Richard Michael Dawson (born 1981) is an English folk-influenced musician from

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is a ...

. His 2014 album ''

Nothing Important ''Nothing Important'' is a studio album by Richard Dawson, released in 2014 by Weird World. The album consists of four songs, two of which ("Nothing Important" and "The Vile Stuff") exceed 16 minutes in length. The cover of the album features a ...

'' was released by Weird World and was met with critical acclaim. His 2017 album ''

Peasant A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer with limited land-ownership, especially one living in the Middle Ages under feudalism and paying rent, tax, fees, or services to a landlord. In Europe, three classes of peasan ...

'' received similar acclaim, and was chosen by ''

The Quietus ''The Quietus'' is a British online music and pop culture magazine founded by John Doran and Luke Turner. The site is an editorially independent publication led by Doran with a group of freelance journalists and critics. Content ''The Quietu ...

'' as their album of the year. In 2019, he released the album ''

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in ...

'', again to critical acclaim. Released on Weird World (an imprint of

Domino Records Domino Records may refer to: * Domino Records (1916), American producer of early phonograph, from 1916 to 1917 *Domino Records (1924), American record label, from 1924 to 1933 * Domino Records (Canada), produced by the Compo Company in the 1920s a ...

) in late November 2021, ''Henki'', a collaborative album made with the Finnish band

Circle A circle is a shape consisting of all points in a plane that are at a given distance from a given point, the centre. Equivalently, it is the curve traced out by a point that moves in a plane so that its distance from a given point is const ...

, was announced in September 2021.

Career

Dawson grew up in Newcastle and became interested in singing as a child, attempting to emulate American singers such as

Faith No More Faith No More is an American Rock music, rock band from San Francisco, California, formed in 1979. Before settling on the current name in July 1983, the band performed under the names Sharp Young Men and later Faith No Man. Bassist Billy Gould, k ...

Mike Patton Michael Allan Patton (born January 27, 1968) is an American singer, producer, film composer and voice actor, best known as the lead vocalist of the alternative metal band Faith No More. Noted for his vocal proficiency, diverse singing techn ...

. He worked in record stores for 10 years before starting a professional music career. He bought an inexpensive

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

but accidentally broke it. After the guitar was repaired, he found it had a unique sound and he has used it as his main instrument. Dawson's music has been described as a deconstruction of folk music, done in an English style, similar to what American

Captain Beefheart Don Van Vliet (; born Don Glen Vliet; January 15, 1941 – December 17, 2010) was an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and visual artist best known by the stage name Captain Beefheart. Conducting a rotating ensemble known as Th ...

did with

blues music Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the A ...

. Dawson himself cites

Qawwali Qawwali (Punjabi: (Shahmukhi), (Gurmukhi); Urdu: (Nasta'liq); Hindi: क़व्वाली (Devanagari); Bengali: কাওয়ালি ( Bengali)) is a form of Sufi Islamic devotional singing, originating from the Indian subcontine ...

, a form of Sufi devotional music, Kenyan folk guitarist Henry Makobi and folk musician Mike Waterson as influences on his work. The albums ''The Glass Trunk'' (2013) and ''Nothing Important'' (2014) feature collaborations with harpist Rhodri Davies, who Dawson describes as "somewhat of a kindred spirit". Dawson and Davies released a collaborative album, ''Dawson-Davies: Hen Ogledd'', in 2013 and Dawson has also released solo material

pseudonymous A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

ly under the name "Eyeballs". Dawson has also performed in the groups Hot Fog with Mike Vest (Bong), Moon with Ben Jones and Sarah Sullivan (Jazzfinger), and played a handful of shows on guitar with Khunnt. Since ''Nothing Important'', Dawson has played the guitar through a Fender and an

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower * Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum ...

amplifier in series. He also used synthesized sounds from an iOS application, ThumbJam, and played

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...

despite having only a rudimentary knowledge of the instrument. Lyrically, Dawson's material deals with dark subjects such as death. For ''The Glass Trunk'', he searched a database in the

Tyne and Wear Tyne and Wear () is a metropolitan county in North East England, situated around the mouths of the rivers Tyne and Wear. It was created in 1974, by the Local Government Act 1972, along with five metropolitan boroughs of Gateshead, Newcast ...

archives for "death" and took inspiration from old news stories involving murder and bodily harm. The track "The Vile Stuff" from ''

'' describes a continuous narrative of events, including one where Dawson pierced his hand with a screwdriver attempting to crack a coconut shell while on a school trip.

Discography

Albums

*''Richard Dawson Sings Songs and Plays Guitar'' (2007) *''The Magic Bridge'' (2011) *''The Glass Trunk'' (2013) *''

'' (2014) *''

'' (2017) *''

'' (2019) *''

The Ruby Cord ''The Ruby Cord'' is the seventh studio album by the British avant-garde folk musician Richard Dawson, released on 18 November 2022 by Domino Recording Company. The record was described as the final piece in a trilogy of albums, together with pr ...

'' (2022)

Compilations

*''Stick In The Wheel presents From Here: English Folk Field Recordings Volume 2 (2019)'' *''Republic of Geordieland'' (2020)

Collaborations

*''Dawson May Jazzfinger Clay'' with Nev Clay, Ally May and Jazzfinger (2009) *''Moon — Diseasing Rock Who'' with Ben Jones and Sarah Sullivan (2011) *''Dawson-Davies: Hen Ogledd'' with Rhodri Davies (2013) *''Bronze'' by Hen Ogledd (Richard Dawson, Rhodri Davies, and Dawn Bothwell) (2016) *''Mogic'' by Hen Ogledd (Richard Dawson, Rhodri Davies, Dawn Bothwell, Sally Pilkington, Will Guthrie) (2018) *''Free Humans'' by Hen Ogledd (Richard Dawson, Rhodri Davies, Dawn Bothwell, and Sally Pilkington) (2020) *''No Wood Accepted'' (EP) by Hen Ogledd (Richard Dawson, Rhodri Davies, Dawn Bothwell, and Sally Pilkington) (2021) *'' Henki'' (2021) with

Additionally, over 60 releases with Sally Pilkington as Bulbils during 2020-2021.

Soundtracks

*''Motherland'' (2008)

As Eyeballs

*''Europa'' (2008) *''The Roof of The World'' (2008) *''Sea of William Henry Smyth'' (2008) *''Seal-Skin Satellite'' (2008) *''The Invisible Castle'' (2009) *''The Quest'' (2009) *''Thief of Men'' (2009) *''Treasure'' (2009) *''Eyeballs/Gareth Hardwick'' split (2009) *''Eyeballs/White Dwarf Spiral'' split (2009)

References

External links

Official website2014 interview with ''The Guardian''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dawson, Richard English male guitarists English male singers Avant-garde singers Musicians from Newcastle upon Tyne 1981 births Living people