Steve Daly and The Cumberland Sliders
The Underdog
Nashville
1/23/24
“I wish I woulda quit this shit a long time ago/ but now I’m standing in a Goodwill and I’m sorting through the half-priced clothes,” sang Steve Daly. It was a line from a song he wrote about the experience of being 40 years old and still a working musician. But Daly himself exuded the opposite of bitterness or fatigue in his playing, which had an energetic and inspiring edge Tuesday night, as Daly continues to be one of the more active and seemingly effortless players around town.
A typical Tuesday night in Nashville overflows with shows and happenings, especially in the more local scene, and this week was no different. I jumped from one show to the next, starting at The Urban Cowboy Hotel for a cocktail and some jazz by a different crew of local shredders, but ultimately, landing at the Underdog to see Steve Daly and the Cumberland Sliders play their country-rock-maybe-a-little-bluegrass-inspired-very-grooving-very-shredding tunes.
The Underdog sits up the hill from American Legion Post 82, where every Tuesday night hipsters, and more recently tourists, from all over Nashville come to dance and be seen at Honky Tonk Tuesday. The two venues have developed quite the symbiotic relationship since the Underdog opened a few years back. The American Legion hosts bands until 11 p.m. The Underdog essentially hosts an unofficial late-night after party. On some weeks, like this one, The Underdog has a show in tandem with the Honky Tonk Tuesday line-up for those who maybe want to skip the more chaotic scene down the hill, or jump between the two events.
I parked myself right in front of the stage at The Underdog for the evening and let the sounds of electric guitar and pedal steel blast my ear drums in the most delightful way. The band, fronted by Steve Daly on electric guitar, was made up of Mike Daly (pedal steel guitar), Geoff Henderson (electric bass), and Erin Nelson (drums). Yes, the two Dalys are related (father and son) and yes, that chemistry comes across on stage. Both are Nashville natives and can be found most weeks playing in the house band at Santa’s Pub, as well as playing with songwriters all over town.
There have been nights where the volume levels in the Underdog have been overwhelming, but Steve and Mike Daly’s tones were so good and juicy that I welcomed it, mostly. Both lead players (Mike and Steve) brought a seamless mix of influences to the sound on stage. I would say country music was the primary genre realm of Steve’s songs, but every one of Mike’s solos on the pedal steel was equally filled with what can only be described as gnarly rock ‘n’ roll licks, while Steve’s playing reached almost noise music-esque levels of wild in the best way. This doesn’t mean, however, that either was pushing the bounds of taste. Somehow, both Mike and Steve brought a complete lack of ego to the stage, while also absolutely throwing down and stepping out.
In addition to the more rock-inspired influence, the pendulum swung the other way. Many of Steve’s guitar riffs and instrumental tunes had elements from the fiddle and banjo lexicon, even playing an electric arrangement of a fiddle tune to close out the evening. I could easily envision much of Steve’s writing for the electric guitar transferred to the fiddle. Steve also played with genre in his covers, turning a Beatles song into a country instrumental and Charlie Parker’s “Billie’s Bounce” into what Steve called “Hillbilly’s Bounce.” All that being said, the music ultimately read as very country, a testament to Steve’s deep knowledge of the genre and all its offshoots.
Steve’s songs — such as the one mentioned earlier and another during which he sang “ready for a new car” over and over again — were playful while also getting at the essence of the struggle of the average person, especially the average musician. They very much complimented the humbleness with which Steve Daly and his band delivered a very rocking show.
