Rest in Peace: Dale Kidd
Dale Kidd: March 6, 1954 – December 12,2009
On December 12, 2009, Dale Kidd, a local singer/songwriter, performer, and sideman passed away due to complications from the H1N1 virus. As a result, southern Wisconsin lost one of its stellar, and unique native sons.
Dale was remarkable in his abilities to bring people together, to support the local music scene and all its participants, and to find absurdity in the accepted pantheon of pop culture and make us laugh hysterically about it. But what he seemed always to do with anyone he met was to find the good and praise it. It was this quality that encouraged so many local musicians and singer/songwriters to pursue their craft, to present their art to world, and to put them in touch with others who were pursuing the same creative dreams.
Dale played in numerous bands over the years, most recently as a member of the Hang Loueys. He loved to play, and he would travel to the most obscure venues to do it, enduring van breakdowns, driving around lost, on-stage equipment failures, dirty motel rooms, unruly crowds, and all the nonsense and hassles associated with being a performing and touring musician. But none of that ever dissuaded him from packing his car and driving all night to to do it all again. Herbie Hancock tells a story of how Miles Davis walked off stage one night and said something like “I almost found that one note…” It’s a fitting description of how Dale perceived his own musical efforts and contributions. He was constantly striving for that “one note”. To those of us who were lucky enough to be there when he played, it seemed he found it more often than he knew.
Dale’s abilities as a guitar player were renowned. He was able to sit in with anyone – regardless of their styles or abilities – and find some way to connect and make any piece sound good. His reputation for playing so many different styles of music put him in great demand as a studio musician and sideman.
In the last year of his life, Dale found real joy and satisfaction in several music projects with which he was involved. A recording project with Mark Goad of Dale’s original music; his recent collaboration with Andy Nath and the Hang Loueys; and a recording project with Greg Dierks and several members of Sausage Creek all came together simultaneously. He was truly in his element for all of these projects, and it showed.
A website has been put up in Dale’s honor and is being updated regularly with comments, pictures, music, and video clips. Anyone who knew Dale is encouraged to go out to http://www.dalekidd.com to post a comment, look through the pictures, listen to his music, and watch him play.
Dale was a wonderful guy and we’re already missing him terribly.
Just a quick story about Dale. He would often sit in with the ” Bobby Duell Band” when Mark Goad played drums. No pressures with Bobby Duell because he hasn`t learned a new song in 40 years! But while doing a gig one night Dale was playing lead and I was playing bass. During a song ,Dale went into one of his leads and must have been searching for that one note! After the song was done ,I looked at Dale and said ” what spaceship were you on??!!” He looked at me and gave out that hearty laugh that he had and said” I don`t no,man I got lost, but didn`t that sound great??!!!!” Only Dale!! Love Ya Man!!! Chuck
I knew Dale while in High School. Dale use to come to our house a lot because my Brother Bobby and he were always hanging out together. Dale was always fun to have around, he could always make a person laugh no matter how mad or down one may feel. I remember Dale playing his guitar in his front yard on main street in Richland Center WI, back in the 70’s. Dale will be greatly missed, another taken way too soon. All the best to Dale’s family. I am so sorry to hear of his passing.