NEWS & UPDATES

NEW ALBUM: I am working on a new solo album. It's gonna take a while...
updates as the action progresses.

DOLLY VARDEN is celebrating our 13th year as a band this year! We're
working on a retrospective CD collection of 'greatest hits and unreleased
gems', and we'll have a big concert celebration at the Old Town School
on Friday, June 13th. Check out the Varden Vault

NEW BAND: I'm in a new group with Phil Angotti (from The Idea), Casey McDonough,
who played with me for all the Sweet is the Anchor shows, and Jim Barclay. It's a
mix of soul, country and pop. Lots of 3 part harmony and songs by all of us.
We play our first show on Saturday, April 19th at FitzGeralds in Berwyn.
For that show we're called Victory Auto Wreckers.

VIDEO's uploaded from the release show for sweet is the anchor here

LESSONS: I'm teaching songwriting, guitar lessons and group
classes at Chicago's famous Old Town School of Folk Music!
Call the front desk for complete lesson info: 773-728-6000

Here is a collaboration annimation video with Diane Christiansen (and John Banks)
listed on youtube as "sweet is the anchor

I have a project studio called Kernel Sound Emporium. Check it out !

would you be my friend? visit me at myspace

Dolly Varden official headquarters

UPCOMING SHOWS

April 19, (Sa): FitzGerald's Side Bar with The Victory Auto Wreckers
(Steve, Phil Angotti, Casey McDonough, Jim Barclay) 9pm

June 13(F): The Old Town School Of Folk Music, Chicago.
Dolly Varden celebrates their 13th anniversary!

June 28(Sa): St Louis, MO House Concert with Dolly Varden
more info here: www.ranchhouseconcerts.com

USA ORDERS

TRACK LISTING:
01. Temporary - [ DOWNLOAD MP3 ]
02. Sweet is the Anchor
03. Friend Like a Wheel
04. Love is a Blessing [ DOWNLOAD MP3 ]
05. I’m The One I Despise
06. The Guilty Will Pay
07. Ten Thousand Pounds
08. Reignite
09. Out of Your Mind
10. I’ll Be Right Here
11. The Monkey Mind is on the Prowl

The reviews are coming in...

His casually masterful style is apparent on "Love Is a Blessing," a standout track from his solo debut, Sweet Is the Anchor (Undertow). The song's a gorgeous Al Green-style ballad that's steeped in the old Hi Records sound--washes of strings, fatback bass drum, and subtly funky guitar lines--but it's the purity of Dawson's singing, not the arrangements, that makes me think of Anchor as a soul album. - CHICAGO READER [ READ FULL ARTICLE ]

The darkness and agitation that bubble just underneath Dawson's top-shelf melodies and easygoing voice is what has long distinguished his songwriting. Driven by strings and golden guitars, "Love is a Blessing" is his best nod yet to Al Green while "Sweet is the Anchor," a sensual pop melody, features harmony vocals shared by his wife. They are songs that wrestle with the demons in the others - "I'm the One I Despise," a country song plagued in self-doubt, and "Temporary," a song Dawson reports was influenced by the death of his mother in 2003 ("bang your head against the wall/and scan the screens for one last memory," he sings). - CHICAGO DAILY HERALD [ READ FULL ARTICLE ]