DANIELIA COTTON “Cotton has the sort of voice for which the phrase ‘force of nature' was coined.” - Austin American Statesman
Soulful singer and guitarist Danielia Cotton breathes fire into ten blues-rock gems on her sophomore album ‘Rare Child' (May 20, Arenaline Records/ADA).
Belting out tunes with a huge, wise-beyond-its-years voice, New Jersey native Cotton channels rock legends from Led Zeppelin to Tina Turner to Joe Cocker with her blistering guitar work and raw, captivating vocals.
‘Rare Child' follows Cotton's critically acclaimed ‘ Small White Town ,' released in 2005. Essence Magazine hailed her “raw intensity ranging from beautifully tender to howling,” while the Philadelphia Daily News compared her singing to the “emotional power of Janis Joplin. Her songwriting places her among the top new musical storytellers… Danielia's music has the swagger of Let It Bleed-era Rolling Stones.” Relix Magazine recently featured her in their “On The Verge” section in “5 Artists You Should Know About.”
Cotton's accolades are in part the result of her electrifying live show. Over the past two years of touring, in addition to headlining, her versatility as a performer has allowed her to open for over 28 artists, including some of the greatest acts in music, from Blues legends Buddy Guy, Etta James, and Robert Cray, to Bon Jovi, to the Southern Rock royalty of Gregg Allman, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Little Feat, as well as the Flaming Lips, Staind and Collective Soul, among many others.
Cotton hails from the small rural town of Hopewell, NJ (the titular town of her debut album) where she was one of a handful of black students in her high school and grew up listening to bands like AC/DC, Judas Priest and Todd Rundgren. But Cotton was equally influenced by the jazz and gospel music that her mother and aunts sang. These complex and eclectic influences come together in Cotton's signature sound: her voice is equal parts tenderness and thunder while her richly detailed songs showcase a talent for writing memorable stories and characters.
BACK DOOR SLAM features Davy Knowles (guitars, vocal, mandolin, lap steel), Ross Doyle (drums) and Adam Jones (bass), all hailing from the small-but-perfectly-formed Isle of Man*... (*to find the tiny isle, go to Liverpool and look out to sea - you might even see Douglas bay on a clear day!)
Brought up on a potentially overindulgent appetite of Everything Blues, they're now using their precocious talents to create their own mind blowing brand of contemporary/traditional blues-rock. The result is a sound reminiscent of the greats (BB King, Howlin Wolf, Jimi Hendrix, SRV) but with a big fat nod to the modern music and songwriters they all share a love of (Clapton, Knopfler, Mayall, Mayer.) With this exciting mix fronted by the extra-ordinary vocal and guitaring talent that is Davy K, and armed with a scutch of hit songs under their youthful belts, you won't know whether to holler for joy or scream in envy at the perfect musical package that is Back Door Slam.
