0:00

Following is an

0:00

interview with Daniel Donato of

0:03

Nashville, Tennessee, musician,

0:03

artistic force philosopher,

0:08

social media guru. He looks at

0:08

the world through a child's eyes

0:13

but is wise beyond his years.

0:13

Daniel DiNardo is currently

0:17

touring the US with his band,

0:17

and also appears in the Allman

0:21

Brothers tribute band trouble no

0:21

more.

0:31

I'm Thom Pollard. From early on,

0:31

I wanted to squeeze as much as I

0:36

could from life by looking for

0:36

adventure all over the world. As

0:40

a documentary filmmaker,

0:40

experience seeker, I basically

0:44

became a professional

0:44

adventurer. In tools for nomads,

0:49

you'll meet inspiring,

0:49

insightful, passionate people.

0:53

Nomads like me who are driven by

0:53

creativity, who have a desire to

0:57

reveal the answers to life's big

0:57

questions. That's why today's

1:10

guest is as much a philosopher

1:10

and thinking man as he is a

1:14

creative force in the world of

1:14

music. He started busking, which

1:19

means playing music on the

1:19

streets for coins on Broadway in

1:23

Nashville at 14. Two years

1:23

previously, the only thing he

1:27

knew about playing guitar was

1:27

the video game Guitar Hero. He

1:32

was good, damn good. Then he

1:32

heard a Guns and Roses song

1:36

blasting out of his speakers and

1:36

decided to give playing the real

1:40

guitar a try. Turns out he was

1:40

even better at the real thing.

1:45

However, it started in

1:45

auspiciously. On his first day

1:49

of busking, Daniel Donato didn't

1:49

make one penny. The next part of

1:54

the story is one of those

1:54

storybook kind of tales that

1:57

seem more fiction than fact,

1:57

Daniel is no stranger to the

2:01

idea that if one is prepared,

2:01

then that person will capitalize

2:06

when an opportunity arises. So

2:06

one day he's walking down the

2:10

streets of Nashville with his

2:10

dad, he just been busking to

2:13

save some money for his first

2:13

guitar, 14 year old kid guitar

2:17

case in hand, then a guy from a

2:17

bar, the bass player from a band

2:22

that was performing inside,

2:22

steps out from the door and

2:25

says, Hey, kid, can you play

2:25

guitar? The sensation of sound

2:31

waves blasting into his calves

2:31

from the amplifier standing on

2:35

the stage behind him,

2:35

transformed Daniel forever. At

2:40

16 He became the youngest

2:40

musician ever to get a regular

2:44

playing gig at the world famous

2:44

Honky Tonk Roberts western world

2:48

on Broadway in Nashville, of

2:48

course. Daniel Donato is 26 now,

2:54

and that's him. We're listening

2:54

to several cross country tours.

2:59

A second album just released

2:59

2000 Plus performances under his

3:03

belt. Some call him the master

3:03

of the Telecaster, referring to

3:08

the style of Fender guitar that

3:08

he plays, which you see all

3:12

sorts of stars play. Merle

3:12

Haggard, Bruce Springsteen,

3:15

Keith Richards, Keith Urban,

3:15

Brad Paisley fence, Gil, real

3:20

guitar heroes, Daniel also plays

3:20

guitar and the newly formed

3:25

Allman Brothers tribute band

3:25

trouble no more, which is formed

3:29

with the band's blessings. The

3:29

All Star lineup is said to

3:33

transport one to a real Allman

3:33

Brothers concert, and all one

3:37

needs to do is close one's eyes.

3:37

My conversation with Daniel

3:41

Donato went from music to all

3:41

things life, motivation,

3:46

overcoming fears, breaking

3:46

through the barriers, following

3:49

the core path of your heart.

3:49

Whether you're a musician,

3:53

dancer, house builder,

3:53

architect, engineer, designer,

3:57

amateur pilot, this is about

3:57

following your heart. Daniel

4:01

Donato calls his brand of music

4:01

cosmic country. He has a podcast

4:06

called The Lost Highway and a

4:06

new album, cosmic Country and

4:10

Western songs released late last

4:10

year. Here's Daniel Donato. From

4:16

his home studio in Nashville. So

4:16

So what have you been up to

4:22

Daniel I I had just listened to

4:22

and earlier about not quite a

4:27

week ago listened to a new

4:27

single that you released. So

4:30

with the time that you've had on

4:30

home at home, or maybe you wrote

4:35

it on the road, you put it in?

4:35

You put some good creative

4:38

juices out there, man, that new

4:38

song of yours is dynamite. Tell

4:42

me about it.

