Lacy J. Dalton - Country Legend - “16th Avenue to Buddy Holly Ave” - Live at Cactus Theater!
Friday, May 10, 2024
Doors: 6:50 pm • Showtime: 7:30 pm
Lacy J. Dalton (born Jill Lynne Byrem on October 13, 1946, in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania), is an American country singer and songwriter with a career that has spanned many decades and touched the hearts of millions of music fans. She’s one of the most instantly recognizable voices in music – the woman People Magazine called “Country’s Bonnie Raitt.” In March 2017, Lacy J Dalton 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, the largest independent music awards show in the country.
Prior to recording with Harbor Records in 1978 as Jill Croston, she like many before her, held many jobs to survive and support her family. As a truck stop waitress and singer, she would wait tables and then take the stage to sing a few songs. In June 1979, Lacy J Dalton was signed by Columbia Records and quickly rose to national prominence with Crazy Blue Eyes, which she wrote with her longest friend, Mary McFadden, and which raced to #7 on the Billboard Country Charts. Her hard work and dedication paid off in 1979 when she was awarded the Academy of Country Music’s Top New Female Vocalist of the Year.
Lacy’s success was powered not just by the artist’s recordings, but by a stage show that truly electrified audiences. She quickly became one of the few women who could successfully open a show for the likes of Hank Williams, Jr., Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard or Charlie Daniels. Not only could she do it, but she left audiences across the country hollering for more. Her signature song 16th Avenue, became the anthem for Nashville songwriters. Her other hit records are legendary million-airplay cuts and include Crazy Blue Eyes, Takin’ It Easy, Everybody Makes Mistakes, Hillbilly Girl with the Blues, Hard Times, and the worldwide hit Black Coffee.
In addition to her Top New Female Vocalist award, she also brought home numerous Grammy nominations and many other awards. Lacy appeared on those shows with the likes of Neil Young, The Grateful Dead, Grace Slick and the Jefferson Airplane.
Lacy's collaboration with Willie Nelson on his platinum Half Nelson album was a high spot for her. Lacy is the only woman featured on that recording (which included singing legends Ray Charles, Neil Diamond, Merle Haggard, Julio Iglesias, George Jones, Leon Russell, Carlos Santana, Mel Tillis, Hank Williams and Neil Young), and was awarded a platinum record for it. She also received a gold record from Hank Williams Jr. in 1985 for her support performances throughout his Five-0 Tour, where she opened for him at a time when it was unusual for a woman to do so. Her career includes accomplishments in music, film and radio. In music, they range from her instantly recognizable charted hit songs to her notable duets recorded with George Jones, Willie Nelson, Bobby Bare, Glen Campbell, Eddie Rabbit, David Allen Coe and many others. Her film debut was in the motion picture Take This Job And Shove It, and her acting has also included live stage and theater performances.
Following a successful career in country music, Lacy decided to draw on all her musical experiences including country, rock and folk, and cross over into the Americana genre. This blend of musical styles allows her to express herself in a way that demonstrates all the facets of who she is as a singer/songwriter. She became an independent artist and formed her own label called Song Dog Records. Under this label, she has released three albums to date. The first was Wild Horse Crossing in 1999, followed by the Last Wild Place Anthology which went #1 on the World Independent Chart, and a year later went #1 on the American Western Music Chart. Then Allison Eastwood, Clint Eastwood's daughter, used the hit song Slip Away from the Anthology CD on the sound track of her independent film, Don't Tell. In 2010 Lacy also released a tribute to Hank Williams Sr. entitled Here's To Hank.
Today, Lacy continues to record new music and perform live shows whenever possible. She tours mainly west of the Mississippi and loves small boutique venues and old theaters with great sound quality and warm, receptive audiences she can really connect with. She recently recorded some electrifying new music for an EP that was released in January 2019. When hearing the signature song Scarecrow, her good friend Reverend Barbara Ann Fletcher remarked “that song makes you a whole new you, and it makes me a whole new me.” And that’s exactly the response Lacy was hoping for.
Don't miss this chance to see the legendary singer-songwriter up close and personal at the historic Cactus Theater, Friday, May 10!
Special opener is 16-year old Hadlie Jo…fast-becoming a fan favorite!
Reserved Tickets:
Floor, rows A-F.........$45
Floor rows G-M........$35
Standard balcony.....$25
Balcony box (includes concessions).....$70