InTouch with Southern Kentucky February 2020 | Page 13

“I’m not a fan of
labels in general, but
musically I feel it’s our
duty as musicians and
songwriters to try to
seek new ground. So
while there’s familiar
ingredients in the
mix, we hope the final
product ends up being
something that people
can’t easily put their
finger on to describe.”
CALEB LOWNDES I CJ
Kevin Dalton and the Tuesday Blooms recently released their first album
“Paper Airplanes” that is available on all online streaming and download
sites.
But I was playing a gig at a local
pub,Tap on Main. And I hear some-
one playing harp towards the back
of the bar as I’m playing. I ask on
the mic where that’s coming from,
and I see a hand go up. It was as this
Santa looking guy with a Santa hat,
overalls and a tie dyed shirt.
So I say hey I’ve got an extra mic,
cmon up and do a few with me.
And he did and he blew me and the
room away. And that’s exactly how I
ended up with a Santa Scarecrow on
harmonica who since that day has
played over 500 gigs with me.”
Dalton said he could tell similar
stories for the rest -- Owen Reyn-
olds, Cory White, Kelly Caldwell,
Ben Zimmerman.
“All the pieces have just fallen
perfectly into place,” he noted.
“Talent and personality is what
makes me want to work with other
musicians,” added Dalton. “All the
talent in the world is great, but if
you aren’t the kind of person I wan-
na spend taking long trips in the car
with, then we probably won’t gel.
Willie (Nelson) said, ‘The life I love
is making music with my friends’.
And that’s exactly it. My best
F ebruary 2020
friends are my band mates.”
Recently, Dalton and the Tuesday
Blooms released their first album,
“Paper Airplanes,” a collection of
12 songs written by Dalton. It’s now
available on all online streaming
and download sites including Apple
Music, Spotify and Amazon, as well
as on CD.
“The album is a mixture of songs
inspired by my life over the past
six years. Like most things in life, a
series of ups and downs,” said Dal-
ton. “’Paper Airplanes’ became the
title based on the concept of letting
things go. It’s symbolic of physically
releasing 12 paper airplanes, each
song, folded and prepared for it’s
own individual flight. Sometimes
they sail, sometimes they crash. As
does everything we put our hearts
into.”
Dalton describes the album as a
“mix” of folk, bluegrass, country,
and progressive rock, and says that
while “progressive or alternative
folk” might be the best way to label
it, he’d rather those listening find it
to be something they haven’t quite
heard before.
“Musically, I try really hard not
-Kevin Dalton
to be easily labeled as a genre,”
he said. “I’m not a fan of labels in
general, but musically I feel it’s our
duty as musicians and songwriters
to try to seek new ground. So while
there’s familiar ingredients in the
mix, we hope the final product ends
up being something that people
can’t easily put their finger on to
describe.”
Every artist must take their own
journey; the hope is to arrive some-
where magical, or just to experi-
ence magic along the way. Dalton’s
progression as a singer-songwriter
in his home community is on the
rise, but no matter how high it goes,
he’ll always say there’s no place like
home -- and home, purely and sim-
ply, is the music that he loves.
“I’m not wearing ruby slippers,
but at the same time, maybe the
gifts I’ve been given represent those
slippers. And home is just some level
of acceptance I’m trying to reach,” he
said. “I’m not even sure what the goal
is, where or what is my Oz. But every
chance I get to play music with any of
my bandmates, it’s a magical place we
enter. Not on this side of the rainbow,
for sure.”
I n T ouch with S outhern K entucky • 13