Dawes (band)

Dawes is an American folk rock band from Los Angeles, California, composed of brothers Taylor (guitars and vocals) and Griffin Goldsmith (drums). The band has been described as being influenced by the Laurel Canyon sound, found in such artists as Crosby, Stills, and Nash, Joni Mitchell and Neil Young.

History

Dawes was formed from the band Simon Dawes after the departure of co-songwriter Blake Mills. The reformation abandoned the earlier band's indie-rock sound in favor of folk rock.

At the invitation of producer Jonathan Wilson, the band joined informal jam sessions with artists Conor Oberst, The Black Crowes's Chris Robinson, and Benmont Tench." These sessions influenced their debut album, '' North Hills'', which was recorded in Laurel Canyon in a live setting direct to analog tape. The resulting sound is one that ''Rolling Stone'' magazine referred to as "authentically vintage. Wilco multi-instrumentalist Pat Sansone is also credited with appearing on the release.

The band made their television debut on ''The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson'' on April 14, 2010. Dawes released their second album, '' Nothing Is Wrong'', on June 7, 2011, and toured the US co-headlining with Blitzen Trapper. Original keyboardist Tay Strathairn did not appear on ''Nothing Is Wrong'' due to other commitments and was temporarily replaced by Alex Casnoff. Strathairn returned to the band in late 2010. Dawes played alongside Jackson Browne at the Occupy Wall Street event in Zuccotti Park, on December 1, 2011. The band also appeared as themselves on the February 7, 2012, episode of the NBC television series '' Parenthood''.

In February 2013, the band released the single "From a Window Seat" from the 2013 album '' Stories Don't End'' on Red General Catalog and their own Hub Records.

The song "Just Beneath the Surface (Reprise)" from ''Stories Don't End'' was featured in the episode "Independent Movie" of the animated series ''American Dad!''

On April 22, 2015, Dawes performed on '' The Late Show with David Letterman'', paying tribute to Warren Zevon with their cover of "Desparados Under the Eaves". They also performed the song "Things Happen" on the show.

Duane Betts joined the band as a member of their touring ensemble in June 2015, performing as an auxiliary guitarist. Taylor and Duane alternated playing lead guitar on songs. The band's fourth album, '' All Your Favorite Bands'', was released on June 2, 2015. Three months later, the departure of keyboardist Tay Strathairn was announced in a Facebook post. Lee Pardini began playing keyboards on the band's winter 2015/2016 tour and became a permanent member of the band in July 2016. Betts also left the touring ensemble, and was replaced by guitarist Trevor Menear.

Dawes' fifth album, '' We're All Gonna Die'', was released on September 16, 2016, on HUB Records. The record marked a distinct change of style, building on the band's previous Laurel Canyon folk rock sound with a sonic twist, adding in more synthesized keyboard sounds, heavier bass, and an overall different sound for the group (while still staying true to their roots). ''We're All Gonna Die'' was produced by former founding member of Simon Dawes, Blake Mills. In November 2016, they announced their "An Evening with Dawes" tour, which began in January 2017. The "Evening With" tour is distinct from past tours because, instead of having an opening act, they perform 2–3 hour shows with a small intermission.

''Passwords'', Dawes' sixth studio album, was released on June 22, 2018. The band launched a marketing campaign for the album that encouraged fans to search for "passwords" posted throughout the internet. Once a password was found, it could be entered onto a page of the band's official website, where each part of the password represented a musical note. When entered correctly, these musical notes played various refrains from Dawes songs and unlocked exclusive content, including the singles "Never Gonna Say Goodbye" and "Telescope" as well as a Spotify playlist curated by Griffin Goldsmith. In 2020, Dawes played a few shows with Phil Lesh of the Grateful Dead after connecting through Jason Crosby.

On July 22, 2020, Dawes announced their seventh studio album, '' Good Luck With Whatever'', released on October 2 via Rounder Records. In conjunction with the announcement, the band released their first single from the album, "Who Do You Think You're Talking To?"

On May 6, 2022, Dawes announced their eighth album, '' Misadventures of Doomscroller''. It was released July 22 via Rounder Records. The first single was "Someone Else's Cafe/Doomscroller Tries to Relax." In July 2022, the band performed the single on CBS Saturday Morning for over 10 minutes, making it the longest single song performance in television history.

In February 2023, Goldsmith announced that Wylie Gelber would be leaving the band to focus more time on his music equipment company, Gelber & Sons. Gelber played his final full gig with Dawes at the Theatre at the Ace Hotel Los Angeles on May 5th, 2023.

In December 2023, Lee Pardini announced he would be leaving the band.

On January 14, 2024, Taylor Goldsmith announced that Dawes has begun work on their next album, titled ''Oh Brother'', with a release date of October 11 announced. The band toured in advance of the album's release. The first single from the album, "House Parties" was released on July 17, 2024. In July 2024, the band performed as Conan O' Brien's backing band for his set at the Newport Folk Festival; O'Brien also appeared in Dawes's video for "Mr. Los Angeles."

Dawes, now a duo, toured in November and December, 2024 to support the release of ''Oh Brother''.

Both Taylor and Griffin Goldsmith were affected by the January, 2025 Eaton Fire in Altadena, California. The music studio they shared adjacent to Taylor's home burned down along with their entire instrument collection. Taylor's home was damaged, but not completely destroyed. His wife, actress and singer Mandy Moore, called it, "not livable, but mostly intact." Griffin and his wife's nearby residence burned to the ground. Former Dawes bassist Wylie Gelber also lost his home in the fire.

On January 30, 2025 Dawes performed "Time Spent in Los Angeles" at Crypto.com Arena as part of the star-studded '' FireAid'' benefit concert and livestream. They also joined Stephen Stills and Mike Campbell on a cover of Stills's Buffalo Springfield anthem "For What It's Worth" and Graham Nash on a rendition of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young's "Teach Your Children. Three days later, on February 2, Taylor Goldsmith, with Griffin on drums, sang " I Love L.A." alongside John Legend, Sheryl Crow, Brad Paisley, Brittany Howard, and St. Vincent to open the 67th Grammy Awards. On February 3rd, Dawes announced that they'd released a studio recording of "I Love L.A," with the proceeds benefitting MusiCares.

Band members

Current members
* Taylor Goldsmith – lead vocals, guitar, keyboards (2009–present)
* Griffin Goldsmith – drums, percussion, backing vocals (2009–present)

Current touring members
* Trevor Menear – guitar (2016–present)
* Z Lynch – bass (2023–present)
* Adam MacDougall – keyboards (2025–present)
* Frank LoCrasto – keyboards (2023–2025, 2025–)

Former members
* Wylie Gelber – bass (2009–2023)
* Tay Strathairn – piano, keyboards, backing vocals (2009–2010, 2012–2015)
* Alex Casnoff – piano, keyboards, backing vocals (2011)
* Lee Pardini – piano, keyboards, backing vocals (2015–2023)

Former touring members
* Duane Betts – guitar (2015–2016)
* Ian Bush – percussion (2023–2025)

Timeline

Discography

Albums

Studio albums

Live albums

EPs

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist

Other appearances

Notes

References

External links

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Dawes Daytrotter session


Dawes live audio recordings

{{Authority control
American indie folk groups
Folk rock groups from California
Rock music groups from California
Musical groups from Los Angeles
ATO Records artists
Musical quartets from California
Musical groups established in 2009
Loose Music artists
Mercury Records artists
Record Collection artists