Later this month (March 24th), Nashville-based Canadian musician Steve Dawson releases his newest album, Eyes Closed, Dreaming. The album is his third instalment in a ‘pandemic trilogy’ recorded under lockdown conditions, with artists contributing their parts from various corners of Nashville, Los Angeles, Toronto and Vancouver. As challenging as these restrictions were for an artist like Dawson, who has always thrived on the chemistry of creating music live off the floor with musicians rubbing elbows together in the same room, Eyes Closed, Dreaming is as warm and immediate sounding a record as anyone could ever hope to hear.
We have the pleasure of sharing a Live In-Studio performance of ‘Hemingway‘, a beautiful and engaging original, one of four that he wrote with Black Hen label-mate Matt Patershuk for this album. For this particular live session, while the lineup varies a little from the studio version, it is equally compelling. He is joined by Joachim Cooder on drums and mbira, Jeremy Holmes on bass, Darryl Havers on keyboards and Krystle Dos Santos on vocals.
After watching the video, you can see why it’s been described as a master class in composition, melody and counterpoint. Dawson just seems to always get everything perfectly aligned and in balance…this latest offering is no exception.
For this release, Dawson is joined by a veritable who’s who of North American roots musicians to help him bring the new songs to life. His old Birds of Chicago partner, Allison Russell, contributed some very stirring vocal support on three tracks, while Nashville legends Fats Kaplin and Tim O’Brien keep pace with Dawson, playing the mandolin and various strings on several of the album’s most compelling compositions. Legendary LA drummer Jay Bellerose’s signature sound takes the rhythms to a higher level on five tracks, with the rock-solid house band of Gary Craig (drums), Jeremy Holmes (bass) as well as Chris Gestrin and Kevin McKendree (keyboards) guiding the music into some very thrilling territory and holding the course for the rest of the musicians. Eyes Closed, Dreaming is rounded out with adventurous string arrangements from Ben Plotnik (viola/ violin) and Kaitlyn Raitz (cello), as well as a Stax-inspired horn section recorded mid-pandemic in Vancouver with Jerry Cook, Dominic Conway and Malcolm Aiken. Additional vocal textures were skilfully added by Keri Latimer and Steve’s daughter Casey Dawson.
Save/Pre-Order Eyes Closed, Dreaming here: https://li.sten.to/EyesClosed