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 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. The band toured in advance of the album's release, scheduled for October 2024. The first single from the album, "House Parties" was released on July 17, 2024.

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

Current touring members
 * Trevor Menear – guitar (2016–present)

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)

Official members timeline

Touring musicians timeline