The 'National Throat' is alive and well in Will Dailey

 Success is a relative term. Paul Newman once defined it as having the time to do what makes you happy and pleases your soul. If you have listened to my streaming radio program, ‘The Mad Music Asylum’ you might think I am mired in the past. I play the old tunes because they speak to me and they move my soul. When I was younger, new music was easy to discover. All you had to do was turn on the radio or visit your local record store every Tuesday to check out the new releases. Now days, it is much more difficult to discover new and interesting music in part, because there is so much of it, and not everything, hell, not even the best of it can be found in an accessible manner. The best new music I have discovered lately has been background music in television shows, movies, and commercials; and if there are credits, they go by so quickly you don’t have the time to figure out who it was. 

 One of the most enjoyable aspects of my “job” is scouring music sites trying to hear something that moves me. I regularly check reverb nation, bandcamp, artist signal, soundcloud, radio submit and youtube (my modern-day equivalent of the record stores) in hopes of hearing something that is so good it makes me stop in my tracks. This past week, I was surfing youtube and a video popped up and from the first notes, I knew it was something very special. Upon further investigation, I discovered Will Dailey’s new release “National Throat”. Quite literally, it is the first complete album I have purchased on iTunes in over…. well maybe ever. I feel as though Mr. Dailey and I are kindred spirits even though I am probably old enough to be his fath…, uh, check that, …older brother. After reading that Mr. Dailey left one of the largest and most recognizable record labels in the world because of artistic differences I have to give him a lot of credit. Years ago, that would have signaled the death of his career but because the record labels have made themselves almost obsolete in today’s musical landscape, that is no longer the case. I credit Mr. Dailey for recognizing that a paradigm shift is underway in the music business and those who embrace the change, like Dailey, will be successful without a major label deal. 

The album itself was funded by Dailey’s fans through Pledgemusic and he has crafted a record of which they should be very proud. From the opening notes of the reggae fueled ‘Sunken Ship’ to the marvelous use of horns on ‘Castle of Pretending’ and ‘Lookout Johnny’ to the awesome slide work on ‘Don’t Take Your Eyes off of Me’ this collection of songs has been allowed to live and breathe through Dailey’s songwriting genius and the brilliant work of producer Dave Brophy. In today’s overcrowded music marketplace, “National Throat” is truly a diamond in the rough and its success should prompt his former label to be singing “Will Dailey won’t you please come home”.

Stand out tracks: ‘Sunken Ship’, ‘Rescue’, ‘Lookout Johnny’, and ‘Don’t Take Your Eyes off of Me’

Visit Will Dailey's website at http://willdailey.com/

---