- Label: 'Black Hen Music'
- Genre: 'Folk'
- Release Date: '18th March 2022'
Our Rating:
This Steve Dawson is not the ex-Dolly Varden frontman but a Canadian singer-songwriter who moved to Nashville in 2013. As well as being a solo artist he has worked as a producer and played over 250 shows with Birds of Chicago.
The lockdown has stalled many careers but Dawson seems to have taken it as an impetus to work harder. ‘Gone, Long Gone’ is his first collection of songs since ‘Solid States and Loose Ends’ in 2016 and it is one of three new albums lined up for release in 2022.
The album features nine originals (mostly co-written with Alberta songwriter Matt Patershuk) plus a cover of The Faces’ Ooh La La. There is one instrumental track: an Hawaiian string tune Kulaniapia Waltz.
Dawson sings and plays laid back blues guitar plus pedal steel. His backing band is Jeremy Holmes (bass), Gary Craig and Jay Bellerose (drums) with Kevin McKendree and Chris Gestrin lending a hand on piano, organ and other keyboards. Birds of Chicago’s Allison Russell sings on several tracks and daughter Casey sings on one track. Fiddler Fats Kaplin guests on King Bennie Has His Shit Together, a string quartet embellishes the title track and a horns trio can be heard on Dimes .
It's all slickly played but lacking style or substance.
