Karen Dalton: Folk Music's Mysterious Recluse

Karen Dalton was a folk singer who truly hated the spotlight. Her music is vulnerable and intimate in a very unique way. Have you listened to Dalton? What did you think? Lemme know in the comments.

[@rickbaunach]

My friend, Richard Tucker (Karen Dalton’s ex-husband) appears in this video. Richard wrote “Are You Leaving For The Country.”

[@hubertsumlin9697]

I'm on a KD kick lately. This woman's voice is SO expressive and unique. I have no words for it. If that's not impressive enough, she's a legit fingerpicking guitarist and banjo player with a world class folk repertoire.

[@honoriussoularians1887]

When I first moved to Boulder Colorado with my family in 1964, Karen played the Attic folk cafe on Pearl Street that same year. I had no idea who she was at that time and I was I was only 14. But a few years later I met her while hiking around Summerville, an old mining town outside of Boulder. A brief encounter - she was playing guitar on the porch and waved to me as I walked up the hill by her cabin. Years later, I finally learned about her, the time she spent in Boulder, and her sad demise. Rest in Peace, dear Karen.

[@fecklessmovies]

A real shame she didn’t record her own songs. Her voice is amazing - it has a really unique timbre.

[@richardmusto8167]

Something on your mind , one of the most beautiful melancholy songs I,ve ever heard. I love every second of it

[@twareham1718]

Her interpretation of ‘sweet substitute’ is what got me hooked. The sound was something that i had been searching for and stumbling upon her recordings was truly a gift. You can’t help but be frustrated by her lack of output but I think her art lives on in the artists that she has inspired. Joanna Newsom being my personal favourite.

[@richardkell4888]

Its a few years since I searched for Karen Dalton, she's on my workshop mp3. RIP. Green green grassy etc is fabulous and good to see that new bio material/ footage is available nowadays.

[@alfrede.neuman8898]

A friend asked me to get her 2nd LP. Rolling Stone reviewed it. When I played it I was stunned by her voice. My friend was too. I read something about it at the time comparing her voice to Laura Nyro. Her earlier record is easier on the ears. We thought at the time it was a much older person singing on that 2nd LP.

[@danno1339]

Great video man, love Karen

[@thecosmicblueautie]

There are a lot of artists that I would say marches to the best of their own drum, nut one that I really say does it consistently is Dani Lee Pearce, an artists whose music is a mix of progressive pop and theatrical showtunes. Brilliant works that aren't for everybody, but certainly worth exploration.

[@sour_tuck]

This is about to be something I would like to listen to every morning!

[@guneetlehl8098]

Lovely

[@robbiet8583]

I heard Karen Dalton for the first time when a movie ended. It was the closing song of a movie… I jumped up and ran to the television to make sure I didn’t miss the credits! OMG. It’s been live ever since. I’m sorry I didn’t know her music until 2010. I had always been a fan of folk and was learning guitar throughout the 70’s.

[@PatriotSteve]

If you've never heard of Eva Cassidy check out Somewhere Over The Rainbow. It will blow your mind. Another arist who did it her way but with Eva,,, might be, and would have been, one of the greatest singers of all time.

[@fredbloggs6080]

The original line, which comes from a passage in Henry David Thoreau's 1854 work, Walden was: "If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away." Interesting how that has morphed with Linda Ronstadt's *Different Drum* to "You and I travel to the beat of a different drum", to more recently "...marches to the beat of their own drum", as you use it. I think one you stick to the original quote as much as possible, lest one seem uneducated.

[@sparrowx4442]

Recently I discovered Pat the Bunny. (I thank you for your lovely tribute.)

[@jcamenga]

Enjoyed your succinct comments and an accurate portrait of Karen Dalton. Thank you.

[@rodneyzirpolo]

"Karen certainly got around" is crazyyy 💀

[@kyliebreann30]

Discover me

[@rexfrew5392]

Art 4 art's sake -

[@coolbuffdad]

In answer to your question, I love Mark Linkous