Mindful Music and other Matters: A conversation with Jeremy Dion

I must confess that you have been off my radar for a few years now (my apologies); the last music I reviewed by you was from the Sharpe & Dion album. What’s been going on in your world since then?

Jeremy Dion: Since I released Sharpe & Dion, I’ve been working steadfastly on improving my songwriting. I’ve been attending workshops and song circles, and I even found a songwriting mentor in addition to a wonderful vocal coach, so I’ve been honing my craft and writing a ton. In that span, I released a one-off whimsical single about my esteemed local US Congressman, Joe Neguse, mostly because the song made me laugh and got repeatedly stuck in my head. But most of my focus in the past year and a half has been devoted to completing this new project.

Looking further back, can you tell me a bit about your influences and musical journey to date?

JD: Having grown up on Paul Simon, John Denver, and James Taylor, my musical life exploded when I later discovered Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead. I was also drawn to more bluegrass-leaning players and writers like Darrell Scott, Tony Rice, and Doc Watson, and eventually combined those influences with my own style to create what I now feel is like a second skin.

It’s taken me a long time to figure out who I am, separate from those musical influences. And while that’s a process that perhaps doesn’t have an ending, I feel more certain about myself than ever before. And I think that comes through in this new music. There’s a sense of confidence in this album that feels spectacular.

The new album, Bend in the Middle, will drop soon. What can the listener expect from that album?

JD: Musically, this is the project I am most proud of at this point in my career. It has eleven original tracks, and most of them are produced with a full band. Style-wise, there’s a little something for everyone, including some rockin’ blues, a mountain-top love song, some straight-up bluegrass, and many heart-openers. The album as a whole is upbeat, high energy, and feels really good to listen to as well as perform. I pulled together some of my favorite Colorado musicians to record these tracks, most of whom I have worked with previously.

But this was my first project with producer/engineer Kyle Donovan, and he and I formed a fast friendship. We are on the same page in many ways, and that comes through in these mixes. I used to have a story in my head that I didn’t really have the ear or the chops to be a producer. But working alongside Kyle, I learned that I actually have a damn good ear and a crystal-clear sense of what I’m trying to capture. That’s why this project took so long from start to finish. But it was so worth it, and in the end, I got exactly what I wanted.

How have your music and lyrics evolved as you have released albums? Is the quest the same? Have you managed to do what you always intended to do with your music?

JD: My songwriting has evolved quite a bit in the last twenty years, and continues to. I have been spending an increasing amount of time around professional songwriters from Nashville and LA and have learned a lot about tightening up my songs and letting each lyric do its job with precision. The younger me wrote songs that I didn’t even understand. That’s not true at all anymore, save for the rare exception.

The quest of my music-making remains the same, and it’s usually intertwined with helping people feel their feelings. So many of us grew up hearing or believing that our feelings don’t matter or are mostly unproductive. But as a songwriter and licensed therapist these past 20 years, I know how deluded that line of thinking is. The development of our emotional intelligence is vital for our sustained happiness, and I hope my songs help make the experience of waking up to our feelings a more pleasant one. 

How much influence would your day job as a therapist have on your music, the way you write, and the points you are trying to make with it? Are the two parts of your life inseparable anyway?

JD: I love this question, and you nailed it with your final words. The therapist me and the songwriter me are definitely inseparable, and each informs the other. Very commonly, I find that the depth of the conversations I have with my clients often open me up to new songwriting ideas – both literally when it comes to lyrics, or more broadly when it comes to an idea or new fascination.

We all live in our little bubbles, and I relish every opportunity to see the world through someone else’s experience. And wondrously, I found myself actually in the business of doing just that. Much of the time, I think I’m writing songs in an effort to understand my own experiences and make sense of my own world. And all the better if I end up writing something catchy that connects with others as well. 

Are there any common themes being explored across your various releases?

JB: I’ve had people describe both me and my music as “relentlessly optimistic.” That fits for me on certain levels, so that’s one theme that’s woven throughout all five of my releases. But beyond just the “Jeremy-ness” of the albums, they’re all pretty different because they all reflect a slightly different period of my life.

And anyone who’s paying attention can see that my life has been at least a little bit interesting and full of transformation; one obvious example is that I formerly had a wife and now have a husband. In the end, my goal is to write the best songs I know how to write, and when I have enough of them that I’m ready to share and seem like they’d make a good album, you’ll be hearing from me again. I do feel like I’ve been on a roll lately, and the timeline between new albums is shrinking. 

Where next for you and your music? And in an ideal world, where would you like your music career to take you?

JD: I’m about halfway done writing the songs for my next album, which will be a brand new experience for me and my first album of children’s songs. In addition to my private practice work, I was a school counselor for 11 years and wrote a number of songs in support of the lessons I was teaching on friendship, conflict resolution, emotions, and more.

After writing a few of those songs, I realized late in the game that I was serendipitously working on a children’s album. Much of my work as a therapist has been with kids ages 5 through 15, so this is definitely in my wheelhouse. Interestingly, I find writing songs for kids to be much easier than music for adults. I think I put less pressure on myself when I give myself permission to be silly. If all goes well, I plan on releasing that album sometime in 2025.

As for the overall trajectory of my ideal music career, my unvarnished answer is that I’d love to blow up like Noah Kahan has in the last few years, enabling him to tour on his recent album for a year and a half straight! Then getting to record duets with the likes of Hozier and Gregory Alan Isakov. That’s the dream for me. I would like to tour internationally, release a new album every couple years, and keep working diligently on the craft of songwriting.

The more birthdays I have, the clearer I am about what I have to say. And as a songwriter, I feel like I’m just now starting to find my groove.

Thanks again for your time and great questions, Dave. It’s always a pleasure.

And thank you for a great insight into your life and music; best of luck with everything.