4:43

Thank you. Yeah,

4:43

why have been gone so long. It's

4:45

like an old time country song.

4:45

That is part of a collection of

4:50

songs that we're putting out.

4:50

That is I'm all inspired by what

4:55

I used to play down at my times

4:55

in the honky tonks which is how

4:59

I started my career. And so it

4:59

was really an interesting thing

5:02

the whole not being able to go

5:02

and tour we ended up picking up

5:08

a lot of slots down at Robert

5:08

Westworld again and playing and

5:12

sometimes playing to know

5:12

people. Um, and it was this all

5:15

star band because no one was on

5:15

the road. And so we're playing

5:18

the songs in the style of Honky

5:18

Tonk traditional country music.

5:23

And But then we're also jamming them, we're bringing them to this cosmic country filter. And

5:25

so it's these classic songs.

5:29

It's it's eight songs. And it's,

5:29

it's like these old characters

5:35

that are dressed in new clothes.

5:35

If that makes any sense. It

5:38

does. And so that one is called

5:38

Cosmic country in western songs.

5:44

So it's this idea of, you know,

5:44

country in western, but then you

5:47

have, you know, a little bit

5:47

more. It's really fun. It was

5:50

the whole goal. And I was really

5:50

inspired last year by the

5:53

Grateful Dead documentary, and

5:53

there is this long, strange

5:56

trip. There's this one scene

5:56

where Mickey Hart goes, if

5:59

you're playing music, right, you're in the transportation business. That's what we do. And

6:01

it's like, okay, okay, that's

6:06

the that is like, I love finding

6:06

the words that define the

6:09

feeling that I have been able to

6:09

define for years. And that's it.

6:12

And so there's this vibe that

6:12

happens specifically in this one

6:16

building at Roberts, that like

6:16

anyone who goes there on a

6:19

Saturday night will attest to.

6:19

And so we're trying to capture

6:22

that, because I'm realizing

6:22

that's the thing that inspired

6:26

me to get into music was that

6:26

spirit. And so this record is

6:29

like the closest manifestation

6:29

of that spirit that I've been

6:33

able to capture yet. And so it's

6:33

not the last time I'm going to

6:36

try, but it's the closest thing

6:36

to it. We're trying to be like,

6:40

hey, all See, look at this

6:40

thing. It's like it's invisible.

6:43

But you can feel it, you know?

6:45

Amazing. So that

6:45

idea of the transportation

6:50

business, so you're playing

6:50

something passionate, from your

6:54

heart, with it with this band

6:54

dancing together, if you will.

6:59

It's this this beautiful

6:59

symphony of music and

7:04

connectivity. And you look out

7:04

into the audience and their

7:07

people, and you see them going

7:07

to the place that they go when

7:14

they feel good.

7:15

You hoped you

7:15

know. And that was the funny

7:17

thing, though, about the whole

7:17

time of COVID was there were

7:19

many shows where there were not,

7:19

you know, there was a time where

7:23

we played, they played on

7:23

December 27. So it was two days

7:27

after the bombing in Nashville,

7:27

and we still had a gig. It was

7:30

just like, no one was down

7:30

there. Not a soul. No one's

7:34

going down to Broadway to go

7:34

listen to music and drink Pabst

7:37

Blue Ribbon beer for $2.50 After

7:37

a bombing just happened two days

7:41

after Christmas. But that's the

7:41

thing is that these musicians

7:44

that are freaking crazy, like

7:44

myself are willing to do that.

7:47

Because there's so much meaning

7:47

in existential and also an

7:50

immediate way that is found

7:50

through that experience. And I

7:54

think it's a desire to transport

7:54

to a realm that kind of is

7:58

pervasive over this normal realm

7:58

that we coexist in all the time.

8:02

And Roberts has a really heavy

8:02

portal for that energy. There's

8:05

something about he has a really

8:05

fruitful tree. That fig tree

8:09

that doesn't stop given.

8:10

So you as a

8:10

musician man that the show goes

8:13

on that there's like almost

8:13

That's respect. Like that's,

8:17

that's not like we're gonna stop

8:17

and, and pause here. No, we're

8:21

not stopping. Work. Dammit. No,

8:21

we're gonna do this.

