Jeremy Dion interview
Oftentimes folk and Americana music twist at your heartstrings with sorrowful songs and tales of dashed hopes. By contrast, Jeremy Dion makes optimistic folk music for both kids and adults, like his recently released album Another Perfect Day. We has a chance to chat with him about the philosophy behind looking at the bright side and keeping an optimistic outlook, which includes fascinating insights about mental health and the relationship between music and metal health.
Americana Highways: Another Perfect Day is positioned as a kids record but its themes are really universal to people of all ages. What was the impetus for the record and did it change over time as you began recording?
Jerry Dion: This entire album grew out of a handful of songs that I initially wrote when I was working as a school counselor. Those first few songs were used to reinforce the lessons we were teaching the little ones, and they did the job splendidly. Soon all the kids were singing these catchy songs, and it finally dawned on me that if I wrote a few more of them, I’d have a children’s album. So yes, two of them (“Be One First” and “Stop, Walk & Talk”) are very clearly for the younger audience, but the other eight tracks are more accessible for all, speaking to the child-like part in each of us.
AH: Who did you collaborate with on this new record? Did you use some of the same musicians as on last fall’s album, Bend in the Middle?
JD: This album, Another Perfect Day, uses very few musicians compared to my other projects. Daniel Herman plays piano, Kyle Donovan plays bass, and both of them were also on Bend in the Middle. Same with Christian Teele, who is my go-to guy for studio percussion. The rest of the sounds I did myself, in part to keep the budget down, but also to stretch my own musical boundaries. I played a variety of different instruments, sang most of the backing vocals, and wore my executive producer’s hat more than ever. Kyle Donovan was my partner in crime, both as the producer/engineer, but also as my creative collaborator when it came to translating my vision into something we could capture in the studio. As I think the listener will hear, we had such a fun time making this record, laughing our way through many of the tracks. Which I think just serves to illustrate that there is so much about this album that feels good.
AH: The title track features a local children’s choir, how did that come about and which community are they from?
JD: I mentioned working as a school counselor, where I worked exclusively at a school called Horizons K-8 in Boulder. After I left that job last year, my choir-director friend helped me put together a small group of interested kids, so they were already familiar with me, and in many cases, my music. Gathering this choir together could not have worked out better, bringing a great group of singers into the studio whom I already adored. It was a great full-circle moment, and I’m really pleased with how it all came together.
AH: So you were once a school counselor and continue to be an in-demand mental health professional. How has your training/experience shaped your songwriting and vice versa?
JD: I mentioned that my school counseling role directly led to the creation of this specific album, for which I’m forever grateful. Outside of that particular case, I often find myself chewing on something interesting a client said, or a curious way they said it that sometimes leads to some future lyrical content in songs. Other times, I find that by connecting with clients in the therapeutic setting, I’m left with a certain emotional vibe that weaves its way into my writing. Sometimes that’s a conscious choice, other times it becomes part of the unconscious soundscape of a song. I think therapy mostly keeps me connected to a deep sense of humanity, which fuels a tender sense of optimism in me. I’m typically very moved by both what my client is going through, and also their openness in sharing it with me. The end result is that even though I’m in the role of helping them, I too am commonly left with an incredible, open-hearted sense of awe, wonder, gratitude, and wow-ness for humanity. All of that lovely stuff, whatever we call it, finds it way into my music.
AH: You’re educated with a couple psychology degrees, a BA in Psychology from UC Berkeley and a Masters in Transpersonal Counseling Psychology and Music Therapy from Naropa University (founded by Tibetan Buddhist teacher Chögyam Trungpa and named after the 11th-century Indian Buddhist sage Naropa), you’re well-versed in the human condition. What did you learn from your Buddhist teacher and in what ways do you incorporate music therapy into your own repertoire?
JD: While I could fill this entire interview with the things I learned from my Buddhist teachers, I will distill them down to two basic things: First, the awesome power of meditation as a daily practice, and second, the inherent emptiness of all things. Some people misunderstand that second thing to be something depressing and pessimistic, but I understand it to be the exact opposite. Because nothing has any inherent meaning, the meaning that anything has is up to us, and the freedom in that is both exhilarating, and the basis of a joyful life. By the time I graduated from Naropa, I had already moved away from using music-therapy specific techniques with many of the clients I was seeing. But some of the basic principles I learned regarding the magnetic power of music to engage us, connect us, and heal is woven into much of what I do. The universe speaks the language of vibration, and music will be the thing that saves us. The medicine of the future will involve sound, and something as simple as a song can be the thing that heals polarization. Things are getting better, not worse. It just all depends on where you’re looking, or what music you’re listening to.
AH: “Keep the Planet Green” is an eco-love song about taking care of our planet. What are some simple things people can do to chip in and are there any organizations you’d like to highlight that are doing good work in this space?
JD: One of the best things I think we can do for the planet is to cultivate a sense of care and hopefulness, believing that things can and will get better. If we don’t have this, no amount of trash we pick up will make any difference. But if we can find ways to feel hopeful about our ecological challenges, then new paths of insight, innovation, and collaboration open up, and possibilities for positive change lurk everywhere. It’s an interesting phenomenon but one that I see everywhere I look: We get more of what we think about. So if the thoughts I’m having about the planet are always catastrophic, guess what – I see more catastrophe. But if I’m able to train myself to look for improvements, I can see those everywhere too. The trick is to choose which of those worlds you would rather see before you engage with the world, or with your phone.
