Watch Daniel Donato's Paste Session from the Northlands Festival

We had a packed weekend of music at the Northlands Festival, filming a wide range of sessions for Paste Studio’s “On the Road” series. Our home base was the Maple Barn, a cozy, rustic, structure once used for maple syrup production. For the sessions, the barn was transformed into a colorful, eclectic space that honored its roots with vintage syrup memorabilia, while adding a playful modern twist: neon signs, string lights, and even a life-size cutout of Danny DeVito. We recorded a number of superb sets with talented artists over the whole jam, Americana, folk, and bluegrass spectrum, but Daniel Donato’s Cosmic Country were without question one of the standout performances of the weekend.

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What made Donato’s set especially unique and fun for us to record was the format: unlike their full-band festival set, defined by screaming electric guitars, chickin-pickin’, and blistering cosmic solos, this barn session featured Donato and bassist Mustang McGee playing acoustic instruments, including an upright bass. The stripped-back approach didn’t dull their energy, but rather gave it a new, intriguing outlet. There was still a sense of forward motion and curiosity, things that define the “quest” of Donato’s Cosmic Country.

The band opened with “Broadside Ballad,” a warm, homey tune that set the tone with its steady pace and familiar form and charm. “Along the Trail” followed, giving keyboardist Sugarlegg room to shine, with the tasteful soloing added depth without ever distracting from the group’s cohesion and musical conversation. The set closed with “Blame the Train,” the highest-energy moment of the session, showcasing Donato’s signature flatpicking prowess and cosmic musical sensibility.

All three songs are part of Donato’s upcoming album Horizons, out August 22. As Daniel describes it, the concept of the horizon is twofold: both the literal place where land meets sky, and a metaphor for human yearning, the sense that there’s always something just beyond reach, pulling us forward. That spirit was alive in this performance, even in its most relaxed moments. As if we weren’t excited enough for Friday’s release, they’ll make their headlining debut at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville that day to help celebrate the record.

Donato’s Maple Barn session distilled the soul of Cosmic Country into an intimate, focused setting, no big lights, no festival crowd, just the players and the songs. The set was a rare chance to see this band in their rawest, most essential form, and I’m glad to have played a small part in getting it out to the world.

Huge thanks to everyone at Northlands who worked hard to make this happen. Watch the full session below, and keep your eyes on the horizon for more Paste x Northlands sessions!

Watch Daniel Donato’s Paste Session from the Northlands Festival