Meet Jeremy Horton | Square Dance Caller & Musician

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jeremy Horton and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jeremy, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
I’d love to see more square dances happen. Square Dances are pure joy. They turn strangers into friends, strengthen communities and provide wholesome cheap entertainment. It’s also incredibly easy. You don’t need a partner or experience. Just show up and the caller(me) will teach a few simple moves, the live band will fire up and we’re off to the races! I made a website and put more time into calling and organizing square dances because I think everyone should do it. I started teaching caller workshops this year because if we have more callers then we can have more dances!

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
My day job as an operations/inventory manager & rare book expert for the Last Bookstore gives me the stability I need to pursue music and square-dance calling in Los Angeles. While my day job provides a steady paycheck and leaves weekends open for gigs, it also strengthens my management, accounting and social media marketing skills, all of which are directly applicable to my artistic pursuits. Being the sole content creator for @shoplastbookstore gave me the confidence and experience I needed to launch my own instagram channel which highlights and promotes square dances in Southern California: @socalsquaredance. I recently hired the great Hollywood Guthrie to design a logo for the site. I’m excited to see what he comes up with!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
There would be lots of hiking on the Ray Miller Trail and in Griffith Park. We’d do lots of bodysurfing at Manhattan beach and in Malibu. Many of the days would end with a traditional deep dish pizza from Masa in Echo Park or seafood from Fish King in Glendale. As for cultural activities, We’d hit up Griffith park for the current Independent Shakespeare company production or Vidiots for a good classic film. The best week ever wouldn’t be complete without a square dance. For that we’d head over to the Mayflower Club in North Hollywood for the LA Squares, 1st Saturday square dance!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I’d like to shoutout the greater Los Angeles old-time music scene. There are too many people to name but most of them show up at the Los Angeles Old Time Social on May 17th at the Veleslavasay Panorama.

Website: https://jeremygranthorton.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/socalsquaredance

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremy-grant-horton/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@EagleRockGospelSingers

Image Credits
Jesse Dvorak
Robin Frenette
Stacy Horton
Matthew Wignall