Richard Michael Dawson (born 24 May 1981) is an English
progressive folk
Progressive folk is a style of contemporary folk that adds new layers of musical and lyrical complexity, often incorporating various ethnic influences.
History
Origins of the term
The original meaning of progressive folk came from its links t ...
singer-songwriter from
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...
.
He writes narrative-based
folk
Folk or Folks may refer to:
Sociology
*Nation
*People
* Folklore
** Folk art
** Folk dance
** Folk hero
** Folk horror
** Folk music
*** Folk metal
*** Folk punk
*** Folk rock
** Folk religion
* Folk taxonomy
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Fo ...
songs with experimental structures, and has received acclaim for his storytelling capabilities, emotional depth and sense of humour. Alongside his solo career, Dawson is also a member of the
experimental pop
Experimental pop is pop music that cannot be categorized within traditional musical boundaries or which attempts to push elements of existing popular forms into new areas. It may incorporate experimental music, experimental techniques such as m ...
band Hen Ogledd, and he has released
electronic music
Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...
under the name Eye Balls.
To date, Dawson has released eight solo studio albums. His 2014 album, ''
Nothing Important'', was released by
Weird World and was met with critical acclaim.
Between 2017 and 2022, Dawson released a loose trilogy of albums – ''
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 ...
'' (2017), ''
2020
The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...
'' (2019), and ''
The Ruby Cord'' (2022) – each set within the past, present and future, respectively. The albums received widespread critical acclaim, with ''
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 ...
'' naming ''Peasant'' as their album of the year in 2017.
In 2021, Dawson released ''
Henki
''Henki'' is a 2021 collaborative album by the English singer-songwriter Richard Dawson and the Finnish experimental rock group Circle. The album has seven songs that are all related to the life of plants and trees. The title, according to Circle' ...
'', a collaborative album with the Finnish band
Circle
A circle is a shape consisting of all point (geometry), points in a plane (mathematics), plane that are at a given distance from a given point, the Centre (geometry), centre. The distance between any point of the circle and the centre is cal ...
, which was lyrically influenced by "botanists and plants." ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' named it a "botanical rock classic."
Dawson released his eighth studio album, ''
End of the Middle'', on February 14, 2025, with the album's lyrical content focusing on "several generations of one family, and how patterns of behaviour repeat across them."
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 September 1983, the band performed under the names Sharp Young Men and later Faith No Man. Bassist Billy Gould, keyboardist/rhythm guitarist ...
's
Mike Patton
Michael Allan Patton (born January 27, 1968) is an American singer, songwriter, producer, and voice actor, best known as the lead vocalist of the rock bands Faith No More and Mr. Bungle. He has also fronted and/or played with Tomahawk, The ...
.
[ Dawson worked at the Newcastle record stores, JG Windows and Alt.Vinyl, and took on additional bar work for ten 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 known by the stage name Captain Beefheart. Conducting a rotating ensemble known as the M ...
did with blues music
Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...
. Dawson himself cites Qawwali
Qawwali is a form of Sufi Islamic devotional singing originating in the Indian subcontinent. Originally performed at Sufi shrines throughout the Indian subcontinent, it is famous throughout Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Afghanistan and has ...
,[ a form of ]Sufi
Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism.
Practitioners of Sufism are r ...
devotional music, Kenyan folk guitarist Henry Makobi[ and folk musician ]Mike Waterson
Michael Waterson (17 January 1941 – 22 June 2011) was an English writer, songwriter and folk singer.
Biography
Waterson was born in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. After being orphaned at an early age, he was brought up there, w ...
[ as influences on his work.
In 2008 and 2009, Dawson released 10 albums of computerized electronic music under the pseudonym Eye Balls. The music for this project is long-form ambient drone music, without vocals.
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 have since also released records as the band Hen Ogledd, and Dawson has also released solo material pseudonymous
A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's ow ...
