Daniel Donato's philosophic approach to playing music is simply stated, if hardly simple to achieve.

"It occurs to me that music is actually a form of service," explains the Nashville raised singer, songwriter, guitarist and bandleader, who's adopted Cosmic Country as both a group name and as the moniker for his ambitious stylistic alchemy. "You can make a living of it and do beautiful things with your life, but music is really a service to bring truth into people's lives -- if that's something you're interested in doing."

Donato has proven very interested, and extremely adept, at serving that higher calling with his music during the past six years of recording -- including the new Horizons, his third studio album and second full set of all-original material. It's another dynamic 15-song set that features Donato and his compatriots in Cosmic Country traipsing through a wealth of American music, picking like bluegrass virtuosos one minute, cranking out rock riffs the next and then steering into otherworldly -- yes, cosmic -- jam spaces. Co-produced with Vance Powell, who also worked on 2023's reputation-establishing Reflector, it's a testament to the reverence, curiosity and fearlessness that fuels Donato's creative ambitions as both student and acolyte.