The country music star talks to us about her life and career – and her love of horses.
The last time we checked in with a country music star Lacy J. Dalton three years ago she had just released her four track EP Scarecrow — and, as always, she rebelled against any attempt to label her a singer or songwriter.
“If you label me anything,” she said, “you’d probably call me an outlaw if you knew me very well. That’s really how I feel. I feel like it’s mostly the marketing people who put up fences around music.
“But I learned my lesson early on. After I got my first record deal, when I started playing casinos in Reno and other places, I started in a part of Harrah’s that n wasn’t really the main showroom. And I had to learn to play in front of a lot of people who had never heard of me, didn’t know who I was, didn’t know what kind of music I made and didn’t care. So I was able to do all kinds of music. And I was able to find a way to appeal to a wide audience. Which I think really allowed me to work as long as I I’m into what I love to do. I’m like Willie Nelson, I never want to retire.
And speaking of Willie Nelson: Lacy recently received a very special laurel for a duet she recorded with Shotgun Willie in 1985. Half Nelsonan album featuring Nelson’s duets with a host of notables, racked up enough sales over the years to eventually go Platinum – meaning Lacy, the stellar line-up’s only vocalist, earned her own Platinum award for singing the classic Texas outlaw ballad “Slow Movin’ Outlaw” with Nelson.
Lacy reflects on his contribution to Half Nelson with pride and gratitude: “Being the only woman in the company of big names such as Ray Charles, Carlos Santana, Neil Young and Willie himself was a highlight for me and a milestone in my career – and, I believe, for women in country music in general.
These are good times for Lacy J. Dalton. She continues to celebrate the 40e fan favorite song anniversary “Everyone is wrong” (which she co-wrote with Billy Sherill) and performed this hit with others, including “16e Street,” “Black coffee” and “Takin’ It Easy” – during his extended tours. And when she’s not on the road or in the recording studio, Lacy devotes much of her time to Let ‘Em Run Foundationan organization she co-founded in 1999 that is dedicated to rescuing, rehabilitating, and providing sanctuary and refuge for wild horses and burros in America.
We were delighted to talk about all this and more with Lacy when she visited the THIS Workshop this week.
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