Jeremy Dion photo by Daniel Herman
Jeremy Dion crafts folk songs with contemporary and unique flourishes and rhythms built on a classic folk foundation. Some of the songs rise with energy and fiddle or mandolin, and others set up a saunter with organ swells. His new album Bend in the Middle is still making the rounds, and is catchy songs with meaningful messages and metaphors about disconnection, camping, pain, authenticity, parenthood and more. We had a chance to chat briefly with Jeremy about the album and more.
Americana Highways: Your new album Bend in the Middle might be considered a blend of old and new folk styles. How would you say the foundational appeal of folk music maintains its relevance today?
Jeremy Dion: That’s an apt description for this album, the blend of old and new folk styles. And I think the foundations of folk music – a few basic chords and a good story – never change. We can’t help but be hooked by that combination, especially with interesting phrasing, some harmony, and another instrument or two to spice up the mix. It continues to blow my mind how the same basic chords and options for melody can lead to so many different incredible songs in the world. Folk music will be around as long as there are humans to tell stories. We don’t even need an audience. Folk singers will sing our stories to the trees.
AH: When you’re playing live, do you find folks are seeking out the kind of authenticity that folk music provides? Can you give examples of how you see it?
JD: I find that people’s hunger for authenticity is at an all-time high, coupled with the “epidemic of loneliness” that the surgeon general talked about post-covid. I see the same dynamic in my therapy practice as I do when I’m engaging with people at live shows – connecting with a real human is at a premium these days. We thought social media would make us feel connected, but we have found the opposite to be true. It’s made us more self-conscious, more depressed, more anxious, and less eager to relate with others. But we want to, and we need to, desperately. Folk music, the truth behind the lyrics, the openness of (typically) acoustic instruments…the entire musical style is built on community, and sharing the experience of being human. It’s a wild ride, as we all know, and it can very easily feel like you’re going through the craziness on your own. But we all know that’s not true, and that we have more in common than not. Connecting is always the key, no matter what the ailment is. I’m glad to contribute my take on folk music to the larger movement towards connection.
AH. Did any of the songs on the new album come to you almost completely out of the blue? Which one / ones and how/where/when did it happen?
JD: As a matter of fact, yes. Track number 10, the sweet little love song from Paris was written in under 30 minutes, which is very unusual for me. My husband and I had just gotten back from a spectacular trip there, and I was still dealing with jet lag. The bad news is that I was waking up at 3am for a few consecutive days. The great news is that my creativity was steadily flowing, and this song came through effortlessly.
AH: When songs don’t come to one of you out of the blue, what’s your songwriting process like?
JD: The typical pattern is that I always start with music first, and that usually means I’ve found a little something I like on the guitar – a little riff, a chord progression, something that caught my ear. Then I tend to “hear” or feel the phrasing of the chorus words. I may or may not have any specific words in mind at this point. More of a feeling for how the rhythm and the punctuation is going to go, maybe even the shape or tone of the vowel in the word. But at this point in the process I still don’t have any clear sense of what I’m writing about, I’m just playing and singing and listening for what wants to come through. Eventually, some coherence takes place, and I latch on to a specific word or a phrase. Once I have a sense of what the words of the chorus are, then I make some conscious decisions about what the song is going to be about, and I start writing the song from the beginning, now that I have my chorus. I used to think this process was a bit strange and certainly unique, but I have met other songwriters who follow something similar. The subconscious mind is a fascinating place, and I’m finally learning how to tune in, and to trust what it has to tell me.
AH: What inspired the song “Bend in the Middle” and what makes the song central enough to become the album title?
JD: This song was inspired by two main things: One, my twenty years of practice as a licensed therapist, where I have been gathering a lot of data about humans and our tendencies to be rather unhappy much of the time. And two, I spent some time around someone I love who also is incredibly rigid and frequently bothered by how everybody else is living. The two ideas go hand in hand, as my twenty years of therapy have helped me understand how common this pattern is – to mistakenly pay more attention to others and what they are doing (or what they think about what we are doing) than we do to taking care of our own business, our own vibe, our own mood. Our mental state is fully controlled by whatever it is we are giving our attention to at the moment. And while there are certainly genetic components and years of momentum at work within our personalities, we still have control over where we focus and what we think about. And learning to use this power skillfully makes all the difference in the world. That’s the central theme behind the song “Bend in the Middle.” It’s my hope that more of us take our eyes off of everybody, pay way more attention to the parts of ourselves that need some healing, and learn to focus in the direction of what we desire.
AH: What do you hope listeners get from hearing the songs on this new album?
JD: I hope they find a few ear-worms that stick with them throughout their day. I hope they feel uplifted, feeling a sense of connection, love, joy and of course optimism. In the end, despite how things appear, everything is really, truly, very much ok. And I hope my music reminds listeners about that fact. It can sound rather trite, but that simple reminder is sometimes all we need to get through the really hard thing. This is just a chapter (or even a passage), not your entire story. Things are actually working out beautifully for you. This is just what that looks like right now. That soothed feeling is something I hope washes over people when they listen to this music.