8:27

Yeah, really,

8:27

sincerely. I mean, you know,

8:30

there's, it's interesting how,

8:30

you know, Alan Watts talks about

8:33

how life is that really, your

8:33

only teacher and other people

8:36

are just setting just setting

8:36

you up for opportunities to

8:39

allow you to, to learn from

8:39

life. And that was the thing

8:43

that wife showed me from that

8:43

experience was like, man,

8:46

there's some level of you that's

8:46

really in this that you don't

8:50

even that you're not even aware

8:50

of yet. So anytime a log that

8:52

you have yourself that might be

8:52

falling into the category of

8:55

trepidation that might be

8:55

falling into the category of

8:58

let's not put our eggs in this

8:58

basket. But let's try something

9:01

else. Not that my actions would

9:01

reflect that but I have had

9:04

those thoughts especially over

9:04

the past year, you know, a lot

9:07

of musicians did. A lot of

9:07

people did and you should be

9:11

weary of the steps you're making

9:11

and try to test your hypothesis.

9:14

But that I remember looking out

9:14

to the audience on December 27

9:17

and there being no one there. It

9:17

was like I'm thinking man, I'm

9:21

really in this until I can't you

9:21

know live anymore. And it was

9:25

like it was like getting buried

9:25

to myself in some way. So let's

9:28

go so really you're reassuring

9:28

and also slightly crazy.

9:34

Yeah, yeah, but

9:34

that that crazy is well at least

9:38

for me is what what draws me to

9:38

people because it's it's not

9:42

really crazy. It's it's not

9:42

insane. Crazy. It's that you see

9:47

that? It's interesting. You

9:47

brought up Alan Watts because I

9:50

just listened to an Alan Watts

9:50

talk this morning. Really big

9:55

and it was talking about how do

9:55

you how does an individual find

9:59

his or Her true path in life.

9:59

And so when you you were just

10:04

talking about this, when you

10:04

listen to a message from

10:06

yourself, you have to identify

10:06

which itself, if you will, is

10:11

speaking that message. Is it a

10:11

person? And now I'm going a

10:14

little bit off on a tangent. Is

10:14

it the person who's steeped in

10:19

perhaps fear and trepidation?

10:19

Anxiety? unsure of which

10:25

direction to go, perhaps

10:25

inspired by? How will this

10:29

affect? Well, let's say my mom

10:29

and dad or, or my best friend,

10:33

as opposed to the person,

10:33

they're the pure, unfiltered

10:39

truth of who we are. That speaks

10:39

often, but it's very often

10:44

clouded in doubt. So that's

10:44

where Alan Watts is talking

10:47

about, we know we've just got to

10:47

make sure we know who's

10:50

delivering the message before we

10:50

go with it. And that's that

10:56

asked for silence or, or whether

10:56

it's meditation, or, you know,

11:01

that's listening, right? Like to

11:01

listen very often, you know?

11:07

Yeah, it's people

11:07

like to know, before they

11:09

listen, you know, and I catch

11:09

myself wary of that all the

11:12

time. And it's like, you know,

11:12

there's an interesting dichotomy

11:15

that I'm starting to see or not

11:15

our dynamic of, like, I've had

11:18

quite a long time to work with

11:18

men and women that were twice my

11:23

age more, you know, for years.

11:23

And the conversation stylings of

11:29

that demographic is far

11:29

different energy wise, and like

11:32

a bunch of mid 20 year old men

11:32

in a van. Yeah, talking. And

11:36

it's like, there's a lot of

11:36

people stopping each other mid

11:38

sentence midpoint, because they

11:38

already know how the half of the

11:41

other sentence is gonna go. And

11:41

it's like conversation isn't

11:46

yielded best with a lot of

11:46

inflamed ego. And so it's like

11:49

the practice, it's like life

11:49

maybe maybe dulls your ego down

11:52

as you get older in some way.

11:52

But then you might also

11:55

incentivize it in other ways. So

11:55

that's the thing I'm trying to

11:58

get into now is like, when I

11:58

feel something, or when

12:02

something good or bad happens,

12:02

and there's an intuition about

12:05

it, maybe it's not really all

12:05

within my control, maybe it's

12:08

not me, that's telling me that

12:08

thing, maybe it's something that

12:11

sounds like me in my head,

12:11

because my consciousness is

12:13

really limited as a, you know,

12:13

kind of as a as a silly, 26 year

12:16

old man. You know, and it's

12:16

like, really what it is, it's

12:20

like it might be you know, maybe

12:20

like a thought adjuster of some

12:24

kind, something that is kind of,

12:24

you know, there to give you a

12:28

path forward if you're willing

12:28

to listen and not know

12:40

I was just, I was

12:40

trying to eat it all up, and I

12:43

was a savage. When I was a young

12:43

kid, I'm still kind of crazy, in

12:47

a good way. But I'm, I'm just

12:47

like taking it in. And I've got

12:51

a 20 year old and a 23 year old,

12:51

man and and, and you'll like

12:55

this, I took my 20 year old to

12:55

his second dead and company

12:58

showed and took him when he was

12:58

15. And then this went Psalm

13:03

again. And he's just like, dude,

13:03

what a scene man. This is

13:08

people. This is love. Like,

13:12

odd. Isn't that?

