Erik Dylan never shies away from baring his soul and sharing uncomfortable truths within his lyrics. The singer/songwriter leans in on the plight of farmers, factory workers and those struggling with addiction throughout the eight tracks on his new album Stray Dogs & Homegrown Calamities.
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While he has seen success at country radio writing songs with Riley Green, Ray Fulcher and Dillon Carmichael, Dylan shares his own journey on Stray Dogs & Homegrown Calamities, out now. The Kansas native moved to Nashville nearly 20 years ago to pursue songwriting. He credits his uncle and first co-writer Doug Anderson for introducing him to Guy Clark, “which changed my musical direction for life.” Clark’s influence can be heard within the heartbreaking story song “Corner Post” and intriguing murder ballad “Daddy’s Gonna Understand.”
Below are the stories behind Dylan’s songs in his track-by-track of Stray Dogs & Homegrown Calamities.
“Old Stray Dog”
(Erik Dylan/Jon Randall)
I’ve spent much of my life in various high-mileage Ford Econoline Vans. The road isn’t easy. It’s a winding path full of occasionally empty rooms, transmission problems, and miles and miles of late-night interstates. You celebrate the good audiences and applaud the drinkable truck stop coffee.
I sat down and wrote “Old Stray Dog” with another songwriter who has spent much of his life on the road, Jon Randall. He had recently adopted an adult German Shepherd mix who showed up like Jack Kerouac on his property outside of Nashville. He walked into the writing room for an 11 a.m. siesta on the couch. The parallels between stray musicians and stray dogs began to fly and we walked away with one of my favorite songs I’ve ever written.
“Family Ground”
(Erik Dylan/Alexander Palmer)
I grew up in the small farming community of Muscotah, Kansas. Grade school taught me that Muscotah translates to “Prairie On Fire.” Since the mid-1800s, my family has called it home. When I walk the hand-me-down timber and prairies, I find comfort knowing that five generations also walked in front of me. They are always with me. I moved to Nashville almost 20 years ago and I have missed Kansas for exactly the same amount of time. It never goes away.
I thought I was just homesick at first, but after 20 years I should probably consider this a chronic condition. I try to get back to the Kansas homestead as much as my schedule allows. It always reminds me of who I represent as a songwriter and the people I carry with me.
“Don’t Tell My Momma”
(Erik Dylan/Doug Anderson)
This was one of the first songs I came to Nashville with. My uncle Doug Anderson was a great friend, an extremely gifted songwriter and my first co-writer. He introduced me to Guy Clark’s music, which changed my musical direction for life. He never chased the gift professionally or allowed his work to be polluted by the 16th Avenue rat race… I think his songs are so much better for it.
This song is especially close to me because the whiskey he wrote about in “Don’t Tell My Momma” eventually took his life away from him. It will always serve as a musical reminder that for all the good things I have inherited from my bloodline, how I handle alcohol is not one of them. I miss him a lot.
“Corner Post”
(Erik Dylan)
I have always wondered why people say “everything happens for a reason” when something extremely shitty happens in this world. There have been times that I simply cannot find any good explanation. Yes, I’ve read the book of Job, but I hate thinking that sometimes our pain and suffering is a simple over-under bet between good and evil.
I wanted to find some type of silver lining in that phrase. I sat down and wrote my best fictional explanation. It might be total bullshit, but I hope it helps someone out there feel like their pain and suffering mattered and is possibly part of a bigger plan.
“Hard Times”
(Erik Dylan)
I wish we could all work hard, get paid fairly and not have to worry. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case for most of America.
I still believe in my heart that factory workers are proud of the products they create. And heavy equipment operators hold a god-given talent that rivals Van Gogh at times. And I really hate hearing about boarded-up factories and projects folding. I know who gets hurt the most. It’s not the CEOs or the venture capitalists. it’s the ones at the bottom who actually build the products and do the work. This song is for them.
“Farmers Who Can’t Farm Anymore”
(Erik Dylan/John Baumann)
I wrote this for my grandfather’s generation. The farmers who were born into the Dust Bowl, fought for their country as young men and came home to build a life and a family with hard work and decent farm ground.
Every small town has that spot where all the old-timers circle up and drink coffee. They talk about the floods. They talk about the wars. And they talk about their better days of youth and importance. There is no man wiser, than the 80-something-year-old farmer drinking Folgers at 6 a.m. with his other gray-haired disciples. It seems like every time I get back to my hometown, there is one less coffee cup on that diner tabletop.
“Daddy’s Gonna Understand”
(Erik Dylan)
It wouldn’t be an Erik Dylan album without a murder ballad, right? Well, this is it. I’ve always been a fan of first-person fictional songwriting.
It’s a story older than time. Brother versus brother. This story was set in any town USA in a gravel parking lot behind the local watering hole. The twist for me was how a father might take this news. It would most definitely break his heart. But, I wondered if part of him would see both sides of the coin.
“I Miss That Dog”
(Erik Dylan/Wyatt McCubbin/Andy Sheridan)
I lost my buddy of 14 years back in February of 2023. Her name was Maude, and she has quite possibly prevented me from ever wanting another dog. She set the bar too high. In 14 years I can’t ever remember her doing wrong. Hell, we even had to make up the line about her chewing on my boots to make the second verse interesting.
I wrote this song with two of my favorite songwriters and best buddies, Wyatt McCubbin and Andy Sheridan. If you don’t know their names, you will see them very soon on album credits all over Guitar Town. Go ahead and write those names down if you like country songwriting. Thank me later.
(Photo Credit Bill Lynn/ Cover Art: Susan Buck/Courtesy Erik Dylan)
