Dortch was teach­ing mu­sic in Mau­ry, Ten­ness­ee, in 1880, and was work­ing as an evan­gel­ist by 1886. His works in­clude:

• National Tid­ings of Joy (Nash­ville, Ten­nes­see: Na­tion­al Bap­tist Con­ven­tion of Amer­i­ca, 1878)
• Spirit and Life, with Ed­mund Lo­renz (Day­ton, Ohio: Chris­tian Pub­lish­ing As­so­ci­a­tion, 1893)
• Choice Songs (Nash­ville, Ten­nes­see: Na­tion­al Bap­tist Con­ven­tion of Amer­i­ca, 1894)
• Gospel Voic­es (Nash­ville, Ten­nes­see: South-West­ern Pub­lish­ing House, 1895)
• Gospel Voic­es No. 3 (Co­lum­bia, Ten­nes­see: Da­vid E. Dortch, 1902)
• Hymns of Vic­to­ry, Parts 1 and 2 (Co­lum­bia, Ten­nes­see: Dortch Pub­lish­ing Com­pa­ny, 1905)
• Happy Greet­ings to All (Char­lotte, North Car­o­li­na: Dortch Pub­lish­ing Com­pa­ny, 1916)

1. My Pur­pos­es
2. Whosoever Will, May Come
3. Hear the In­vi­ta­tion, One and All
4. I Have Watched the Sheep As­tray
5. On the Gos­pel Ship We Are Sail­ing

1. Coming of the Lord Draw­eth Nigh, The
2. Shall I Meet You Up There?
3. Sing Aloud with Glad­ness
4. Under the Sha­dow of the Cross
5. What Shall Our An­swers Be?