Broadway musician injured in serious crash family believed to be caused by an errant driver

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - He’s been a consistent face on the Tootsies circuit since 2020, according to his wife.

Dalton Black, a local musician, was on his way to a gig in Nashville Friday night when he was involved in a serious accident while riding his motorcycle.

“When you’re around him you’re just in a good mood,” Samantha Black, Dalton’s wife said. “He spreads that everywhere he goes.”

Samantha said her husband usually commutes to his shows in Nashville in his car, but he decided to take his motorcycle on Friday. She says he’s a safe rider and tends to cruise instead of speed on his bike.

For safety, she says she’d check his location Friday to make sure he made it to work okay.

“I noticed his location had stopped and I refreshed it multiple times,” Samantha said.

When Dalton’s location finally updated, he wasn’t at Tootsies. He was at Vanderbilt Medical Center.

“Dalton wrecked and went headfirst,” Samantha said. “Unfortunately, now [he] has a TBI, or traumatic brain injury, as a result of the crash.”

She says once she saw his location was at Vanderbilt, she got in her car and rushed to the hospital. It’s where she’s been off and on since Friday night.

Samantha says he’s already needed surgery once to relieve pressure on his brain as a result of the injuries he sustained in the crash.

A crash they believe was caused by an errant driver.

“I don’t know what the case was, maybe they just didn’t see him,” Samantha said. “But his life and our lives are now changed forever after this.”

Samantha says according to witness accounts given to police, Dalton was cut off, which caused him to crash on Murfreesboro Pike near Una Elementary School.

While MNPD Investigators piece together and reconstruct the crash, Dalton is fighting to recover.

“He’s just not woken up on his own yet,” Samantha said. “That’s something that they’re just monitoring closely. With [a] brain injury, and especially as hard of a hit as he took, they can only tell day to day.”

Samantha is hoping not only for a full recovery but also for answers on how it happened.

We’re working to confirm witness accounts with Metro Police.

The family has started a GoFundMe to help with costs associated with Dalton’s stay, which you can find here.

If you have any information on the crash or witnessed it happen, feel free to contact us as we work to learn more about what happened.