Julian Dawson (born 4 July 1954 in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

) is a British singer–songwriter, guitarist and author. His style has been compared to

Wilco Wilco is an American alternative rock band based in Chicago, Illinois. The band was formed in 1994 by the remaining members of alternative country group Uncle Tupelo following singer Jay Farrar's departure. Wilco's lineup changed frequently dur ...

and

Ron Sexsmith Ronald Eldon Sexsmith (born January 8, 1964) is a Canadian singer-songwriter from St. Catharines, Ontario. He was the songwriter of the year at the 2005 Juno Awards. He began releasing recordings of his own material in 1985 at age 21, and has ...

. He is fluent in German and French. Outside his solo work, acts he has recorded with (as singer or harmonica player) include

Gerry Rafferty Gerald Rafferty (16 April 1947– 4 January 2011) was a Scottish singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He was a founding member of Stealers Wheel, whose biggest hit was " Stuck in the Middle with You" in 1973. His solo hits in th ...

Glenn Tilbrook Glenn Martin Tilbrook (born 31 August 1957) is the lead singer and guitarist of the English band Squeeze, a band formed in the mid-1970s who broke through in the new wave era at the decade's end. He generally wrote the music for Squeeze's son ...

, Del Amitri,

Dan Penn Dan Penn (born Wallace Daniel Pennington, November 16, 1941) is an American songwriter, singer, musician, and record producer, who co-wrote many soul hits of the 1960s, including "The Dark End of the Street" and "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man" wi ...

Iain Matthews Iain Matthews (born Ian Matthews MacDonald, 16 June 1946) is an English musician and singer-songwriter. He was an original member of the British folk rock band Fairport Convention from 1967 to 1969 before leaving to form his own band, Matthe ...

and his band

Plainsong Plainsong or plainchant (calque from the French ''plain-chant''; la, cantus planus) is a body of chants used in the liturgy, liturgies of the Western Church. When referring to the term plainsong, it is those sacred pieces that are composed in La ...

, Richard Thompson and

Benny Hill Alfred Hawthorne "Benny" Hill (21 January 1924 – 20 April 1992) was an English comedian, actor, singer and writer. He is remembered for his television programme ''The Benny Hill Show'', an amalgam of slapstick, burlesque and double ente ...

. He also worked with German

krautrock Krautrock (also called , German for ) is a broad genre of experimental rock Experimental rock, also called avant-rock, is a subgenre of rock music that pushes the boundaries of common composition and performance technique or which experiments ...

ers Can, and

BAP BAP or bap may refer to: Food * Bap (bread), a type of bread roll * Bap (rice dish), a Korean food Music * BAP (Basque band), a hardcore punk group (formed 1984) * BAP (German band), a Colognian rock group (formed 1976) * B.A.P (South Korean ban ...

Biography

He attended two Catholic boarding schools for nine years and Exeter College of Art and Design for three years, before deciding to take up music full-time and playing his first professional jobs for the US army in Germany. After a return to London, he learned his craft on the road all over Europe and the UK with various band line-ups, playing his own songs from day one and eventually landing his first record deal. One pub-rock influenced LP was followed by two albums for Polydor, both recorded at the Can Studio near Cologne with

Jaki Liebezeit Jaki Liebezeit (born Hans Liebezeit; 26 May 1938 – 22 January 2017) was a German drummer, best known as a founding member of experimental rock band Can. He was called "one of the few drummers to convincingly meld the funky and the cerebral". ...

and guests Richard Thompson and

Toots Thielemans Jean-Baptiste Frédéric Isidor, Baron Thielemans (29 April 1922 – 22 August 2016), known professionally as Toots Thielemans, was a Belgian jazz musician. He was mostly known for his chromatic harmonica playing, as well as his guitar and whistl ...

