Dalton Mills
2020 – Self Released
This did seem strange, at least to me, but until just a few months ago I had never heard of Dalton Mills. But now, just a short time later, he is very quickly being elevated to the status of being one of my favourite artists ever! Having said all that, not having heard of him is not really that strange. He is not an extravagantly promoted 'chart artist' with a big record company's millions purchasing a public consciousness for him; instead, he is an artist who has had to rely on his extraordinary talent, those around him, and a growing band of fans, to get the word out there. In other words, the sort of artist my eyes and ears are always open and waiting for! Dalton has released just a handful of recordings made up of this incredible 2020 self-titled debut album, several singles, and an e.p. In March this year, a new album 'Good Place to Hide' was released. Somewhere along the line, I had received a review download of the 2020 release but, as with so many albums, I hadn't listened to it yet. Having rectified that situation several months ago I've now purchased downloads of the remainder of his recordings. The crazy thing is that by the time I got into writing this review I still hadn't listened to any of those new purchases yet! The reason? It is simply that this debut album is so good I have played little else since first hearing it. I still, whilst writing, can't get my head around just what a truly great 'country' album this is.
I’ve listened to thousands of albums in my life, so trying to come up with a list of favourites is a pretty much pointless activity, although, and I suspect this applies to most music fans, there are just a very few I come back to, even though I may not play them every day, week or even every month. I am beginning to suspect that ‘Dalton Mills’ will very soon be added to that small but incredibly select list, although playing it less frequently is still a very long way off! Since first play several months ago I have slipped this disc into the c.d player scores of times and despite its relatively sparse arrangements something new is revealed nearly every time, with literally all of these ten songs being so powerful that the listeners thoughts are provoked for a very long time afterwards. Add to that the fact that the vocals could have been created by a computer to get the best out of these epic stories that include no extraneous instruments, just arrangements that are perfect support for these great songs about the disenchanted and in many cases downtrodden, and you are well on the way to achieving ‘classic’ album status! It is these factors along with his treatment of the subject matter that lifts this hugely talented singer songwriter, certainly in my world, to a level at which he is at the very least knocking on the door of artists of the calibre of John Prine, Guy Clark and Townes Van Zandt..
The ten songs on the album are all written by Dalton except for Runaway Dorothy Gale by Jason Sinkhorn and Verse, Chorus, Verse by Dalton Mills and Lance Rogers. All recording was carried out at Middle Fidelity Studios in Corbin, Kentucky by Justin Eslinger and mastered by Martin Woodlee. As I wrote earlier, there is nothing extraneous on the album as evidenced by the list of musician contributors. Dalton Mills performed all vocals and acoustic guitar, Thomas Alberton was on pedal steel, Justin Eslinger played bass, with Cliff Draper on drums. Vocal harmonies were provided by Dave Shoemaker on Sometimes Love and As Long As You Want Me To, whilst Lance Rogers joined Dalton on vocals on Verse, Chorus, Verse.
The songs themselves are far from being the oft used in ‘country pop,’ boy meets girl, boy loses girl, although there is at least one song that relates to lost love, but with no sugar coating, and that is probably the biggest contributory factor that sets this album apart from most albums I’ve heard over the years. It is that word ‘realism.’ On every song you just know that these events have been, and still are being played out in real life, not the romantic story tellers’ version of life but the real world. Some are incredibly harrowing, some sad, some have a kind of neutral, almost matter of fact, attitude and there is even a little redemption and elements of hope but all enveloped by the real world.
Album opener Tornadoes is a story told from the perspective of a man laid off by the local factory and tells of the harshness and complete lack of hope suffered by many living their lives on or even below the breadline. This is followed by the incredibly sad John on the run, a sad, beautifully written story of someone with special educational needs totally let down by the system and made to pay for that fact. Sometimes love is a tale of lost love, gently told from the perspective of both parties, with no blame apportioned, just a beautifully evoked feeling of total flatness that both must have felt. Whilst there are songs telling about life’s struggles and harshness, in amongst everything else there is extreme kindness to a down and out stranger on As long as you want me, all these tales thought provoking, simply because most of them have a familiarity that we have all witnessed, or in some cases probably lived. There are even a couple of songs that give the listener a view of the struggles inherent in being an 'unsigned' singer songwriter trying to make his way in a cutthroat business. Hopefully not too many have experience of the final song, Last goodbye, probably one of the saddest, maybe even the saddest, song I've ever heard, telling of the hopelessness felt by a man dying alone. It may even be too harrowing for many to listen to more than once, but if you're going to write realistic songs about the harshness of life, interspersed with elements of kindness and a little joy, you can hardly blame the writer for including the most natural of all conclusions.
So much sadness and melancholy but with sparks of hope and kindness. I just hope not too many of these songs are written from Dalton Mills personal experience. In terms of all round quality, I find myself comparing this extraordinary collection to John Prine’s self-titled debut from 1972. I can’t imagine anything is going to make me change that opinion, certainly the highest musical praise that I can come up with!
As ‘they’ say, 'write about what you know,' something very few have done as well as Dalton Mills on this extraordinary debut. Now I just need to get more familiar with Dalton's tremendous, now not quite so new, album, 'Good Place to Hide,' and, certainly on what I've heard so far, that could well be another potential rave review!
