The world needs more teachers.
It's an expression we've all heard at some point in our lives. Some of us have even grown up to be the favorite math teacher, while others recoil at the very thought and are still waiting for science to prove you can be allergic to school. Others still should simply never teach.
Future Twin Cities students will never know what kind of teacher Bloomington native Jenny Dalton would've been. In 2002, Dalton quit halfway through her teaching masters program at St. Thomas – all in the name of music.
While her life seemed to be lining itself up – the teaching career, the serious relationship, even someday boating on the weekends – Dalton says she didn't feel right about any of it.
Music, a hobby she moved away from as a University of Minnesota undergrad, was beckoning her back. Dalton left St. Thomas – and broke up with her serious boyfriend.
"I totally derailed myself," she said.
Dalton never received formal training, but started playing piano and writing songs when she eight. She started on her neighbor's piano until her parents bought her first tiny Casio keyboard. Dalton dropped piano when she moved to college, but eventually bought her own keyboard, though she still played infrequently.
At 20, Dalton said she saw music as more a hobby than a future, but the more her future unfolded at St. Thomas, the more she realized how crucial music was to her spirit.
In 2003, she introduced herself to the local music scene at the Terminal Bar's open mic night. It was her first time in front of an audience since 1997 when she was a senior at Jefferson High School and performed in a variety show.
"I felt surprisingly comfortable even though I was nervous as hell," Dalton laughed.
She performed frequently at the Terminal to overcome her stage shyness and even nicknamed the experience "boot camp for stage."
After purchasing recording software, Dalton engineered and produced her first CD, "Uncharted," which she gave away at shows. While Dalton enchanted fans with her rich, airy timeless voice, she found herself enchanted by a new someone in own her life: Solider Boy.
Dalton was in a serious relationship with a National Guardsman she referred to as Solider Boy; he was deployed to Iraq for a year in 2005. Their relationship was woven into the songs of her album, "Fleur de Lily," released January 2006.
Ironically, the same day Solider Boy was released from the military was the same day her CD was released; Dalton said he was humbled by the songs. And while they are no longer together, Dalton still fondly remembers attending rock shows with him.
Dalton started recording the tracks for "Fleur de Lily" in October 2005 at Essential Session Studios. She soon found herself in some unfamiliar territory.
"I didn't know any recording terms or what questions to ask," Dalton said.
When guest recording artists Cloud Cult's Dan Greenwood and Mathew Freed asked Dalton what key the songs were in, she didn't know; she never learned how to read music.
Dalton released "Fleur de Lily" on her own label, Glossy Shoebox Productions, in January 2006 and booked her own CD release party at the Varsity Theater in March; 300 people attended the party sponsored by Radio K. It also made the City Pages' A-List.
Dalton felt exhilarated by the event and jokes that after the release party, she experienced postpartum depression.
"I want to have a release every week," Dalton said, grinning from ear to ear.
In addition to her strong fan bases in California and New York, Dalton's fan base extends to France, Sweden and Australia. Parx-e Web Zine in Melbourne, Australia, has interviewed Dalton.
"I don't know how they found out about my music," Dalton said. "Maybe MySpace or CD Baby?"
Dalton isn't planning any overseas tour anytime soon because she doesn't want to promote at any place she can't do right away. Nor is she considering signing to a major label in the near future like many other Twin Cities musicians have done after making it big.
"Record labels are banks that have a lot of connections," Dalton said. "It's about benefits, not the money."
Dalton is currently working on her second album and producing a music video for the song "Circles" from "Fleur de Lily." She describes the new music as having a water element and cites the movie I (Heart) Huckabees as having a profound effect on her songwriting.
"I almost had that certainty about the future. I have to rock the boat once in a while. You know, put a stick in spokes," she said.
Just don't expect Dalton to rock too much. Ask her to play one of her very first songs, such as "A Million Goodbyes," a song she wrote when she was eight, and Dalton will turn red, giggle and tell you she "forgot" the words.
www.myspace.com/jennydalton |
