The Golden Dawn are an American

psychedelic rock Psychedelic rock is a rock music Music genre, genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelia, psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound ...

band formed in

Austin Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, United States, in 1966. The band released one album, titled ''Power Plant'', before breaking up soon after the album's release in 1968. The 1966 release of the album was withheld by

International Artists International Artists (IA) was an American independent record label based in Houston, Texas, United States, that originally existed from 1965 to 1970. It is not to be confused with International Artists Records, a classical music record label foun ...

, until after

The 13th Floor Elevators The 13th Floor Elevators was an American rock band from Austin, Texas, United States, formed by guitarist and vocalist Roky Erickson, electric jug player Tommy Hall, and guitarist Stacy Sutherland. The band was together from 1965 to 1969, a ...

' album ''Easter Everywhere'' was released, even though ''Power Plant'' was recorded nearly a year earlier. As a result, the ''Power Plant'' 's reviews tagged it as a copycat record, unworthy of positive consideration. George Kinney remained a recluse figure in the music world for decades until a reemergence in 2001, when ''Power Plant'' became an iconic psychedelic recording. Though the early break up of the original band was unfortunate, this was not the end of the band's influence. George Kinney,

lead singer The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

and lyric writer for the band, went on to renew the band with several incarnations up to the present day version resulting in the latest recording, ''Rebel Heart'' (2017). Kinney has also published two full-length novels, ''The Bandit King'' and ''Brave New Texas''. Bobby Rector died in 2007, and Jimmy Bird in 2008. The band's original bassist, Bill Hallmark, died in February 2020. George Kinney died in July 2022. Lead guitarist, Tom Ramsey, resides in Austin, TX.

Band members

* Original: * George Kinney –

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

* Tom Ramsey –

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

* Jimmy Bird –

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., drum kit, bass guitar ...

* Bill Hallmark – bass * Bobby Rector –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

* Since 2010 band members: ** George Kinney – vocals, guitar ** James Henry – lead guitar ** Michael Morris – drums ** Miranda Morris – background vocals,

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

** William von Reichbauer – bass, vocals

Discography

* ''Power Plant'' (1968)

References

1966 establishments in Texas Musical groups from Austin, Texas Musical groups established in 1966 Psychedelic rock music groups from Texas {{US-rock-band-stub