Biography
Nancy K. Dillon is an emerging Americana artist quickly making a name for herself. “An original new talent” mining a musical vein akin to Lucinda Williams or Kasey Chambers says respected UK country music journalist, Alan Cackett (Maverick-UK). Nancy is a gifted singer, songwriter and recording artist based in Seattle, WA. She masterfully weaves the textures and rhythms of American folk and country music into mythic road stories of “small town claustrophobia” and the “surreal euphoria” of traveling America’s byways. Her songs evoke the vistas and horizons of the sprawling American West.
Descended from an Irish Mason employed by the Missouri Pacific Railroad, Indian Territory evangelists and circuit-riding preachers, Dillon was born on the plains of Oklahoma during the second Dust Bowl less than a half-century after Oklahoma became the 46th State of the Union. Immediately upon acquiring a formal education, she hit the road without so much a plan as a desire to accumulate as many varied experiences and memories as possible. These included a 1980 circumnavigation of the globe, crisscrossing the western United States in a 1966 yellow Rambler American and jobs as a computer operator of IBM dinosaurs, a University of Oklahoma Indian Housing research project administrator, a photographer’s model and a keypuncher for a Seattle race-car parts company. All the while she pursued her musical dreams quietly performing in bands and on recordings until at last, conquering nagging stage fright, she began writing and performing her own original songs releasing her debut solo CD Just Let Me Dream on June 8, 2004.
Since its release, Just Let Me Dream is generating a continued buzz receiving international radio airplay, song contest honors and landing on several “Best of…” lists. Hailed as “accomplished, mature and soulful”, the CD has a sparkling windswept sound captured by Grammy-winning engineer Garey Shelton (The Believers/Danny Barnes/Rachel Harrington). Nancy co-produced the album with Austin, TX-based Michael Hill (Slobberbone/12 Lb Test). The album features virtuoso performances by Hill as well as John Reischman (Tony Rice/Jaybirds), Paul Elliott (Michelle Shocked/Alison Brown) and Grammy-winner Stacy Phillips (Dobro). Brit-folk rocker, Clive Gregson (Any Trouble/Gregson & Collister) makes a stunning cameo appearance on backup vocals and a searing solo at the end of the title track. John Conquest (Third Coast Music) observes, “Hints of honky tonk, Tex-Mex and cowboy music, intertwined with bluegrass, country, gospel and traditional folk, make this a true Americana album that could easily have come out of Austin.”
Nancy sings about escaping her native red dirt Oklahoma on the opening track of Just Let Me Dream. She may have left town but she is still the girl who grew up in Oklahoma City six blocks from Route 66. “You can leave Oklahoma” she says, “but Oklahoma never leaves you. I go there as often as I can. The land and the people deeply inspire me. My hope is to infuse my songs and sound with a feeling of that red dirt, spaciousness and the simplicity and drama of the elements." A subtle sweetness inhabits Nancy's voice that makes it instantly appealing. You can hear the wind in her voice. Sometimes you can taste the dust, too, and feel the hot summer sun. "I grew up in an extraordinary musical environment,” Dillon says. “My dad is a composer of modern classical music who played in a big band jazz orchestra on weekends. In between all of that he was a Professor of Music at the University of Central Oklahoma and directed the church choir. My mother sang her favorite hymns around the house and taught vocal music in Arkansas before I was born."
Nancy is a former folk radio programmer at KBCS/Bellevue-Seattle. She was a founding member of the renowned cowgirl band Ranch Romance and performed as a duo with Rounder recording artist, John Miller. It is her Southwestern roots that continue to nurture her though—and her soulful voice polishes the music until it gleams and sparkles like fire in fine jewelry. Listen to her perform sometime and see if you don't agree.
