Daniel Kushnir - Buffalo Thunder - 08.29.17
Multi-instrumentalist songwriter & producer Daniel Kushnir, a prolific ramblin’ man with a chameleon-like sense of composition, has recorded five albums since embarking as a solo artist in 2012. His latest offering, Buffalo Thunder, inspired by life in the Sierras of northern California, Kushnir strips down bare: acoustic guitar, mouth harp, light percussion, and a vocal delivery stuck between a sneer and a smile. 

He leans towards classic bluesmen Son House and Lightin’ Hopkins, extending the range of acoustic blues with the modern touch of a professional songwriter.

The blues comes naturally to someone with the right life experience. A natural born storyteller, his tunes embellish on autobiographical subject matters--the motives, impulses, and gratitudes that stem from time spent down-and-out in Los Angeles.

His initial foray into acoustic blues occurred several years back, living in Venice, California, teaching himself guitar, harmonica, and flute while taking public transportation up and down Pacific Coast Highway between his studio space and his day job.

In his earlier days, Kushnir told stories in syncopated verse, inspired by ‘90s Bay Area hip-hop artists from his adolescence. When an old tenant left a few crates of Delta blues, classic rock deep cuts, and jazz records in his Venice apartment, Kushnir absorbed them inside out. These records would prove to be great inspiration and have a heavy influence on his efforts thereafter.  Efforts that have proven good enough for International Songwriting honors, spots on network television, major motion pictures and video games.

Kushnir has spent a good amount of time on the road since the release of his acoustic record in 2015. Nothing Left to Give, an LP in the styling of ‘70s-era songsmiths like Jim Croce and Leon Russell, has led to 3 national tours, over 60 cities and the maturation into a performer who can control a room with an effortless grace.

Veteran songwriting chops and confidence behind the six-string define the latest from Kushnir. Self-recorded live with a just ribbon microphone through a tube preamp wherever he could find a quiet room, his songs deliver without distraction--from the heart, and with lots of guts.