Lacy J. Dalton claims that living in Santa Cruz was the best time of her life, and one reason was because the musical community here pushed her to keep getting better. She says, “Santa Cruz has more musicians than people.”
Lacy J.’s love and connection with Santa Cruz is mutual. KPIG jock, musician and writer Michael Gaither believes Dalton ties into our hometown pride. “Santa Cruzans are proud of the fact that Lacy started here, developed here, and after big success in Nashville, she has always claimed Santa Cruz as her own. She’s still writing songs, and we play her stuff on KPIG. We feel like she is ours.”
Dalton will be back in the area this Saturday, and fans can catch her at El Vaquero Winery in Corralitos.
Dalton, 78, is one of the most instantly recognizable voices in music. People magazine called her “country’s Bonnie Raitt.” In March 2017 she was inducted into the North American Country Music Association International Hall of Fame, and in 2022 she was awarded a Lifetime Career Achievement Award from the Josie Music Awards. Known for her gritty, powerful vocals, she had hits in the 1980s that included “Takin’ It Easy,” “Crazy Blue Eyes” and “16th Avenue,” known as the anthem for Nashville songwriters.
Dalton’s Santa Cruz bona fides go deep; she wrote one of her biggest hits, “Crazy Blue Eyes,” in her 20s when she lived in Ben Lomond on Alba Road, during a period she says was one of the happiest times of her life. She laughs, “The cabin was so funky that when the rains came, I had to get up on the roof and put big plastic tarps down.”
She met her first husband there, the father of her son, who later became quadriplegic. Dalton found out a couple weeks after he broke his neck that she was going to have his baby. “It was the last child in his family line. I never was into the whole trad wife thing, but he could never have any more children, and I thought, ‘Okay, I’m going to have this baby.’ I brought my husband and my baby home from the hospital the same day.”
From ‘Black Sheep’ to Reno Pops
Dalton recently played two dates in July and August with the Reno Pops Orchestra, with selections of her original hits scored for orchestra. “It’s amazing to hear your hillbilly songs set to symphonic music. What an honor. One of the songs was a tune I wrote with Santa Cruz’s Ginny Mitchell,” Dalton says.
Arguably one of Lacy’s most requested and controversial songs is “Texas Taliban.”
One thing’s got me troubled, boys, I’ll never understand
The pinhead politicians of the Texas Taliban
Dalton, a fierce advocate for women’s rights, says that there are so many people she loves in Texas—she speaks of wonderful years there touring with Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings—but feels the politicians have taken treatment of women back one hundred years. “I think the Taliban would be perfectly comfortable moving to Texas. If Texas disappeared tomorrow, I would not grieve.”
Dalton says she generally doesn’t do political songs live but is considering doing “Texas Taliban” because so many Santa Cruzans say it’s their favorite song. She says the predominance of patriarchy is tilting the world out of balance. “I wouldn’t be surprised if the world tipped on its axis. Women are so strong—how dare anyone tell them they are less than. It offends my spirit.”
I suggest that her support of women’s rights flows through many of her songs. Lacy agrees and says one of those that she will perform at El Vaquero is “The Devil by a Different Name,” from her new Black Sheep album.
I am a woman, I am strong
But I’ve been told that I am less-than for so long
Eve ate an apple, they say we’re to blame
That’s just a devil by a different name, boys
The devil by a different name
Black Sheep has one song called “Everybody Loves to Hate.” Dalton asserts, “I don’t remove myself from that equation. We all have that in us, and we need to overcome it.”
It will be a trio at El Vaquero Winery: Dalton will be bringing guitar player Dale Poune and bassist Bill Laymon with her. Fans can drink fine wine and hear her sing starting at 5pm.
Lacy J. Dalton plays 5–8pm on Aug. 16 at El Vaquero Winery, Tickets: $20. reservations.elvaquerowinery.com
