Jesse Dayton is an outlaw country solo artist, as well as a lead guitarist for acts like Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, X's John Doe, and Kris Kristofferson. A Texas native, he was born in Beaumont on May 27, 1966, and later moved to Austin, where he released his debut album Raisin' Cain in 1995. One year later, he played acoustic and electric guitar on Waylon Jennings' Right for the Time, kicking off a string of collaborations with various country icons and punk legends. His solo career continued with albums like Tall Texas Tales (2000), Hey Nashvegas (2001), and Country Soul Brother (2004). He also began a collaboration with Rob Zombie, who commissioned Dayton to write an album to Zombie's 2005 film, The Devil's Rejects. The result was Banjo & Sullivan: The Ultimate Collection, which was followed in 2009 by a similar collaboration, Captain Clegg and the Nightcreatures. After releasing One for the Dance Halls in 2010 and Jesse Sings Kinky in 2012, Dayton returned to his role as a guitar hero, accompanying John Doe on the punk singer's 2014 solo tour and, one year later, filling in for Billy Zoom on X's 2015 tour. Solo albums like 2018's The Outsider, 2019's On Fire in Nashville, and 2020's Gulf Coast Sessions followed. In 2023, Dayton launched a partnership with blues guitarist Samantha Fish, and the two released the collaborative album Death Wish Blues that same year.
