IN CONCERT
What: Steve Dawson
Where: First Church of Christ, Scientist, 1205 Pandora Ave.
When: Friday, 7:30 p.m. (doors at 6:30)
Tickets: $40.06 from eventbrite.ca, Munro’s Books, and the Royal & McPherson box office (250-386-6121; rmts.bc.ca)
Steve Dawson did not have much down time over the past two years as he chose to spend his pandemic in various states of remote recording.
“It was nutty, for sure,” Dawson said from an Edmonton tour stop. “I got into remote recording pretty quickly, out of necessity. Which made for a busy couple years.”
The multiple Juno Award-winning singer-guitarist can have a song finished and ready for release within a week, for artists based anywhere in North America (he does it through a combination of computers and gear that connect the Nashville-based Dawson in his own Henhouse Studio to the artist in their respective location). This new way of working made the in-demand musician even more valuable, at a time when musicians could not be in the same room together.
The Vancouver-reared producer and musician is also a sought-after sideman who can play and sing just about anything, a unique skillset that often puts him in esteemed company. Dawson has overseen sessions for upwards of 80 albums — the three most recent of which are albums under his own name. Gone, Long Gone is the first of the trio to arrive, and Dawson’s eight-date Canadian tour to support it brings him to Victoria’s First Church of Christ, Scientist on Friday. He’ll be joined for the concert by an experienced band that includes bassist Jeremy Holmes, longtime Jann Arden keyboardist Chris Gestrin, and drummer Joachim Cooder, the son of guitar icon Ry Cooder.
Phantom Threshold and Eyes Closed Dreaming are set for release in August and November, respectively. If the first album in the series — the sprawling Gone, Long Gone — is any indication, the move to Nashville nearly a decade ago is continuing to bear fruit for Dawson.
“For me, [the past decade] has been a lot of working on sessions with and producing albums for people, including a lot of Canadians who would come down to my place to work,” he said. “Everyone wants to go to Nashville. But when that came to came to a crashing halt, that made us reevaluate and focus on remote recording. Ultimately, everyone wants to be back in a room making music together, but for whatever reason, recording at home is working for now.”
mdevlin@timescolonist.com