AH: If someone only had ten minutes, which 3 songs on the album should they listen to first & why?
JD: The first three (“All I See Is You,” “Bend in the Middle” & “Lovin’ Our Friends”)! They are my favorites on the entire album, and while I didn’t necessarily plan in that way at first (I put a lot of thought into the song order on an album, much like building a setlist for a live show), they lined up beautifully. Those first three capture a lot of the confidence, clarity, and hopefulness that you’ll find on the rest of the tracks.
AH: Were any of the songs on the album written by inspiration and or frustration about an event and or place? If so, which song (or songs) and tell us more about it (or them)?
JD: Three of the songs on the album fit that description. Track 5, “Sweet June,” is about my beautiful daughter and her transition to college. Track 8 is about the sudden demise of a family member’s marriage, after humming along for several years as if everything was just fine. And track 10 is very specifically about a trip I took to Paris with my love two summers ago, the highlight of which was being front row for a string quartet playing in the amazing St. Chapelle chapel, known for its world-famous stained glass windows.
AH: What’s the most interesting story you have to share about the making of this album?
JD: In addition to the fact that my songwriting has evolved quite a bit in the last few years, the thing that surprised me about the recording of this album is that I discovered how much of a producer’s ear I actually have. I used to think the opposite was true, and I simply focused on my vocals and guitar work while recording, leaving many of the other decisions about things like tempo or instrumentation up to the producer. But this time around, I noticed that I have a very clear sense of what I’m hearing in my mind, and therefore how I want the recording to go. This came through in my attention to minuscule details that most listeners aren’t going to hear on the record. But by honing in so clearly on what it was I was after, it was exceedingly gratifying when I finally got it. I played guitar, sang lead vocals, and wrote every song. But each of them also included a number of other musicians drawn from my pool of Colorado friends and A-list session players. The result makes me deliriously happy, and I’m very proud of this album.
AH. How, would you say, is making videos an important newer frontier for the life & development & communication of a song, and did you experience that with a video for one of the songs on this album? If so which one and tell us about it.
JD: The social media explosion (YouTube and TikTok in particular) has reminded us all how visual we humans are, and how short our attention spans have become. Because of those factors, video assets are even more important than ever to convey our messages in general, and certainly music in particular. We all want to get a peek at the music-makers, so we can get an actual sense of their features, their moves, their expressions, their humanity, that goes way beyond the music that enters our ears. And once you have that visual connection that a music video provides, you will never again hear that song without seeing some of those images from the video in your mind. So yes, video content is vital. That being said, I’ve only made one of the videos for the new album so far – the title track, “Bend in the Middle”
Making that video was seamless and fun, working with good friends and great musicians. I have ideas for the next video for All I See is You, and perhaps more beyond that. So stay tuned, friends. More visuals to come.
AH: What was the recording process like for Bend in the Middle album? Any interesting anecdotes or observations of funny stories about the production?
JD: I took my time with this album – over a year – but ended up finally getting exactly what I wanted. Guided by my friend and producer Kyle Donovan, we brought in some of Colorado’s finest studio musicians to flesh out the sound, and really did these songs justice. One of the confusing, aggravating, but ultimately humorous stories about the album involved the backing vocals, and marketing. When I first recorded “All I See Is You,” I had my friend Megan Burtt sing harmonies. She did a wonderful job, and I had special artwork made for the single that included “Jeremy Dion with Megan Burtt.” But as we got closer to the release date, Megan was smack in the middle of releasing her own new album, and was only putting her name on songs she had written. By that time, Kate Farmer had jumped on my album project and sang backing vocals on most of the other tunes. So I asked her to re-record the part Megan had sung, which she did, beautifully. I then had the artwork edited to say “Jeremy Dion with Kate Farmer.” But when I went to release the single, my distributor wouldn’t allow Kate’s name on the cover, because they couldn’t find her as an artist in her own right on Apple Music, etc. Argh! So in the end, that single was released with a thrice-edited cover than now simply reads “All I See Is You – Jeremy Dion”
AH: What’s next for Jeremy Dion this winter?
JD: Always big things around the corner! After I’m done pushing this new album out into the world, I’m setting my sights on two things – touring, and finishing up the writing for the next album, which is a collection of children’s music. I’ve already got some of those songs written, others are in process. So I expect that album to come together much more quickly than “Bend” did. I’m also learning quite a bit about putting together a successful tour, which I’ve never really done. So that’s my big aim for 2025. Stay tuned!
Thanks very much for chating with us, Jeremy! Find more details and information on his website here; https://www.jeremydion.com
Enjoy our previous coverage here: REVIEW: Jeremy Dion “Bend In the Middle”