13:12

Isn't that an interesting thing

13:15

that everyone who goes to that

13:15

field of energy, whether it's

13:19

fish, dead, and CO Yeah, ears,

13:19

or others? It really is like,

13:24

it's a contract to kind of it's

13:24

happening in America, and it's

13:27

happening on Earth. But it's

13:27

definitely like a it's a place

13:31

that is unlike any other place.

13:34

Oh, yeah. Oh,

13:34

yeah, absolutely. And so

13:37

differently, like

13:37

time acts differently in those

13:40

in that setting, like our

13:40

emotions behave differently,

13:45

like everything is different.

13:45

And we just agree that it's

13:49

different. And we all use our

13:49

conscious energy to enable that

13:51

difference to happen. And

13:51

there's this variable that comes

13:54

in that's very invisible, that

13:54

is very strong and inclusive of

13:57

every conscious being that's

13:57

there. And it's freaky. It's

14:02

like mycelium and mushrooms.

14:02

It's like, it's just so

14:05

connected. And you're like, Wow,

14:05

is this happening right before

14:08

my very eyes, you know, morning

14:08

in May or goes forward in

14:11

morning do and he you know, he's

14:11

feeling it, you know, the band's

14:14

feeling it and you know that the

14:14

room is feeling it because

14:17

there's a difference between the

14:17

band and the room at that point,

14:20

because the energy is all the

14:20

same best place on earth.

14:24

You know, I was

14:24

talking this this is I hadn't

14:27

even thought about this in a

14:27

long time. I was speaking to

14:30

this guy a few years ago as I

14:30

was filming out in Southern

14:33

California and, and there was

14:33

this gentleman we had done an

14:37

interview with and he was kind

14:37

of a seer, if you will, and he's

14:41

his insight was just boundless.

14:41

I'm amazed that his name isn't

14:45

just this world known name, but

14:45

he said that you can literally

14:51

change the course of the entire

14:51

civilization of of humankind, if

14:58

we could but get it 60,000

14:58

people in one place to think

15:05

collectively, very positive

15:05

thoughts of love and positivity.

15:11

But think about that. So like a

15:11

dead company show where there's

15:14

25,000 people at a in Saratoga,

15:14

New York. And, and everybody's

15:21

kind of on a on a vibe. And and

15:21

there, as Mickey Hart said that

15:25

one of the drummers like we're

15:25

in the business of

15:28

transportation, and he's right

15:28

on the money.

15:32

Right on, it's

15:32

like that is the word that is

15:34

the if I ever get to teach a

15:34

class somewhere it's going to be

15:37

on that is going to be part of

15:37

the of the dialogue is

15:40

transportation. And so it's

15:40

really interesting to see a band

15:44

that is kind of the master of

15:44

taking your consciousness in

15:48

organizing music, and just

15:48

freakin teaching it all around,

15:50

like Rubik's Cube. I mean, he

15:50

was on, it was super real. I

15:54

don't like to use the term

15:54

unreal anymore. Because you have

15:58

these, like, you know, you have

15:58

these trips of like, of these

16:01

intense, you know, connections

16:01

with a really strong benevolent

16:03

force. And you're like, Well,

16:03

that was so real, because the

16:07

emotion was so pervasive. Um, it

16:07

moved me to tears, but then I

16:13

can't really find words for it.

16:13

So it's like, the tools that I

16:16

use to describe a real reality

16:16

can't describe something that

16:19

felt so real. So it can't be

16:19

unreal, it must just be super

16:22

real. So that's kind of what I'm

16:22

seeing. Now. It's like, that's

16:25

what I want out of music is the

16:25

super real. It's like,

16:28

Yeah, can I borrow

16:28

that? I think I'm, because I do

16:32

say unreal, a bunch. And it's

16:32

super real. It's I'm done. It's

16:36

over. I might have a slip, but

16:36

I'm going with the super real

16:40

now. Well, it's funny,

16:41

because

16:41

everything we start with, just

16:43

life itself is is so much, and

16:43

then our senses adapt over time.

16:49

Oh, so everything starts out in

16:49

a distorted manner and becomes

16:53

more cultivated and domestic.