. 'As Real As Disneyland' garnered album-of-month status and sold well in the German-speaking territories, setting a pattern of Dawson having more success abroad than at home that has remained a feature of his career so far. In the early 1990s, Dawson turned his attentions to the US, making two albums in Nashville with

E Street Band The E Street Band is an American rock band, and has been musician Bruce Springsteen's primary backing band since 1972. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014. For the bulk of Springsteen's recording and performing caree ...

bass-player

Garry Tallent Garry Wayne Tallent (born October 27, 1949), sometimes billed as Garry W. Tallent, is an American musician and record producer, best known for being bass player and founding member of the E Street Band, Bruce Springsteen's primary backing band si ...

producing and a host of local guests, including

Vince Gill Vincent Grant Gill (born April 12, 1957) is an American country music singer, songwriter and musician. He has achieved commercial success and fame both as frontman of the country rock band Pure Prairie League in the 1970s and as a solo artist b ...

Duane Eddy Duane Eddy (born April 26, 1938) is an American rock and roll guitarist. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, he had a string of hit records produced by Lee Hazlewood, which were noted for their characteristically "twangy" sound, including "Rebel- ...

, Bill Payne and

Steve Forbert Samuel Stephen "Steve" Forbert (born December 13, 1954) is an American pop music singer-songwriter. His 1979 song "Romeo's Tune" reached No. 11 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and No. 13 on the ''Billboard'' Adult Contemporary Chart. It also ...

. ''Fragile As China'' charted in Germany and helped him build a radio presence and a solid following in the US, where he still tours at least once a year. Visits to the States, and Nashville and Austin in particular, became a regular part of his life, leading to further recordings (five in all for BMG) and co-writes and collaborations with artists such as

Willie Nile Willie Nile (born Robert Noonan; June 7, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter. In 1980, Nile released his self-titled debut album. His early career was interrupted by various problems, but he eventually returned to recording and performing i ...

Nicky Hopkins Nicholas Christian "Nicky" Hopkins (24 February 1944 – 6 September 1994) was an English pianist and organist. Hopkins performed on many popular and enduring British and American rock music recordings from the 1960s to the 1990s, most notably ...

Jules Shear Jules Mark Shear (born March 7, 1952) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He wrote the Cyndi Lauper hit single " All Through the Night" and The Bangles' hit "If She Knew What She Wants", and charted a hit as a performer with "Stead ...

and

Lucinda Williams Lucinda Gayle Williams (born January 26, 1953) is an American singer-songwriter and a solo guitarist. She recorded her first two albums: '' Ramblin' on My Mind'' (1979) and '' Happy Woman Blues'' (1980), in a traditional country and blues style ...

, with whom he also recorded a duet version of "How Can I Sleep Without You". For several years he kept together a live band, featuring guitarist

Steuart Smith Steuart Smith (born 24 June 1952) is an American guitarist and multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, writer and producer from Arlington, Virginia, United States. He is a touring member of the American rock band Eagles, where he has performed as one of ...

(now with

the Eagles The Eagles are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1971. With five number-one singles and six number-one albums, six Grammy Awards and five American Music Awards, the Eagles were one of the most successful musical acts of the 1970s ...

). More albums followed both as a member of

with

and solo including ''Move Over Darling'', with Richard Thompson,

and

the Roches The Roches were an American vocal trio of sisters Maggie, Terre and Suzzy Roche, from Park Ridge, New Jersey. Career In the late 1960s, eldest sister Maggie (October 26, 1951 – January 21, 2017) and middle sister Terre (pronounced "Terry", ...

, ''Under The Sun'' with Soft Boys Kimberley Rew and

Andy Metcalfe Andy Metcalfe (born 3 March 1956, Bristol, England) is an English bassist, keyboardist and producer, who played mainly with The Soft Boys (with Robyn Hitchcock, 1976–1979), Robyn Hitchcock and the Egyptians (1984–1994), and with Squeeze of ...

and 2002's ''Hillbilly Zen'' with ex-Byrd

Gene Parsons Gene Victor Parsons (born September 4, 1944, in Morongo Valley, California) is an American drummer, banjo player, guitarist, singer-songwriter, and engineer, best known for his work with the Byrds from 1968 to 1972. Parsons has also released so ...

. Dawson has performed at festivals such as Newport (US), Cambridge, Cropredy and Glastonbury in England, on tour with Plainsong,

Al Stewart Alastair Ian Stewart (born 5 September 1945) is a Scottish born singer-songwriter and folk-rock musician who rose to prominence as part of the British folk revival in the 1960s and 1970s. He developed a unique style of combining folk-rock so ...