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.[
]
Instruments
Dawson writes and records on a Baby Taylor
George Ellis "Baby" Taylor (March 6, 1892 – March 24, 1926) was an American college football player and coach. He assisted the 1916 Spring Hill Badgers football team.
Auburn University
Football
Taylor was a prominent Tackle (American foo ...
guitar that he has owned since his twenties, noting: "Every song I've written since my twenties has been written on that. We're sort of bound. I'm very familiar with it and it is with me." Dawson no longer tours with the guitar after a series of accidents befell the instrument: "There was a minor earthquake in the UK and I'd forgotten I'd put it on the floor, and I stood on it, but it was still playable. The second time I was drunk and I totally caved it in, but it still made a sound of sorts. I thought, 'Well, I'll just play the songs the same, the spirit will still be there even if it sounds terrible.' Then inger-songwriterNev Clay stood on it and totally broke it – it was my fault. A luthier
A luthier ( ; ) is a craftsperson who builds or repairs string instruments.
Etymology
The word ' is originally French and comes from ''luth'', the French word for "lute". The term was originally used for makers of lutes, but it came to be ...
Nigel Forster put a beautiful curved top on it, and it was vastly improved. Then the neck snapped on the first day of the ''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 ...
'' tour."
Since ''Nothing Important'', Dawson has played his guitars 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 juice
*Orange (colour), the color of an orange fruit, occurs between red and yellow in the vi ...
amplifier in series
Series may refer to:
People with the name
* Caroline Series (born 1951), English mathematician, daughter of George Series
* George Series (1920–1995), English physicist
Arts, entertainment, and media
Music
* Series, the ordered sets used i ...
.[ He also used synthesized sounds from an ]iOS
Ios, Io or Nio (, ; ; locally Nios, Νιός) is a Greek island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. Ios is a hilly island with cliffs down to the sea on most sides. It is situated halfway between Naxos and Santorini. It is about long an ...
application, ThumbJam, and played saxophone
The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to p ...
despite having only a rudimentary knowledge of the instrument.[
]
Lyrics and themes
Lyrically, Dawson's material deals with dark subjects such as death. For ''The Glass Trunk'', he searched the Tyne and Wear Archives catalogue for "death" and took inspiration from old news stories involving murder and bodily harm. The track "The Vile Stuff" from '' Nothing Important'' 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
Studio albums
*''Richard Dawson Sings Songs and Plays Guitar'' (2007)
*''The Magic Bridge'' (2011)
*''The Glass Trunk'' (2013)
*'' Nothing Important'' (2014)
*''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 ...
'' (2017)
*''2020
The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...
'' (2019)
*''Henki
''Henki'' is a 2021 collaborative album by the English singer-songwriter Richard Dawson and the Finnish experimental rock group Circle. The album has seven songs that are all related to the life of plants and trees. The title, according to Circle' ...
'' (2021) (with Circle
A circle is a shape consisting of all point (geometry), points in a plane (mathematics), plane that are at a given distance from a given point, the Centre (geometry), centre. The distance between any point of the circle and the centre is cal ...
)
*'' The Ruby Cord'' (2022)
* '' End of the Middle'' (2025)
Compilations
*''Republic of Geordieland'' (2020)
As Eye Balls
*''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)
with Hen Ogledd
*''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)
Collaborations
*''Dawson May Jazzfinger Clay'' with Nev Clay, Ally May and Jazzfinger (2009)
*''Moon — Diseasing Rock Who'' with Ben Jones and Sarah Sullivan (2011)
Additionally, over 80 short-form releases with Sally Pilkington as Bulbils since 2020.
Soundtracks
*''Motherland'' (2008)
Appearances
*''Stick In The Wheel presents From Here: English Folk Field Recordings Volume 2 (2019)''
References
External links
Official website
2014 interview with ''The Guardian''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dawson, Richard
1981 births
Living people
English male guitarists
English male singers
Avant-garde singers
Musicians from Newcastle upon Tyne
Domino Recording Company artists