For the Love of Music

For Dale Dollar and Lisa Saylor Dollar, music is everything.

“It’s our first love, and it’s probably going to be our last,” Dale said. It’s the sentiment that inspired them to write their sophomore album, Music: A Love Story.

Their love affair with music began as children. A drummer and avid listener of bands like Metallica and Iron Maiden, Dale dreamed of becoming a rock ’n’ roll guitarist. Meanwhile, Lisa, a violinist, performed at local churches with her family band.

They both went on to attend Florida State University, though at different times. Dale pursued a carpentry career before enrolling in FSU’s guitar program. Lisa had graduated with her degree in music education several years before Dale enrolled.

Eventually, their paths crossed at a mutual friend’s birthday party. They were hired to play as part of a pickup band and hit it off musically, but they didn’t collaborate again for two years.

Dale Dollar and Lisa Saylor Dollar find musical inspiration everywhere. Together, they’ve written over 80 songs with no signs of stopping soon. Photo by Mark Mathews Photography

“I was scrolling through Facebook, and I saw him post a video of this really cool riff,” Lisa recalled. “So I texted him, ‘When are we jamming?’ and he was like, ‘I don’t want to just jam, I want to make a band.’ I was like, ‘I’m in!’”

Thus, the folk-Americana, singer-songwriter duo Saylor Dollar was formed.

Despite coming from vastly different musical backgrounds — for years, Dale stuck to heavy metal, whereas Lisa primarily lived in the orchestral world — collaboration came naturally to the duo. They wrote their first song together in 2018 and released their first acoustic album, Home, in November 2019. A month later, they wed.

“Turns out, we were each other’s muse,” Lisa wrote in a blog post. “It was an incredible journey of friendship turning into love as we worked together to realize our musical dream.”

They’ve written about 80 songs and released three albums and one EP. They find inspiration everywhere, from natural splendors like the Leon Sinks to their families’ histories. In most cases, the music comes before the lyrics. But every so often, the process flips. As was the case with Harlan Elegy, a song off their 2021 album, Relentless.

The lyrics come from a poem Lisa wrote as a teenager after attending her cousin’s funeral.

Photo by Mark Mathews Photography

“He was murdered by a friend over a girl,” she said, adding that, at that age, she couldn’t process how something like that could happen. Writing was her outlet.

“Your brothers, they all seek revenge / They’re stricken with despair,” Lisa sings on the track. “When you lost your life that night, at the bitter end / You were looking into the eyes of a man you called a friend … The wind’s still blowin’, and the creek’s still flowin’ in the holler you called home.”

The song is dark but in a hauntingly beautiful way, as is Decoration Day. The third track on their Home album, Decoration Day is based on a true story Lisa’s grandmother told her about a man who died in a coal mine in Kentucky. The story made Lisa so sad she cried for three days. She wrote those lyrics to “get it all out.”

But most of their music is positive and uplifting — an intentional choice made by the artists.

“The world is so negative — we don’t want to put anything out that’s negative … unless it’s based on a true story,” Dale said, referring to Harlan Elegy and Decoration Day. He and Lisa laughed. “We choose songs that are positive. We know we can’t change anything, but at least we can do our part … Peace, love and music, I guess.”

Saylor Dollar’s Sophomore Album, MUSIC: A LOVE STORY, explores Lisa and Dale’s lifelong love affair with music. Released in 2021, the 12-track album features a mix of listener and artist favorites, including Sweet Thang and Robert Ford.

Saylor Dollar Live

Photo by Mark Mathews Photography

You can catch Saylor Dollar live at local venues around town including Shuckers Half-Shell Oyster Bar, Pepper’s Mexican Grill & Cantina, Blue Tavern and more. Visit the duo’s website, SaylorDollar.com, and Facebook page for more information.