The Pearl Company

Steve Dawson: Wednesday, May 11. 8:00pm. $20 /$15 students/ seniors/ un(der)waged. As one of Canada’s most sought after producers, session musicians and guitarists, this Vancouver-born slide guitarist has become an indelible fixture on the North American musical landscape. He has acquired an endless stream of awards producing and/or playing on more than 80 albums since 2000 – 7 of which have won Juno Awards. Whether he’s turning heads on the concert circuit with his incendiary playing, or pulling the best possible performances out of the many artists that he works with, Dawson is always striving to take things to the next level.
Steve’s multi-faceted career has brought him to countless international festivals, and he has worked with an extensive cast of leading artists including: John Hammond, Sonny Landreth, Van Dyke Parks, Colin James, Bruce Cockburn, Geoff Muldaur, and more.
He has also recorded and released six albums of his own, exploring blues, jazz, roots, folk and even experimental music, over the years.  His latest CD, ‘Solid States and Loose Ends’, with stellar slide guitar work reminiscent of 70’s Ry Cooder albums, and with the intimacy, spontaneity, and warmth one might hear on records produced by Joe Henry or T-Bone Burnett, is a killer set of new tunes that play to all of Dawson’s many strengths.
Steve currently resides in Nashville, Tennessee. He also runs his acclaimed independent label Black Hen Music, and the always in demand, Henhouse Studios. Listen here: https://soundcloud.com/blackhenmusic/sets/steve-dawson-solid-states-and/s-44QjT   www.stevedawson.ca
And we all know Robin Benedict.  She’ll get the crowd warmed up; there will be no doubt about that! www.robinbenedict.ca

‘Solid States and Loose Ends’ is perhaps the most beautifully considered, composed and played album that Steve has ever released under his own name. As the title suggests, it is a record that sums up and gathers together many of the musical styles and lyrical themes that he has been exploring for more than two decades now. It’s the first deeply personal recording Dawson has issued since leaving Vancouver for Nashville a few years back. With its full band arrangements, the expansive sound of ‘Solid States and Loose Ends’ stands in stark contrast to the spare elegance of 2014’s ‘Rattlesnake Cage’, his critically-acclaimed solo acoustic instrumental album. Inspired by the amazingly talented musicians he’s met and collaborated with since relocating to Music City, Dawson decided to see what he could cook up if he just ‘got a band together and played.’