MSM 90s: My Own Worst Enemy, Daniel Crisler

9/16/26

By Monica Collier

Ahh. The Shoals is such a special place, friends. There's nothing anyone could say or do to convince me otherwise. Maybe there's something in the water, or maybe not. Either way, the Shoals is the best hometown on the planet.

Listen, following Ashley Brown is a big task and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. Since she didn't close the Muscle Shoals Meets the 90s concert that Saturday night back in August, someone had to follow her. That’s the way things work, friends. Truth is, if anyone was up for the job, it was Daniel Crisler. As we all like to say about our MSM family: Daniel showed up and showed out, y’all.

Daniel is so talented, MSM fam. Plus, he's all punk rock and so very skater chic from head-to-toe. Here’s a hill I’ll die on: Daniel has the coolest style of anyone in the Shoals … North Alabama … maybe even the entire world. He is literally one of the coolest (complete package) rockstars to ever hail from the Shoals. Fight me on it.

Yes, Daniel took the stage and shook us out of our Ashley-induced time warp. He did it with ease, too. That’s what rockstars do, friends. They rise to the occasion. Daniel reset the entire MSM 90s show with his rendition of Lit's "My Own Worst Enemy." I admit, though, even once that recognizable riff kicked in really good, it took a minute for the song to register with me. I gave my son, Jared, a "what the what?" look and he said, "It's LIT." Oh yeah. OK.

The older I get, the more I struggle with placing songs. Do you know what I mean? Sometimes it’s difficult to remember a song or remember when a song was popular. For example, I would've guessed "My Own Worst Enemy" to be an early 2000s song. Google says it came out in 1999, so I wasn't far off base.

I am so very guilty of thinking/feeling as if the 1990s were just 10 years ago. “My Own Worst Enemy” is surely a forerunner to the pop-punk movement of the late 1990s and early 2000s. Right?

I may not be a big LIT fan, but I am a big fan Daniel fan. "My Own Worst Enemy" is a super fun song and Daniel’s performance killed.

Hey, how weird was it that Daniel was sans guitar? That was new, right? I’m so used to seeing him on stage with like a really fabulous guitar. It was nice seeing him without it , though. He was working the stage in old-school Mick Jagger fashion. He sounded so good, too.

Have a mentioned that, in addition to being crazy talented, Daniel is so very cool? Looking at Devona Hawkin’s photos from Daniel’s performance that night at Muscle Shoals Meets the 90s has me wishing I had been in the pit for this one. I bet there was a great vibe happening near the stage during this third performance of the second set.

Bottom line, Daniel is just the epitome of cutting-edge punk-inspired Shoals music and style. Represent, y’all.

Stay tuned. More to come.

Dig Worms.

Photo by Devona Hawkins