was playing with the Nashville-based rock ‘n roll outfit Mona. I was like “dude, I’ve got this song and I really think you and I can crush this idea.” Although we have been friends for quite some time, we had yet to write together so this whole thing kind of came out of nowhere. Thankfully he was off work that day so I went over and we got to work in the woodshed and started hashing this song out. I had practically written the chorus earlier that morning and finished some of it on my way to his place, but we knocked this song out in like 25 minutes. I was amazed at how fast the song just poured out of us. We got on the topic and really let the emotions fly creatively so it was a beautiful process to share with Jordan. We haven’t written since, but this is one of my favorite songs I have ever written, and I think we should probably try to schedule something soon!”

Photo by Sean Marshall