Kentucky’s Daniel Martin Moore brought his own chair and his own cheering section to CD Central on Sunday. His chair, he said, was because you never know if a venue is going to have one for you. The cheering section — well that just showed how much he was loved.

After a little while of talking to him, I realized that Daniel and I actually grew up only a few miles (and a few years) apart. Both of us claim Elizabethtown, KY as our hometown (though I was born in Orlando and moved after a year) and have the relatives to back it up. Some of his made the hour-plus drive to Lexington for the show, while one older relative flew from out west to see him play. She even bought one of his CDs to have him sign. It was like watching me with my relatives, but in a different body.

MP3: Daniel Martin Moore – It’s You

Add to his infant-to-elderly range of relatives the number of random Lexingtonians and you had a pretty respectable showing for DMM’s first Lexington appearance. So at a quarter after nine, Daniel grabbed his guitar, sat down on his white wooden stool that he brought with him and started to play.

I think Daniel played a total of five songs, with only three coming from his new album Stray Age. The second song of the set was a new song that I didn’t catch the name of — it was fantatsic, and fourth was a cover of Les Rice’s “Banks of Marble,” which has been covered by Iris Dement and Leo Kottke. He said the last time he played that song, it was the night that all the banks went under and the financial crisis started. I told him it was safe to play it, since banks are closed on Sunday.

After his set, Daniel thanked the audience — about half of which he knew already — and proceeded to talk to just about everyone in attendance. Also after the show, DMM got to meet up with Ben Sollee, another rising Kentucky star.

More photos after the jump…

Daniel Martin Moore with Ben Sollee