Dan Zimmerman

Son of a preacher man turned art school mountain man, Dan Zimmerman injects 61 years of life experience into this adventurous release. On Cosmic Patriot, Zimmerman runs the charisma of Lee Hazlewood and the road-weary moan of Tom Waits through the same filter artists like Bill Callahan and David Berman have employed over the last decade. Six years in the making, Cosmic Patriot was recorded in part with Josiah Wolf of Why?, Danielson's Daniel Smith and members of Serena Maneesh and Bardo Pond, who plough through tracks like "The Stain Remains" and "Twilight Romance" like a chugging freight train, matching Zimmerman's personality-drenched songwriting masterfully. Cosmic Patriot could have easily been a collection of directionless mountain folk but Zimmerman pampers each song, giving them an authoritative direction and perspective, allowing his music to be enjoyed with a modern ear. Just because Zimmerman is a senior citizen doesn't make Cosmic Patriot anything less than a breakthrough.