SXSW 2012

The psychedelic explorations and folk troubadour inclinations of young Californian J Irvin Dally are informed equally by his nomadic trajectory and his introspective clarity. Dally lived in a variety of climates throughout the country, raised in southern Illinois as a preacher’s son, came of age in Colorado, grew in Spain, and found himself in Sacramento and Santa Rosa before setting up permanent shop outside Los Angeles. This transience inspires the sonically transmigratory music he’s played since 2005. Self taught and self styled, Dally cut his teeth as a member of Sacramento’s Brother before recording bedroom folk expansive enough to knock down all four walls. While rustic vocals, dusty guitar laments, and ornate washes of analog hiss and angelic, dream-like textures are hallmarks of Dally’s brand of reverberated mindbending folk, the breadth of his current catalog has reared both grainy pop gems and rollicking experimental suites. His cassette release “The Countryside of Southern Illinois and the Daydreams That Almost Got Me to 19 Years” reveals a single, multi-movement song, admirable in its adventurous spirit and precise focus over the course of 26 minutes. While reminiscent of spirit warriors Jana Hunter and The Incredible String Band, J Irvin Dally is a singular and unique voice – the sound of exploring guitars and analog instrumentation to its fully realization.