16:53

Mmm, interesting. And so it's

16:58

like, maybe that's kind of part

16:58

of most of life. And so you can

17:02

kind of look at these like these

17:02

peaks and be like, I really want

17:04

that, because I've also taken

17:04

other peaks, and I've climbed

17:07

them as well. So why can't they

17:07

take this next week? Same with

17:10

guitar, you know, there was a

17:10

time where I remember the first

17:13

time I tried playing country

17:13

guitar, I went home and learned

17:15

Mama Tried it was like, couldn't play that

17:25

took me months. And now I could

17:29

play that and I could probably

17:29

even improvise over it and come

17:32

up with ideas that lead to the

17:32

next and it's like, all that was

17:36

was me, saying I could try to do

17:36

that having vision to do it, and

17:41

intention in action and

17:41

investing my time and staying

17:44

focused.

17:53

You're listening

17:53

to my interview with musician

17:57

Daniel Donato of Nashville tools

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Choice shop.com. Now back to the

18:54

interview. Hey, so Daniel, tell

18:54

me about I want to have you tell

18:59

me about the three P's. I love

18:59

it. It's such a beautiful life

19:03

philosophy. We've spoken about

19:03

this before.

19:07

That's wild to me that it

19:07

affects you because it's like,

19:10

you know, frankly, I'll say a

19:10

lot of these things to my family

19:13

and they don't, they don't get

19:13

it. Um, you know, and so it

19:17

makes me kind of think maybe I'm

19:17

just kind of, you know, I

19:20

shouldn't even express these

19:20

thoughts. Um, you know, but

19:23

it's, it's, I'm glad that it

19:23

resonates with you and why I say

19:27

that. It's because it's like,

19:27

you know, you have you have so

19:30

much more experience on this

19:30

planet than I do. And you

19:33

fulfilled the responsibility of

19:33

having children and raising a

19:37

family. It's like, you know,

19:37

that it's a shades to cosmic

19:40

career, I think on a really,

19:40

that's probably a might be the

19:43

biggest check box that they has

19:43

on their, you know, to curate

19:47

another person's reality in

19:47

life, um, but the fact that

19:50

resonates with you is beautiful,

19:50

and so patience, persistence,

19:54

positivity. Um, that is, you

19:54

know, that I think satiate any,

19:57

any existential angst I have

19:57

with my You know, career on both

20:01

levels, patience, persistence,

20:01

positivity, those are the tools

20:04

and they speak for themselves.

20:04

It's just like Einstein said,

20:08

you know, if you can't explain

20:08

it simply, you don't understand

20:11

it. And I think the really

20:11

simple truths in lives, the

20:14

trite cliches, they explain

20:14

themselves. So it's like, you

20:18

know, that's what I love about

20:18

patience. Persistence

20:21

positivity, is that all of those

20:21

lead down to the dead end road

20:24

of simply trusting in life and

20:24

just showing up for the parts

20:28

that you're responsible for? Oh, that's good stuff. Hey, so

20:30

Daniel, you you were back on the

20:36

road? So how was your tour? Re

20:36

and how has it been going? And

20:42

how do you get ready for it? I

20:42

mean, you know, what's, you guys

20:46

are all in this van. And

20:46

everybody looks pretty happy,

20:49

man. I see your social media

20:49

posts and, and your your

20:52

Instagram stories. And they're,

20:52

they bring me a smile every

20:55

time. So So what's your

20:55

travelled? How do you do it?

20:59

What's your kind of routine, if

20:59

there is even is one,

21:04

here's an approach, there's a there's a refined philosophy that I've

21:06

had, because I started touring

21:08

when I was after I played at

21:08

Roberts, I started touring all

21:12

the time, because I was the only

21:12

one to make any money in a way

21:14

that interested me. And it's

21:14

important that you stay

21:16

interested in music, because

21:16

otherwise it sounds like you're

21:18

not interested. And that's the

21:18

last thing the world needs. And

21:21

so it's like, at first I was

21:21

trying to like, bring home life

21:26

onto the road. And that doesn't

21:26

work. And then something that I

21:29

don't do, but a lot of people do

21:29

is they bring rode life back

21:32

home. And that's not good,

21:32

either. So the biggest thing is

21:36

to realize, I think home life as

21:36

the best opportunity for order.

21:41

And road life has the best

21:41

opportunity for chaos, which are

21:45

kind of like the two dichotomy.

