Jody Harris, a Dalton native, recently released an 11-track CD of spoken words and music titled "Feel Trip." 

DALTON, Ga. — Jody Harris, a painter and spoken word artist, said he’s experienced love, loss and triumph in the past 10 years.

“It’s been a lot of different emotions,” said Harris, 43, a native of Dalton.

That’s the reason Harris named his recently released 11-track CD “Feel Trip.”

“As a kid we used to take field trips in school for fun and to learn new things,” he said. “My CD is a field trip as an adult, but about different experiences.”

Harris said one of the experiences he talks about on the CD is depression.

“I suffer from depression, and it’s a constant fight as a creative person,” he said. “It’s been a feel trip of different emotions.”

He also recorded two gospel-inspired songs with family members called “Take a Trip” and “Take the Lord With You.”

“The church is my roots,” said Harris. “Singing is in my DNA, it would’ve been an injustice if I didn’t include that.”

David Aft, co-owner of Dave & Pauli’s Art Emporium Gallery and More, where the CD was recorded, said it took about six months to complete.

“It’s a neat project that features people from the Dalton area,” he said. “We used their beats, voices and samples and recorded live in my upstairs studio.”

Aft said the CD was the second release from Dave & Pauli’s Music Emporium Records that he’s done and the first involving spoken words.

“It captures an energy people in Dalton don’t always hear,” he said. “We had a lot of fun recording and I’m glad people will hear it.”

Aft said in the last few years Dalton has become a music town.

“The city is starting to be understood as a music destination,” he said.

The CD is available for $10 at Dave & Pauli’s Art Emporium Gallery and More at 218 N. Hamilton St. on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. It can also be purchased by emailing Harris at jodyharris90@gmail.com.

In his acknowledgments, Harris thanked the “wonderful souls who helped create” the project. He said he’s happy to share the result and dedicates the CD in memory of his brother Jamie “PV” Harris and cousin Dennedy Wright.