BY ANDY LEE WHITE
FOR THE OBSERVER
OPELIKA —
This weekend, the annual Opelika Songwriters Festival (OSF) kicks off for its fourth year. In addition to nationally-renowned musicians, the festival will also feature several local songwriters from Opelika including OSF Founders Rob and Jen Slocumb of Martha’s Trouble along with a pair of homegrown Opelika raised songwriters, Adam Hood and Dallas Dorsey.
Hood has been on a hot run the past few years, culminating in a couple of recent Grand Ole Opry appearances along with some of the finest songwriting in today’s country music scene. He has had several major country artists cut his songs and his own records have been successful as well. Hood’s music has been described as a “warm in your living room feel that resonates with Deep South origins” and his live solo shows certainly capture that feel.
Hood and Dorsey’s friendship dates back to their meeting in 2006 when Hood was a judge for what Dorsey described as a “country throw down” and saw Dorsey sing and play guitar. Flash forward to 2010 when Dorsey was back home in Lee County playing some of the same local spots where Hood had earned his stripes during his early beginnings. One day he got a call from Hood asking him if he could fill in as a guitarist for his band. That turned into a regular spot in Hood’s band for a tour to promote Hood’s original music. Somewhere along the way, Dorsey’s time spent with Hood on the road and his observations of Hood crafting exquisite song after song inspired him to give songwriting a serious shot. Though Dorsey had tinkered with writing songs in the past, his time with Hood galvanized the desire to not only be an excellent guitarist but to also become an excellent songwriter. Oddly enough, the two would also come to realize that Dorsey’s grandmother had been a teacher for Hood’s mother when she was in middle school.
As a child, Dorsey was exposed to the music of Chet Atkins and Hank Williams by his grandfather and his step-grandfather, who both played guitar and shared their love of music with young Dallas. Dorsey’s grandfathers showed him his first guitar cords at around eight years old and instilled the confidence needed to pursue music. His grandfather on the other side of his family was a drummer, in addition to being an electrician and an accountant. Dallas sa his grandfather David Dorsey “was a true renaissance man and the spiritual leader of our family. He left me with ‘remember who you are’ and I’ve always come back to it.” Dorsey follows his grandfather’s life advice daily, and he said he walks in his footsteps working days as an electrician for Auburn University’s Facilities Maintenance with the in-house construction department.
Dorsey’s father was a trumpet player in the band at Opelika High School who also helped stoke the fire of musical desire in young Dallas by turning him on to the music of Eric Clapton when Clapton was a member of the Yardbirds. Dorsey said he used to dream of being another Clapton or Stevie Ray Vaughn but attributes the strong country music scene of the 90s to really sending him closer to country than Clapton. His musical tastes blended to include a broad range of influences including country superstar Waylon Jennings and his outlaw country sound. Dorsey said Waylon’s rock and roll background and his refusal to “follow any kind of script” appealed to him more so than other country artists.
Dorsey embarked on a solo career in music determined to put in the hard work and time that music demanded while still maintaining a sense of day to day normalcy punctuated by family, faith and community involvement. Despite the demands of playing numerous live shows and hours upon hours of practice and rehearsal time, Dorsey still finds time to be a full time father to his son and daughter and a loving husband to his wife. He has been a part of Opelika youth soccer leagues in various capacities for a couple of decades and currently coaches his seven year old son’s soccer team. As a high school athlete, Dorsey was a kicker for the Opelika High School football team along with being a member of the soccer team. After graduating high school in 2002, Dorsey’s soccer talents took him to Faulkner University in Montgomery where he was a member of the intercollegiate soccer team. A torn ACL took care of his athletic aspirations and unintentionally set him free to chase his musical dreams full time.
Though not purposely aiming to end up writing predominantly rock tinged semi-outlaw country with a taste of soul, that’s where Dorsey has firmly landed. Living in, and being a product of, the south has unavoidably flavored Dorsey’s songs as they resonate with a rich southern flavor directly from his heart.
Dorsey’s gritty guitar work and vocal range make for some truly excellent music on his twelve-song debut album titled Come On. When the album was released in 2014 one music writer described the album as “The heart of the modern South” with Dorsey adding that he “wanted to make a record that sounded like the South and embraced the musical culture that [he] grew up in.” Dorsey recorded the album in Birmingham at Ol Elegante Studios with Les Nuby producing.
In 2018, Dorsey released his self-titled EP Dallas Dorsey featuring five songs that he wrote and recorded in Opelika at The Sound Wall. The Adam Hood connection continued as Adam Hood Band bassist Jason Parker and drummer Patrick Lunceford backed Dorsey on the album. Both of Dorsey’s albums are available on all streaming services.
Dorsey said he is constantly writing with plans for a third record while staying busy with a regular schedule of live dates. Fans can find his schedule on his website at www.dallasdorsey.com.
Both Dorsey and Hood will be playing shows at the Opelika Songwriters Festival this weekend with Dorsey’s first show happening at 5 p.m. on Friday Oct. 6, at the Irish Bread Pub and his second show happening at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 7, at the John Emerald Distilling Company.
Hood’s first show is set for 9:15 p.m. on Friday at the Market Street Paint Shop with a second show the next night starting at 9:30 p.m. at the Jailhouse at Rock ‘N’ Roll Pinball.
Tickets are still available for the OSF and can be purchased at www.freshtix.com with live entertainment kicking off in historic downtown Opelika on Friday, Oct 6, at 5 p.m.