Zubot and Dawson were a folk duo from

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, that consisted of

Jesse Zubot Jesse Zubot is a Canadian musician primarily known for his violin playing. Zubot also works as a composer, producer and recording engineer.Nick Krewen"Jesse Zubot: They shoot, he scores" '' Words & Music'', March 27, 2020. History Zubot's acou ...

on fiddle and

Steve Dawson Steven "Dobby" Dawson (born 24 February 1952) is an English bass guitarist and a founder of the heavy metal band Saxon (band), Saxon. Dawson started out in 1970 in the band Blue Condition, which became SOB after a few shows only, together wit ...

on guitar. They played largely folk-inspired acoustic music and released three albums. They toured both North America and Europe. In 2003 they won a

Juno Award The Juno Awards (stylized as JUNOS), or simply known as the Junos, are awards presented by Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences to recognize outstanding achievements in Canada's mu ...

for the album ''Chicken Scratch''."2003 Juno Awards winners list."
''Billboard'', 4/7/2003

History

Dawson attended

Berklee School of Music Berklee College of Music () is a private music college in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern American music, it also offers college-level ...

and began to work together with

as the Spirit Merchants, which involved had a constantly changing rhythm section. With a changing focus, Zubot and Dawson reduced the project to a duo, using their own names, with a more acoustic focus. In order to have their material released, Dawson set up his own label, Black Hen. Their first album, ''Strang'' was a reference to a self-proclaimed genre, while their album ''Tractor Parts: Further Adventures In Strang'' (2000), was nominated for a

in 2001. They released their final album Chicken Scratch in 2002, which received the 2003 Juno Award for Roots & Traditional Album of the Year for a Group. The duo ceased to function as Dawson preferred to focus on his production work and reduce his travel commitments and Zubot wanted to stretch out musically into other genres as well as concentrate on album production and film scoring.

Members

Zubot plays

fiddle A fiddle is a Bow (music), bowed String instrument, string musical instrument, most often a violin or a bass. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including European classical music, classical music. Althou ...

and

mandolin A mandolin (, ; literally "small mandola") is a Chordophone, stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally Plucked string instrument, plucked with a plectrum, pick. It most commonly has four Course (music), courses of doubled St ...

as well as

electric mandolin The electric mandolin is an instrument tuned and played as the mandolin and amplified in similar fashion to an electric guitar. As with electric guitars, electric mandolins take many forms. Most common is a carved-top eight-string instrument fi ...

while Dawson plays acoustic, tremolo acoustic, National tricone and Weissenborn Hawaiian

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

. While the group started as a duo, other players were added over the years. Andrew Downing joined Zubot and Dawson as a

double bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...

player. Elliot Polsky joined the group as percussion player. The group also occasionally features musical friends such as

Bob Brozman Bob Brozman (March 8, 1954 – April 23, 2013) was an American guitarist and ethnomusicologist. Biography Brozman was born to a Jewish family in Long Island, New York, and began playing the guitar when he was six. He was an adjunct professor ...

and

Kelly Joe Phelps Kelly Joe Phelps (October 5, 1959 – May 31, 2022) was an American musician and songwriter. His music has been characterized as a mixture of delta blues and jazz.Ann Powers, ''The New York Times'', February 9, 2000. Career Kelly Joe Phelps grew ...

. Dawson and Zubot both participate in the project Great Uncles of the Revolution.

Discography

;Albums *1998: ''Strang'' (Black Hen Music) *2000: ''Tractor Parts: Further Adventures in Strang'' (Black Hen Music) *2002: ''Chicken Scratch'' (True North)

References

External links

Steve Dawson
official website
Black Hen Music
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zubot And Dawson Canadian folk music groups Canadian jazz ensembles Musical groups from Vancouver Musical groups with year of establishment missing Juno Award for Roots & Traditional Album of the Year – Group winners Black Hen Music artists True North Records artists