Among the honors and recognition accorded Nancy’s songs and debut CD are:
o "Just Let Me Dream" ~ Top 50 on Roots Music Report Folk Chart ~ April 2007
o "O Susanna" ~ Top 20 on Acoustic Pie Radio ~ July & December 2006
o "Almost To Idaho" ~ Richard Gillmann's Favorite Folk Tracks ~ November 2006
o Finalist, 2006 Tumbleweed Song Contest ~ "Good Old Friends"
o Finalist, 2005 Tumbleweed Song Contest ~ "Almost To Idaho"
o Finalist, 2004 Tumbleweed Song Contest ~ "The Ballad of Mabel Dodge"
o "Best NW Artists/Folk CD" ~ July 2004 ~ KBCS 91.3FM Seattle
o Top 10 ~ American ROOTS Radio ~ Boston, MA ~ July 2004
o "2004 Top Albums & Songs ~ Folk Music Radio Airplay Chart
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Venues played:
Seattle, Washington: Tractor Tavern ~ Northwest Folklife Festival ~ Paramount Theater ~ Bumbershoot Music Festival ~ Wintergrass Bluegrass Festival ~ Crossroads Songwriter Series ~ Seattle Folklore Society Concert Series ~ Puget Sounds Concert Series ~ Northgate August Festival ~ East West Bookshop ~ Sunset Tavern ~ Conor Byrne Pub ~ Fiddler’s Inn ~ Hopvine Songwriter Showcase ~ Dusty Strings Annual Christmas Concert ~ Flying Lion Café ~ Columbia City Beatwalk ~ Tutta Bella ~ Latona Tavern ~ Lock & Keel ~ The Olde Peculiar ~ Molly McGuire’s ~ Mulleady’s Pub ~ The Dubliner ~ Owl & Thistle ~ Allegro Upstairs ~ University District Street Fair ~ Fremont Fair ~ Little Red Hen ~ Third Place Books ~ Ravenna Third Place ~ Nana’s Soup House ~ Hotwire Online Coffee ~ C & P Coffee Co. ~ El Diablo Coffee Co. ~ Mr. Spot’s Chai House ~ Patti Summers Lounge ~ Madison’s Café ~ Silver Platters Records In-Store ~ World Cup Espresso ~ Caffe Bella ~ Columbia City Cabaret Theatre
Other Washington Venues: Tumbleweed Music Festival (Richland) ~ Boundary Bay Brewery (Bellingham) ~ Althea’s (Mt. Vernon) ~ Pegasus Coffee House (Bainbridge Island) ~ Seabold 2nd Saturday Featured Performer (Seabold) ~ The Barn (Bainbridge Island) ~ Mandolin Café (Tacoma)
Portland, Oregon: Green Room ~ Trask Brewery ~ Mississippi Pizza ~ Alberta Street Pub
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma: The Blue Door
San Diego, California: 16th Annual International Folk Alliance Conference
San Francisco, California: Amnesia Pub
Austin, Texas: 18th Annual International Folk Alliance Conference
Nancy has shared stage with or opened for:
Clive Gregson ~ Kevin Welch ~ Ray Wylie Hubbard ~ Red Dirt Rangers ~ Terry (Buffalo) Ware (Jimmy LaFave) ~ Bob Childers ~ Stacy Phillips (Grammy Award-winning Dobroist) ~ Rachel Harrington ~ Eva Tree ~ Michael Hill (12 Lb Test/Slobberbone) ~ John M Miller (Rounder recording artist) ~ Guy Clark (w/Ranch Romance) ~ Everly Brothers (w/Duffy Bishop)
Instrumentation
Nancy K Dillon ~ Vocals/Guitar
Paul Elliott ~ Fiddle
Stacy Phillips ~ Dobro
Michael Hill ~ Guitars
Jay Weaver ~ Drums
Band members & format will vary depending upon venue & location
Discography
Discography:
~ Just Let Me Dream: 2004 Debut Solo Album
~ Colorado Moon: 2001 EP
~ The Air Streams: The Air Streams
New CD to be released in 2008
Nancy's vocal contributions to others' recordings:
~ Suze Spencer Marshall: Tall Boots: Rare Gems of America’s Western Music Pioneers
~ Michael Hill: Vanishing Season
~ Michael Hill: The New World
~ Michael Hill: Yours Truly
~ Marsha Reeves: Sing My Way Home
~ Kim Townsend: Wayworn Traveler
~ Phil Sampson: Little Pieces of His Heart
~ Junior Cadillac: Jr Cadillac 20th Birthday Party Live
~ Steve Bailey & the Blue Flames: Hop On Board
~ Nora Michaels & Paul Whistler: Leopardskin Revue
~ Duffy Bishop & the Rhythm Dogs: On A Journey
Links
| http://www.nancykdillon.net |