21:45

It's like the dichotomy of life

21:48

in some way, chaos, and we're

21:48

and so the road is you're in the

21:52

domain of chaos, anything could

21:52

happen at any given time that is

21:56

prepared that is, you know,

21:56

potentially really deadly or

22:00

bad. It's, you kind of just got

22:00

to keep that in mind. And so

22:05

that's the one thing I do to

22:05

prepare for it is I literally

22:08

think about what are the worst

22:08

things that could happen. And

22:11

then once I just defined those

22:11

fears, I get way less anxious,

22:14

because I've gone through it all

22:14

in my mind. You know, that's one

22:17

thing humans really have the ability to do that no other animals really do is we prepare

22:19

for the future, which is really

22:22

interesting. Yeah, a lot of

22:22

birds aren't preparing for the

22:25

future. They might build a nest and things like that, but they're not really thinking

22:27

about next winter, or you know,

22:30

what the s&p 500 moving up point

22:30

four or 5% means they don't care

22:35

we humans really do. And so I

22:35

try to take that innate ability

22:38

that we have. And we've been

22:38

given and use that to my

22:40

advantage. And so it's like, how

22:40

can I prepare, I write out a

22:44

setlist at least three times a

22:44

day and I go through it, I write

22:47

out setlist in sequences of

22:47

three songs. So it's like a

22:50

movie, like a cosmic country

22:50

show no shows ever the same and

22:53

it never stops really, like a

22:53

movie never stops, like you

22:57

don't go see the Godfather and

22:57

it stops for five minutes.

23:01

Unless there's a break between

23:01

Godfather one Godfather two,

23:05

that's probably upset breaks.

23:05

Um, so it's like, I think about

23:08

it in that way. Um, and I mean,

23:08

I really just try to think about

23:12

what my vision is. And that's

23:12

really like, a man and his

23:16

vision is really like, the most

23:16

timeless thing I mean, that's

23:22

kind of the the story of

23:22

everything in some way. Man, his

23:24

vision. So I try just relate to

23:24

what my vision is, and I try to

23:27

feel it. But feelings are like

23:27

different than thoughts. So

23:30

that's, that's what I've been

23:30

really thinking about. For this

23:32

tour. It's like feeling and

23:32

thinking, wow, really abstract,

23:36

and so on. On a less abstract

23:36

level. We have bass, drums,

23:41

guitar, myself, tour manager and

23:41

a content production guy. So

23:46

everything's planned before we

23:46

leave, you know, when we're

23:48

arriving, how we're arriving,

23:48

where we're parking, all those

23:51

things. Um, that's how I like to

23:51

run my organization. A lot of

23:54

people don't, you know, but

23:54

that's fine. I like to run it

23:57

with with the opportunities that

23:57

we have. Now I just like

24:00

everything to not be a big

24:00

surprise.

24:03

So you know, here

24:03

you are with the guitar on on

24:07

your in your lap. And, and I'm

24:07

sure that you play a lot and you

24:12

know, noodle or practice, but

24:12

are there other things that get

24:16

you? Like, do you read or do you

24:16

have an mp3 player like what

24:21

you're saying,

24:22

I read a lot. I

24:22

read a lot I read every morning.

24:25

I'm so I'm very interested. You

24:25

know, it's very interesting.

24:28

When I'm home, I'm very much

24:28

like, I'm an old man, like, I

24:31

wake up at 530 or six. Yeah, and

24:31

I'm in bed by 930 or 10. And I'm

24:37

just, you know, I'm keep to

24:37

myself. And so it's like, I love

24:42

that. I'm like exercising I like

24:42

routine of reading, re

24:46

journaling. Very static, very

24:46

static. Um, but when I'm on the

24:51

road, it's just like let's go

24:51

let's go let's go you know,

24:53

there's none of that it's the

24:53

exact opposite. Um, I'm just in

24:57

this might be a it's might not

24:57

be good by me. tunnel vision,

25:01

um, in the sense of like, my

25:01

home I just stay focused, you

25:06

know, I do the podcast that's

25:06

really like my main source of

25:09

like therapy is doing the

25:09

podcast The Lost Highway. That's

25:13

like things like this I just

25:13

love talking with you

25:39

I was on. So you

25:39

hear you are 26 years old and

25:44

you've been in essence touring

25:44

since what like once you 15 When

25:49

you got your first gig or

25:49

something at Roberts

25:51

15 I got my first

25:51

gig started busking when I was

25:54

14, I'm six started playing full

25:54

time, and I was around 17 years

25:59

old, four nights a week, four

25:59

hours a night, um, sometimes

26:03

five nights a week. So I ran

26:03

under 500 shows over over 2000

26:06

hours. Um, a lot of a lot of

26:06

just grinding, that I started

26:11

touring with other bands cuz I

26:11

didn't quite have my vision of,

26:15

of what I wanted to do. And so

26:15

you know what I mean? It was

26:20

just like, touring with other

26:20

people's bands, different

26:22

genres, different levels of

26:22

organization, different levels

26:24

of pay, you know, that kind of

26:24

thing doing you know, really big

26:28

bus tours to really shitty Chevy

26:28

Astro van tours. And yeah, you

26:33

know, it's just like, you know,

26:33

brushing your teeth, at the

26:36

venue behind the bar is there's

26:36

no hotel room. Ah, like,

26:41

seriously? Oh, yeah, just like

26:41

total outsider to society is

26:45

what I'm realizing it's like,

26:45

but it's never occurred to me

26:48

until this year that how outside

26:48

of normal society, this really

26:52

is this career.

