Will Dailey Launches Second Leg of His 'Ten Dollar Song' Tour Supporting the Wallflowers
The project was created with the intention of prioritizing human connection over algorithms and analytics.
By: Michael Major Jul. 11, 2023
Acclaimed independent recording artist and performer Will Dailey is hitting the road this Summer for the second leg of his $10 Dollar Song, a project created with the intention of prioritizing human connection over algorithms and analytics.
Inspired by a piece of vinyl artwork of Joni Mitchell's Clouds hanging in Dailey's home studio, the piece hung in his teenage bedroom and has been with him ever since. Dailey’s newest song, “Cover of Clouds,” is a 7 minute long love letter to Joni Mitchell, the cover image and her reign in Dailey’s consciousness from the first time he picked up a guitar.
Once the song was complete, came the daunting task of mentally preparing to put this piece of art out into an unrelenting cascade of content. The thought of sending this particular song out there - another precious work amongst thousands of precious works - relinquished to the abyss of digital platforms with a prayer felt disrespectful, and for Dailey, paralyzing.
“Our job as artists is to stay connected and filter the world genuinely. It’s the reason why Joni persists,” says Dailey. “But when we all crowd under the same spotlight all the time, indulging an algorithm, sometimes, love and connection gets lost. This vast and wondrous sea of content with every creator trying tastefully to beg our community to click, swipe up, binge, stream, create videos to a sound can end up drowning out the art. I wanted something different for this song.”
“Cover of Clouds” will be traveling with Dailey on this tour, where Dailey will be supporting legendary rock group The Wallflowers. There will be an antique discman on the merch table at every tour stop with the song queued up. Fans can pay what they like to take the discman and listen to the song before or after the show.
Accompanying the discman will be a journal with artwork, song credits and lyrics, in which listeners can, if they like, leave their name, date, place, reaction, doodles, and dreams. This will be the only way to hear and experience the song. Starting at Nice Fest in Somerville, MA, Dailey will be performing alongside a number of celebrated Boston-based artists and groups.
The first stretch of Dailey’s tour took him across the Northeast and Midwest, performing alongside a number of celebrated acts including The Wallflowers, Rhett Miller, Tourists, and more. Audiences and listeners praised Dailey for the unique “Cover of Clouds” listening experience, and commemorated their thoughts and experiences in a notebook that accompanied the discman throughout the first leg of the tour.
A true sonic journeyman, Dailey’s sound has been described as a Venn diagram of multiple genres with a rich vintage vibe that weaves through his authentic and energetic performances, with DIY spirit fueling everything he does. He has shared the stage and studio with Eddie Vedder, Willie Nelson, Roger McGuinn, Kay Hanley, G Love, Steve Earle, and Tanya Donelly.
In June of 2013 he was featured on a Stephen King/John Mellencamp project produced by T Bone Burnett called The GHOST BROTHERS Of Darkland County and, in that same year, also released an original song he wrote inspired by Jack Kerouac's Tristessa.
Dailey has played at FARM AID four times alongside Neil Young, Willie Nelson, Dave Matthews and John Mellencamp. His 2018 album, Golden Walker, hit #1 on Billboards Northeast Heat seekers. The Boston Herald called the album: “A new peak” and named it an Album of the Year.
As venues began opening their doors post pandemic in 2022, Dailey added another feather to his already full hat with the launch of his Double Elvis/iHeartRadio produced podcast, Sound of Our Town - that became an Apple Podcast spotlight.
The show is a travel podcast about the music in the next town you visit: Not only where to go to hear and experience the best music and why; but what sounds shaped that city or town’s culture and why live music is so vital to our current moment and our existence.
Season two of Sound of Our Town will be launching on July 13th, with 12 episodes airing bimonthly through Fall 2023. This next season will take listeners across the country from Providence, RI to Seattle, WA, with stops at some of the country’s most legendary music towns such as Detroit, and Washington, DC, in addition to hidden musical gems such as Milwaukee, WI, Portsmouth, NH and Asheville, NC. Subscribe HERE to keep up with the show.
Will Dailey’s 10 Dollar Song Tour
7/22 - Somerville, MA - Nice Fest
8/6 - Morristown, NJ - Mayo Performing Arts Center
8/8 - Buffalo, NY - Babeville - Asbury Hall
8/12 - Midland, MI - Midland Center for the Arts
8/14 - Madison, WI - Barrymore Theatre
8/15 - Des Moines, IA Hoyt Sherman Place
8/16 - Iowa City, IA - The Englert Theatre
8/17 - Kansas City, MO - Uptown Theater
Photo Cr. Pat Piasecki
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