AH: What to you is Another Perfect Day? What would it entail?
JD: Ah, great question! I have had so many perfect days, and they all look a bit different. And while this song points to my overall life philosophy that every day is, in fact, a perfect day, I still know what you’re asking and will answer in kind. If I’m being really honest, my version of a perfect day usually involves a combination of: meditation, movement and exercise, time with friends and/or family, great food, great coffee, great sex, great music (either making it myself or listening), and usually some time spent doing something creative. Laughter too plays a prominent role. And hugs. And dogs.
AH: Earlier this year, you embarked on your Bend in the Middle tour, routing from Denver to Seattle to Oregon and back and recently returned from your first tour of Ireland which included an impromptu gig with 80s rock band Queensryche. How were the tours and how did the Irish gig with the alt-metallers come about?
JD: This is all true! What an epic year. The northwest tour was wonderful! I drove over 2,200 miles in the week, playing 5 shows in five nights. I learned that I actually love long drives, but don’t love long drives followed by a three hour performance that same evening. Next time I’ll route my cities a bit closer together, and schedule an off-day here and there. But I really loved seeing so much of the beautiful northwest, and the tour culminated in a wonderful house concert in my mother’s back yard near Seattle, which provided a very memorable finish.
Then the Ireland tour! That was some of the most fun I have ever had. I played four shows in small pubs, mostly out in the country of counties Kerry and Cork. The final evening was the most memorable. When I called to confirm my performance time, the pub owner explained that members of the band Queensryche were in town and would instead be performing, but that I was welcome to sit in and I’d still get paid. I had no idea what to expect, but it turns out that Geoff Tate (former lead singer of the band) has kids who married Irish folks, so he visits three times a-year. When he does, he travels around with his band and a group of VIPs who paid money to follow him around for the week. Long story short, I fell into the greatest jam session of Irish folk tunes, well-known covers, and a Queensryche classic. But the highlight happened when they asked me to sing, and I taught them all my song “Bend in the Middle,” which was a hit with the band and the pub patrons alike. You can find the video on my TikTok or YouTube pages. So I’m definitely going back to Ireland, and the sooner the better.
AH: One of your favorite pastimes while on tour is camping/fishing. What are your go-tos for best places to camp/fish in Colorado/the NW?
JD: (laughs) Well I can’t give away all of my secrets, but I am partial to fishing on the Green River in Utah, the Deschutes in Oregon, and the South Platte in Colorado. Thankfully, I live in a place that has ample opportunities for fishing, and Rocky Mountain National Park is less than an hour away. I’m a lucky man.
AH: Your album is being hailed as “positive” and “optimistic.” Why was it important to you to share songs with this focus?
JD: I’m interested in promoting a positive outlook for three reasons in particular. First, it’s just who I am by nature, and as my life continues to get better and better, the music I write reflects this attitude. Second, I’m a mental health therapist as well as a songwriter, so I feel even more driven to help us all feel better, knowing all that I do about humans. Third, these positive messages which largely center around self-empowerment and realizing that we choose the way we feel, have become even more important to me in the last few years as I witness the complete opposite being demonstrated by many of our so-called leaders. Today’s headlines are filled with unhappy quotes from miserable people, busy blaming others for their own inability to feel good. Those examples galvanized my message, and provided a sense of urgency in me to get this music out into the world. I’m beyond thrilled that the album is connecting with people, and even more so now that I’m using these songs in the school assemblies that I’m starting to lead. Everybody wants to feel good, and I’ve now found a really fun, musical way to help us all move that direction.
AH: How much would you say that having optimistic toned music is important for the world right now? And more specifically what about the benefit to children?
JD: Staying positive is more important than ever before, as I hear more and more people talking about the opposite. And to be honest, if I didn’t have my tried and true methods of keeping myself tuned in (namely, meditation and other methods of focusing), I would likely be swept up with the others, distressed over the news feed on my smartphone, letting external circumstances dictate my emotional center. But I’ve learned too much, and I know how easy it can be to get ourselves feeling good, building positive momentum on purpose, and then just enjoying the magical unfolding. So yes, people are hungry for something positive, especially kids, who haven’t fully forgotten yet that life is supposed to be joyful.
AH: What’s on the horizon for 2026?
JD: I’m still getting a sense of that, but right now it feels like much of 2026 will fall into four broad categories: Catching my breath, touring again, leading school assemblies, and songwriting. After releasing two albums in the last ten months, I don’t have any plans to be in the studio. I’d rather spend the year resting, playing shows, getting into the house concert scene, promoting the two albums I just released, and continuing to make international connections. I’d love to go back to Ireland, as well as making my first visit to Japan. My songwriting continues to evolve, and I’d love to spend some focused time – maybe in a remote mountain cabin – writing songs for the next album. So stay tuned, friends. There’s always something great on the horizon.
AH: Thanks very much for chatting with us!
JD: Thanks for the opportunity to talk about the album, as well as mental health and more. It’s always an honor.
Be One First lyric video https://youtu.be/w7jR5KYahOI
Another Perfect Day album https://open.spotify.com/album/56YLgyevlshFIFr5xJw5bG
https://www.jeremydion.com