26:53

So the Chevy Astro

26:53

van thing where we're like, tell

26:57

me where where did you guys

26:57

sleep? Were you on the ground

27:00

out back on a dirt

27:01

in the van. This

27:01

was crazy. So it's like, again,

27:04

you're different levels. And

27:04

this is the thing where life as

27:06

your teacher if you choose it to

27:06

me. And so that's when I learned

27:09

where it's like, okay, when I do

27:09

my own van tour one day, I'm

27:13

going to go about it in a

27:13

different manner, where these

27:16

logistics are going to be

27:16

satiated and confirmed in a very

27:19

quantitative way prior to

27:19

departure into the realm of

27:22

chaos. Music needs to be served.

27:22

Because you can't serve us like

27:25

if you're not sleeping. Well. I

27:25

can't at least sorry. Maybe

27:29

other people can. Sleeping in a

27:29

van. With dudes you don't know,

27:34

for a weekend, you know, for

27:34

seven days rather in only making

27:38

$300 over the whole seven days.

27:38

It's like, well, that's a great,

27:42

that's a great thing for a 21

27:42

year old guy to do. Like that's

27:45

the time to do that as the time.

27:45

It so musics really interesting

27:49

to me to where it's like it

27:49

hasn't quite. I haven't quite

27:52

found that 2000 ticket A Night

27:52

audience yet, but yet, I've been

27:57

working for it forever. And so

27:57

it's like, I keep like be

28:01

getting I keep having like these

28:01

tests of like being humble.

28:05

Again, saying patient persistent

28:05

positive is like never once in

28:08

those moments, am I not? Still

28:08

fully in the belief that is what

28:12

I'm supposed to be doing with my life.

28:15

So now that you

28:15

are in control of your tour, if

28:19

you will try. So um, do you guys

28:19

stay in hotels on this on this

28:24

tour? We

28:25

do? Yeah, we stay

28:25

in hotels? We are we do? Like,

28:28

um, yeah, we do hotels. So

28:28

that's the thing, though, is

28:30

like, you know, it's there, you

28:30

booked for hotel rooms, then you

28:33

show up to a hotel this past

28:33

weekend, there's only one. And

28:37

it's like, well, the guy Larry

28:37

at the front desk, you know, his

28:39

his first day there, he never

28:39

reserved the room. So even

28:41

though they were paid for. And

28:41

so it was like rooms got sold.

28:45

And so it's like, we have to

28:45

fit, you know, four men into one

28:47

room. And it's like for 2627 28

28:47

year old men, we don't want to

28:50

be doing that shit. And so it's

28:50

like, but it's Labor Day. So

28:54

every hotel within 100 mile

28:54

radius, because you've called

28:56

has it's one in the morning,

28:56

it's pulled out. So it's like,

29:00

you just got to do it. And so

29:00

you're gonna go into the realm

29:04

of chaos, like a hero does, and

29:04

embrace it with the armor of

29:07

patience, persistence and

29:07

positivity. And so you don't get

29:11

too broken by the opportunity

29:11

that life is trying to show you.

29:15

And so it's like a resume, it's

29:15

just all the hardship that

29:18

you've heard that you've

29:18

improvise and overcame. And so

29:22

it's like, if you can have the

29:22

awareness to see it's like, oh,

29:24

okay, life I'll raise you. I'll

29:24

raise you one hotel floor.

29:28

Sure, sure. Yeah,

29:28

this ain't nothing Yeah, so do

29:32

well on when you're a band like

29:32

do you have to take all your

29:34

gear and what if somebody

29:34

smashes the window of the van

29:37

and into you know, it's

29:38

like it's like a

29:38

terrible Well, we our dad has

29:40

like this intense security

29:40

system. He installed it that's

29:42

like, absurd. But ya know,

29:42

that's a real thing. Yeah. So we

29:47

do we bring in I at least bring

29:47

in my year. I got a new guitar

29:49

from Martin this past weekend. We were bringing it out on the road. We were the nitty gritty

29:51

dirt pan this past weekend.

29:54

Which was crazy to me because

29:54

they're like, they've been

29:56

they've been a band for over 50

29:56

years, you know? Thank you, you

30:00

know getting to talk to them and

30:00

um just be around people who

30:05

have done it that long if you're

30:05

open to it and you want to learn

30:08

and you admit to yourself that

30:08

you don't know there are there

30:11

are little morsels that you can

30:11

take in like little truffles you

30:15

know that you can take with you

30:15

from those experiences of of

30:18

share time with those beings.