Fairport Convention Fairport Convention are an English folk rock band, formed in 1967 by guitarists Richard Thompson and Simon Nicol, bassist Ashley Hutchings and drummer Shaun Frater (with Frater replaced by Martin Lamble after their first gig.) They started o ...

and others, on TV's '' Later With Jools Holland'' (with the Richard Thompson Band) or the Europe-wide ''

Rockpalast ''Rockpalast'' (''Rock Palace'') is a German music television show that broadcasts live on German television station Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR). ''Rockpalast'' started in 1974 and continues to this day. Hundreds of rock, heavy metal and jazz ...

'' with his own. In 1996, he produced

Charlie Louvin Charles Elzer Loudermilk (July 7, 1927 – January 26, 2011), known professionally as Charlie Louvin, was an American country music singer and songwriter. He is best known as one of the Louvin Brothers, and was a member of the Grand Ole Opry ...

's comeback album ''The Longest Train''Charlie Louvin: The Longest Train
Charlie Louvin: The Longest Train
accessdate: 19 May 2016 and later appeared with him at the BBC Proms. Dawson's 2008 CD ''Deep Rain'', produced in Nashville by

, helped to introduce him to a wider audience and was followed by a band tour, preserved on the double CD/DVD ''Live'', released in 2010. He has been producing a first solo album for Beverley Martyn. 2010 also saw the first publication of his biography of

by Random House, Germany. The English language book followed in spring 2011, via Desert Hearts in the UK (in hardback) and Backstage Books/Plus One Press in North America (in paperback). First reviews were positive (four stars from ''Uncut'' magazine).

Discography

* 1982: ''Let Out The Pig'' (MMG) * 1987: ''As Real As Disneyland'' (

Polydor Polydor Records Ltd. is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in the United States. ...

) * 1989: ''Luckiest Man in the Western World'' (Polydor) * 1990: ''Live on the Radio'' (Nico Polo) * 1991: ''Fragile As China'' (Ariola) * 1992: ''June Honeymoon – Live'' (BMG / Ariola) * 1993: ''Headlines'' (Ariola) * 1994: ''How Human Hearts Behave – Collection 1984–1994'' (BMG Aris) * 1995: ''Travel On'' (

Watermelon Watermelon (''Citrullus lanatus'') is a flowering plant species of the Cucurbitaceae family and the name of its edible fruit. A scrambling and trailing vine-like plant, it is a highly cultivated fruit worldwide, with more than 1,000 varieti ...

/ BMG) * 1996: ''Steal That Beat -The Lost Tapes (Re-release of "Let Out The Pig")'' (Hypertension) * 1996; ''Songs From The Red Couch – Live (with Iain Matthews)'' * 1997: ''Move Over Darling'' (Compass) * 1999: ''Under The Sun'' (Blue Rose) * 2001: ''Cologne Again Or – Live'' (with

) * 2002 ''Flood Damage – Live'' (with

) * 2002 ''Hillbilly Zen'' (Fledg'ling) (with

) * 2004 ''Bedroom Suite'' (Blue Rose) * 2006 ''Nothing Like A Dame'' * 2008 ''Deep Rain'' (Blue Rose) * 2010 ''Live'' (Double CD & DVD) * 2013 ''Life And Soul'' (Blue Rose) * 2015 ''Living Good'' (Fledg'ling UK)

References

* Folk Roots magazine, "Uncrowned Jules: John Tobler contemplates the striking figure of Julian Dawson" * Performing Songwriter magazine, spotlight alongside Tom Russell and Eliza Gilkyson * Country Music International article * Wie Gott in Suedfrankreich by Wolfgang Niedecken, Musik Express/Sounds magazine * Musikerkarriere auch ohne den grossen Durchbruch, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung * BBC Radio interview with Judi Spiers, 2009 * BBC Radio Interview with Keith Warmington, 2009

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dawson, Julian 1954 births Living people British male singer-songwriters Singers from London British male guitarists