I’ve been watching bluegrass/folk quartet Dalton Dash entertain and grow their fanbase in Richmond with their originals and unique spin on covers for the last few years now. The crew, which began as a duo with singer/guitarist Pat Keefe and bassist/vocalist Justin Doyle, who met at Radford University (more on that later), quickly grabbed RVA Mag’s attention and the band has steadily built a name for themselves in this town with their eclectic sound, and catchy, fun, and upbeat live shows, which always prove a good time with a stiff drink in hand. They’ve also held down the open mic night at Cary St. Café every Tuesday, giving a voice to all for the past three years.
And earlier this month, the string band dropped their debut album (finally), Ass, Cash, Dash, or Grass online and will host a release show this Friday at The Camel to celebrate.
I recently caught up with three members of the silly, tight-knit group over drinks, {well, a Bloody Mary, one beer, and a bowl of soup} at New York Deli to chat about the new album and what Dalton Dash has been up to since we last chatted.
In January, the group dropped a few singles online ahead of the release party to give us a taste of what we were in for with “Give It A Rest”, an upbeat fast-paced jam, along with “Rehab” and “My Oh My”.
A perfect blend of folky tunes and quick-tempo, foot-stomping bluegrass, the album is infectious with its charm. The combo of their Appalachian roots, fervent vocals, and energy from Keegan Lemcke’s mandolin makes for an excellent album and one that ebbs and flows as it goes. Some of the songs make me want to chill on my porch, kicked back with a beer in a chair surrounded by friends as we waste away the night, while others make me want to dance until dawn whiskey-in-hand in a packed room with the song cranked up full blast.
“We try to play in weird keys and do things different, play as fast as we can,” Doyle said of their album.
I’ve had this on rotation in my car for a few weeks now and “Laugh For A Change” is hands down my favorite song on the record. I’ve had this particular one on repeat, the way the boys harmonize combined with the melody, it soothes the soul. And it happens to be the oldest song on the album.
“I wrote that before I met Justin or Andrew,” said Keefe. “It’s pretty much just about being open to people and not being afraid to project yourself onto people and meet people, people are so timid…that’s what I get out of it now.”
The band, which is rounded out by Andrew Sisk on drums, took a cue from their live sets with this album and decided to bring in a plethora of fellow Richmond musicians to bring the songs to life including Jackass Flats members Stephen Kuester, Travis Rinehart, and Jared Pool, Neko Williams from People’s Blues of Richmond, songwriter Sid Kinglsey, and Andrew Carper of The Southern Belles.
“It’s kind of been our thing from the beginning,” said Doyle. “When we started the band, we always had different people with us, Tim {Beavers, People’s Blues of Richmond}, and Neko, we would do stuff with them, we had Carper on stage, every show other bands were with us, to the point where some people would give us shit for it.”
But despite some flack from the local community on making it one big Superjam when they hit the stage, the boys don’t want to change a thing.
“We love what we’re doing. That’s something we wanted to represent with the album too is have all of our friends come and play on it,” Doyle said.
That camaraderie is something that Keefe and Doyle have enjoyed since moving to Richmond a few years ago and immersing themselves in the local music scene.
“When we moved here, they were extremely welcoming, in other cities, people are extremely competitive and intimidating,” he said. “They were just the opposite, and we want to reflect that and do the same thing.”
The album is a very personal one for Keefe, who wrote all nine songs. It’s one of heartache, but also good times and good ol’ fashioned fun. From “Rehab”, a fast-paced light-hearted song which deals with the heavy subject of getting involved with someone who’s battling addiction, to the quirky, fast “Penniless” and the super bluegrassy “Greener Grasses”, both high energy tunes as well as some folk ballads thrown in to tug at the heartstrings, there’s something for everyone on this album.
“It’s all songs I’ve written none of them were forced into it, it was just a collection of songs that I had,” Keefe said. “All the concepts are life events that happened to me, it’s a culmination of the last seven years.”
And while this is the first release for the quartet, the songs on the album are ones the boys have been playing live for years.
“None of them are new, the most recent one is ‘My Oh My’,” said Keefe.
Dalton Dash recorded the album at DJ Harrison’s (Devonne Harris) Jellowstone Records. The band started working on it about two years ago and with the help of Harris, had a great experience.
Photo By: Joey Wharton
“It was cool doing it at Jellowstone because they do hip hop, jazz, R&B mostly, and soul stuff, and then we have a loud crazy bluegrass band, it was awesome,” Doyle said, crediting Harris for adding his special touch to the album. “He would hear harmonies that we don’t.”
After just a few days at Jellowstone, and mastering over the course of a year at Sound of Music Studios with William Smith, Ass, Cash, Dash, or Grass was ready for fans.
And, since we went to Radford together, we had to joke around about the meaning behind their band name, which has been a fun topic of conversation for the boys through the years.
“There was an article {published after} we played in Culpeper at the Hopfest, and my grandma cuts out the picture and she brings it to me and she said, which one’s Dalton?’” said Sisk laughing.
Fans have thought it was a member of the band as well, and at a particular performance, one RU alum claimed to have invented the term, “Dalton Dash.”
“We had this one lady come up to us at one of our shows that said her class was the one that started it,” said Doyle.
But I’ll leave it to one of the boys to let the rest of you in on the secret behind the name.
On the books coming up for the band are the 9th Annual Richmond Bluegrass Jam on April 14 in Glen Allen, Floydfest July 25-29, Pasture Palooza July 12-15 in Berryville, VA, and a few other shows throughout Virginia so make sure you catch them at one of those if you can’t make it to their album release party.
“We’re going to book a lot of stuff throughout the summer,” added Keefe.
You can catch Dalton Dash at their album release party this Fri., March 2 at The Camel along with Jackass Flats. $8 ADV, $10 Doors. Music at 9:30. Tickets here.
Top Photo By: Sid Kingsley
Music Sponsored By Graduate Richmond