30:19

So um, I can't

30:19

talk to you all day I would if I

30:23

could and maybe that's why I got

30:23

to get down to Nashville one of

30:26

these days but that want to get

30:26

lunch. Oh, 100% 100% I'd love to

30:31

you know, just just feel the the

30:31

actual in person vibe, we'll

30:37

make it happen. But so when you

30:37

when you get when you're on the

30:40

road, just what are the absolute

30:40

must have things with you? And

30:46

it might be just one good. You

30:46

said you just got a new guitar

30:48

from Martin, which is, that's

30:48

pretty cool. I'm sure they gave

30:52

it to you. But But what other

30:52

like other things, you have to

30:55

have your journal. I don't even know you

30:56

leave my journal.

30:56

Yeah, everything I have is on

30:59

the road does not come home,

30:59

like it's in my house. I don't

31:02

use it. So I'd like a road

31:02

journal. Yeah, for road

31:04

computer, I've wrote everything.

31:04

And so my biggest thing is I

31:08

need to be up before everybody

31:08

else. And I need to know that

31:12

I've had time to just interact

31:12

with my own self for at least

31:15

two hours. It's sometimes I

31:15

exercise, sometimes I journal

31:19

and I sit I drink coffee, like a

31:19

lot of coffee. And I just think,

31:22

um, you know, sometimes I'm

31:22

like, he may get a little high

31:25

in the morning, if it's an off

31:25

day or something and just think

31:27

about, you know, how'd the show

31:27

go last night, what my

31:30

intuitions my reflections on it

31:30

just really just trying to not

31:35

be an asshole. And so it's like,

31:35

you know, because it really is.

31:39

So whatever I can do to to just

31:39

be aware of myself the most

31:43

interesting, a lot of ideas come

31:43

to me on the road, like a lot of

31:46

song ideas, because there's so

31:46

much flying around in the energy

31:49

field of the road. Um, they're

31:49

just coming at you. It's just

31:52

like moths to a flame, just like

31:52

capture them all. So I'm always

31:56

working on a song on the road,

31:56

always like two or three. That's

32:02

been one as well. So I would say

32:02

that's it, it was just like

32:05

having a routine in which I can

32:05

check in with myself. Um, that's

32:09

a big one that really is. And

32:09

man just, it's really just that

32:14

I hate to beat a dead horse but

32:14

patients resistance positivity.

32:17

Sometimes I'll just write that

32:17

down to start the journal and to

32:20

end the journal. Just to remind

32:20

myself that on a cosmic level,

32:23

everything really is fine. If

32:23

you're showing up on certain

32:26

levels of your being in your

32:26

interactions with others. And

32:30

these micro things, there's a

32:30

chip in the windshield

32:33

soundcheck just got moved these

32:33

micro things you do not need to

32:37

lose your cool over to them like

32:37

you shouldn't, especially if

32:39

you're the leader, but you're

32:39

the person who needs to stay

32:42

below 51% can't boil over and

32:42

it's like I love that

32:46

responsibility. It's cool. So,

32:46

you know, I'm just always trying

32:49

to learn I think is what it is Brother,

32:51

you are the man

32:51

you're young enough to be my son

32:53

but I feel like your brother.

32:55

Yeah, likewise.

32:55

Likewise, my friend sincerely I

32:58

look forward to her when we can hang.

33:09

Daniel Donato his

33:09

new album is called Cosmic

33:12

Country and Western Songs. The

33:12

record will transport you to a

33:17

Nashville Honky Tonk on a

33:17

Saturday night, like Roberts

33:20

Western World with a drink in

33:20

your hand and not a worry on

33:24

your mind. three chords, the

33:24

truth and a whole lot of cosmic

33:29

happenings in between. This

33:29

podcast is Daniel de NATOs, The

33:33

Lost Highway. You can find it on

33:33

Apple podcasts and everywhere

33:37

that you can find tools for

33:37

nomads as well as on Daniel's

33:41

YouTube page. His website is

33:41

Daniel Donato.com. You can check

33:45

out his music links to

33:45

Instagram, his tour schedule and

33:49

the like. Daniel, thank you. I

33:49

will see you in Nashville

33:53

hopefully soon. Well, thanks for visiting tools

33:58

for nomads and up close and

34:04

insightful look into the lives

34:04

and habits of passionate,

34:07

creatively prolific people like

34:07

Daniel DiNardo, who embrace and

34:12

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