People Magazine has called Lacy J. Dalton “country’s Bonnie Raitt.” Alanna Nash of Entertainment Weekly said “No secular artist blends the spiritual and the physical as movingly or profoundly as Lacy J. Dalton.” Her latest CD The Last Wild Place, co produced by renowned Grammy- and Academy Award-nominee Tom Bocci, recently hit No. 1 on the Country World Indie Chart alongside such superstars as Vince Gill and the Oak Ridge Boys. Music critic Robert K. Oermann said of the title track, “One of the most gorgeous pieces of acoustic music I’ve ever heard.”

With such critical acclaim and one of music’s most beautiful and recognizable voices, Dalton also knows she can and should speak for causes of deep importance. To that end, she uses her words and music to advocate tirelessly for animal welfare — and to nurture human community, pure and simple.

When she and husband/manager Aaron Anderson (and their beloved animals, of course) moved to Nevada several years ago, they left the harried world of Nashville to find a calmer life in tune with their love of nature, the environment, and their friends in the west.

“Aaron grew up in the west, and I’ve always felt I belonged here. We’d met so many incredible people in Nevada when I’ve toured and played at John Ascuaga’s Nugget,” Dalton said. “And hearing a wild horse trot down a street in Virginia City one evening 10 years ago led me to write ‘There’s a Horse Comin’,’ my first song about Nevada. We figured a town where wild horses roamed was the place for us.”

HILLTOP HOME

The couple’s beautiful, rustic retreat sits on acreage in the Virginia Range southeast of Reno, in a pinion and juniper forest with sweeping views of the mountains and foothills. Their energy-efficient house was built by contractor Gene Edwards to take advantage of the views and to reflect the true-to-the-west setting. Exposed post-and-beam construction

The main north-facing living spaces are lit with wide expanses of insulated windows offering beautiful distant vistas. Lots of glass in the south-facing, open-plan entryway, dining room and den brings in passive solar heat from the low winter sun; overhangs shade the windows in summer. Walls are super-insulated and even the foundation and crawlspace are insulated and completely finished to hold in the heat in winter and help the house stay cool on hot days.

The couple’s homey mountain-top sanctuary also serves as command central for many projects and pursuits. The cozy kitchen is the house’s heart where Lacy loves to cook for her husband and friends, and the dining room has hosted many a family gathering, business summit, and board meeting.

“Aaron runs a software company, Flight Sim Central, in offices above the garage and we’ve built a recording studio in our home — Medicine Dog Studios, a Native American name for horse — so it’s pretty busy here all the time,” Dalton said.

Pretension is not high on Dalton’s list of personal attributes. With so many projects and participants in and out of the house, the idea of “formal decorating” has been rather alien to the couple. What they did want they’ve achieved most successfully, however, simply by living their active lives a cozy, eclectic, comfortable retreat full of meaningful memories, personal collections, and treasures that reflect their love of friends and nature.

EQUINE NEIGHBORS

Soon after settling into their country house, the couple also discovered they shared their piece of paradise with the local wild horses who also call it home.

“The horses would wander through our property, and they stole our hearts,” she said.

It didn’t take long for Dalton to find even more words to express her wonder at these historic bands of Comstock heritage horses. She began researching, writing, and singing about them, and soon gathered support to advocate seriously for their preservation, safety, and survival in the face of encroaching traffic, diminishing habitat, and controversial threats of slaughter.

In partnership with friends and fellow activists — and in the midst of touring, recording, running a business, and nurturing a household of pets, strays, and wanderers-through of all types and sizes — the couple founded the Let ‘em Run Foundation, a nonprofit organization to develop a wild horse sanctuary and reserve.

Because Dalton regularly performs for community causes, she has drawn respect and renown from a range of groups and admirers, many of whom have given her personal gifts of thanks over the years. One in particular holds an honored place in the couple’s home and carries a deep sense of responsibility for Dalton toward its giver.

“A wonderful Indian man in Paso Robles gave me a saddle blanket made by his grandmother a 100 years ago. It’s a prayer rug, which he says I should use when I need the strength and support to carry on the work we do,” she said. “I feel so honored he gave it, and so responsible about continuing on for the horses. There are so many things in this world we need to respect and preserve for posterity — for all our children and our children’s children.”

To learn more about the wild horse sanctuary and Let ‘em Run Foundation, including its Comstock Wild Horse and Mining Museum in Virginia City, visit letemrun.com. For more about Lacy J. Dalton’s latest CD, The Last Wild Place, a project that has helped raise awareness for the work on behalf of wild horses throughout North America, visit lacyjdalton.com. Hear two songs from her new album at RenoMagazine.com.

A.C. Turman, writer and a former Virginia Range Wildlife Protection Association board member, has been inspired by the soulful music and selfless work of Lacy Dalton and Aaron Anderson for many years on the Comstock.