Dan Horne Steps out on His Own With the Outstanding 'Count the Clouds'

Known for his work with Circles Around the Sun and Grateful Shred, the touring and session musician shows that he's also an excellent songwriter.

Listen to songs from Dan Horne’s Count the Clouds along with the rest of the latest and greatest on this week’s playlist:

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Dan Horne is one of the busiest players in the Los Angeles psychedelic scene, so it’s hard to believe that Count The Clouds, his new album of hallucinatory jams, is also his debut as a solo artist. Longtime readers may recognize Horne as a founding member and bassist for the oft-covered Circles Around the Sun. Deadheads are undoubtedly familiar with Grateful Shred, the road warrior tribute band that pushes the legendary group’s songbook to new territory. When not working on those projects, there’s Horne’s time as a touring member with Jonathan Wilson, session musician for Cass McCombs, the live-based Dan Horne Band, his time with GospelbeacH and the Skiffle Players, and countless others I’m probably leaving out.

Recorded at Lone Palm, a.k.a. Liberty Hair Farm, Horne’s home studio in Echo Park, Count the Clouds captures the at-ease setting perfectly through eight songs that blossom like spring’s anticipated fresh flora. It’s a unique backdrop for a performer who spends most of the time on tour, with much of the record’s roots planted during the lockdown. Horne wrote “Ode to the Road,” the album’s first single when touring paused worldwide a few years ago. Thematically, the song’s lyrics reminisce on the barn-burning lifestyle while the groove gallops along like the engine of a cosmic country-fueled bus - think of it as the wild-haired cousin to Jackson Browne’s classic ballads, “The Road” and “The Load Out.”

"'Ode to the Road' was conceived while stuck at home reminiscing about tour when everything was canceled. The best thing about tour is friends, the people you meet, the connections you make and the places you get to experience playing music. We all missed that so much and are ready to get back on the road."

- Dan Horne on “Ode to the Road”

For a musician usually dealing in instrumental tunes, it’s a welcomed turn to include some pop-structured choruses for the first part of Count the Clouds. “Leave the Light On” opens the album with a Heartbreakers-esque run at FM radio rock (is that some tasteful autotune I hear?), while “Dontcha Know” sounds like a David Gilmour led Pink Floyd number if Pink Floyd ever lightened up and had some fun. After the hazy recollections of “Hedgehog’s Song,” things move back to Horne’s area of expertise with “Hedgehog’s Dream,” a kaleidoscopic jam that shows off all the tools in the mind-altering shed.

“Bicycle Rider” will surely please CATS fans, as it’s clear keyboardist Adam MacDougall (also of CATS and Grateful Shred fame) is along for the ride as the song explores the crunchier beginnings of the band. On late album standout “Pieces,” Ny Oh joins Horne to enjoy some homophones (“peace is understanding, I’m falling to pieces, pieces of pizza”) before its yacht rock sendoff.

The biggest compliment to Dan Horne throughout this record was my constant wonder of who was playing the instruments throughout before looking at the credits since Horne is mainly known as a bassist. The guitars and drums, in particular, are spectacular. Minus a handful of guest appearances and mastering, everything on the album is very much played by Horne, at an ace rate nonetheless.

For all of the times that Horne has impressed over the years, Count the Clouds is a marvelous feather in the cap. It is a solo outing created mostly unassisted and one that sprinkles in some truly fine pop songcraft amongst the heady jams.

Count the Clouds is self-released on Liberty Hair Farm Records.