Dalton doesn’t seem to have a website but does have a facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/dalton.mills.35
The link below will take you to his Bandcamp page
Dalton Mills | Dalton Mills (bandcamp.com)
This did seem strange, at least to me, but until just a few months ago I had never heard of Dalton Mills. But now, just a short time later, he is very quickly being elevated to the status of being one of my favourite artists ever! Having said all that, not having heard of him is not really that strange. He is not an extravagantly promoted 'chart artist' with a big record company's millions purchasing a public consciousness for him; instead, he is an artist who has had to rely on his extraordinary talent, those around him, and a growing band of fans, to get the word out there. In other words, the sort of artist my eyes and ears are always open and waiting for! Dalton has released just a handful of recordings made up of this incredible 2020 self-titled debut album, several singles, and an e.p. In March this year, a new album 'Good Place to Hide' was released. Somewhere along the line, I had received a review download of the 2020 release but, as with so many albums, I hadn't listened to it yet. Having rectified that situation several months ago I've now purchased downloads of the remainder of his recordings. The crazy thing is that by the time I got into writing this review I still hadn't listened to any of those new purchases yet! The reason? It is simply that this debut album is so good I have played little else since first hearing it. I still, whilst writing, can't get my head around just what a truly great 'country' album this is.
I’ve listened to thousands of albums in my life, so trying to come up with a list of favourites is a pretty much pointless activity, although, and I suspect this applies to most music fans, there are just a very few I come back to, even though I may not play them every day, week or even every month. I am beginning to suspect that ‘Dalton Mills’ will very soon be added to that small but incredibly select list, although playing it less frequently is still a very long way off! Since first play several months ago I have slipped this disc into the c.d player scores of times and despite its relatively sparse arrangements something new is revealed nearly every time, with literally all of these ten songs being so powerful that the listeners thoughts are provoked for a very long time afterwards. Add to that the fact that the vocals could have been created by a computer to get the best out of these epic stories that include no extraneous instruments, just arrangements that are perfect support for these great songs about the disenchanted and in many cases downtrodden, and you are well on the way to achieving ‘classic’ album status! It is these factors along with his treatment of the subject matter that lifts this hugely talented singer songwriter, certainly in my world, to a level at which he is at the very least knocking on the door of artists of the calibre of John Prine, Guy Clark and Townes Van Zandt..
The ten songs on the album are all written by Dalton except for Runaway Dorothy Gale by Jason Sinkhorn and Verse, Chorus, Verse by Dalton Mills and Lance Rogers. All recording was carried out at Middle Fidelity Studios in Corbin, Kentucky by Justin Eslinger and mastered by Martin Woodlee. As I wrote earlier, there is nothing extraneous on the album as evidenced by the list of musician contributors. Dalton Mills performed all vocals and acoustic guitar, Thomas Alberton was on pedal steel, Justin Eslinger played bass, with Cliff Draper on drums. Vocal harmonies were provided by Dave Shoemaker on Sometimes Love and As Long As You Want Me To, whilst Lance Rogers joined Dalton on vocals on Verse, Chorus, Verse.
The songs themselves are far from being the oft used in ‘country pop,’ boy meets girl, boy loses girl, although there is at least one song that relates to lost love, but with no sugar coating, and that is probably the biggest contributory factor that sets this album apart from most albums I’ve heard over the years. It is that word ‘realism.’ On every song you just know that these events have been, and still are being played out in real life, not the romantic story tellers’ version of life but the real world. Some are incredibly harrowing, some sad, some have a kind of neutral, almost matter of fact, attitude and there is even a little redemption and elements of hope but all enveloped by the real world.
Album opener Tornadoes is a story told from the perspective of a man laid off by the local factory and tells of the harshness and complete lack of hope suffered by many living their lives on or even below the breadline. This is followed by the incredibly sad John on the run, a sad, beautifully written story of someone with special educational needs totally let down by the system and made to pay for that fact. Sometimes love is a tale of lost love, gently told from the perspective of both parties, with no blame apportioned, just a beautifully evoked feeling of total flatness that both must have felt. Whilst there are songs telling about life’s struggles and harshness, in amongst everything else there is extreme kindness to a down and out stranger on As long as you want me, all these tales thought provoking, simply because most of them have a familiarity that we have all witnessed, or in some cases probably lived. There are even a couple of songs that give the listener a view of the struggles inherent in being an 'unsigned' singer songwriter trying to make his way in a cutthroat business. Hopefully not too many have experience of the final song, Last goodbye, probably one of the saddest, maybe even the saddest, song I've ever heard, telling of the hopelessness felt by a man dying alone. It may even be too harrowing for many to listen to more than once, but if you're going to write realistic songs about the harshness of life, interspersed with elements of kindness and a little joy, you can hardly blame the writer for including the most natural of all conclusions.
So much sadness and melancholy but with sparks of hope and kindness. I just hope not too many of these songs are written from Dalton Mills personal experience. In terms of all round quality, I find myself comparing this extraordinary collection to John Prine’s self-titled debut from 1972. I can’t imagine anything is going to make me change that opinion, certainly the highest musical praise that I can come up with!
As ‘they’ say, 'write about what you know,' something very few have done as well as Dalton Mills on this extraordinary debut. Now I just need to get more familiar with Dalton's tremendous, now not quite so new, album, 'Good Place to Hide,' and, certainly on what I've heard so far, that could well be another potential rave review!
Dalton doesn’t seem to have a website but does have a facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/dalton.mills.35
The link below will take you to his Bandcamp page
Dalton Mills | Dalton Mills (bandcamp.com)