The Chatham Arts Council is investing in artists through our Meet This Artist series, introducing you to 12 Chatham County artists each year in a big way. The fine folks at Hobbs Architects in downtown Pittsboro are powering our Meet This Artist series this year. Architecture is art, and the Hobbs crew values art in our community. So, take a look. Meet your very inspiring neighbors. Meet musician and featured JumpstART artist Dawn Landes.
In this Meet the Artist feature, we delve into the captivating journey of musician Dawn Landes. From early memories of listening to vinyl records in the backseat of a car to rubbing shoulders with music legends, Dawn’s story is a musical odyssey. We will follow her journey from humble beginnings in the heartlands of America to the bustling streets of New York City and London, and now, to the serene landscapes of North Carolina. Through her upcoming album and performances, she invites us to rediscover the power of music as a conduit for storytelling, activism, and connection across time and space. Get ready to embark on a harmonious journey through the life and artistry of this remarkable musician.
When did music enter your life?
That’s a tricky question. I mean, definitely before I could read or write, I was making up songs because music was all around me all the time. I remember being in the car with my parents and telling them to stop talking because the radio was on. I really needed to listen to this song, focus more on the music. I didn’t really come from a classically trained musical family or anything. Although, thinking about it, my grandfather played the violin and my aunt played the piano. My parents enjoyed music, but they weren’t trained instrumentalists or anything like that. I was drawn to the music that was played for me at the time. My parents listened to golden oldies radio and had vinyl records. I would just listen to their records all the time.
Is there a particular record in their collection that stands out in your memory?
Of course! The artwork is so big in that format. Everybody loves vinyl again, which is great. I remember a Pointer Sisters album. I was so intrigued by that record, the one with Jump (For My Love). I liked the Traveling Wilburys: the supergroup with George Harrison, Roy Orbison,Tom Petty, and Bob Dylan. And then my mom was really into all the great female vocalists, like Linda Ronstadt. I love her. And Mary Chapin Carpenter. It’s funny: I opened for her in New York, and I was like, “My mom used to play your music all the time!” But yeah, music was always around and affecting me through the speakers of the car or in the house.
Did you have any formal training later on?
I took some piano lessons when I was young, and I was in the middle school band where I played the saxophone for a few years. Then I was in choir, always singing. That was my big passion: vocal music. I love singing with women particularly, but the big choral groups are really fun. I don’t get to do that as much as an adult, but I really enjoy singing with other people.
What vocal part do you sing?
I was always a soprano.
First Soprano?
Yes, all the high stuff.
No wonder you love Linda Ronstadt. She used to have an amazing upper range.
Yes! And Dolly Parton has a really high voice also. I love her, too. I mean, I always thought the alto line was more interesting because the sopranos usually have the melody, but I did learn to harmonize going to church. I was raised Catholic and would read the hymnal trying to decipher the harmony.
Where did you grow up?
I was born in Indiana. Then I lived in Branson, Missouri, and then Louisville, Kentucky. I feel like Louisville is sort of my hometown. It’s where I learned to drive, where I learned to play music, and I still have a lot of friends there.
There’s an unexpected art scene in Louisville, for sure.
Oh, it’s a great, great music scene. And great theater, as well. The Actors Theatre of Louisville, and others.
Did your journey take you directly to New York? Did you spend time in other cities?
Well, I went to college in New York at NYU.
To study music?
I was in the College of Arts and Sciences, but by the time I was supposed to choose my major, I ended up working in a recording studio. I was learning so much during that time. I stopped going to school and focused all my time on learning how to engineer and produce music. I lucked into an internship at Philip Glass’ studio. I was interning there and getting to meet people like David Bowie and Suzanne Vega. I was meeting all these amazing people, and the craft of making records fascinated me.
You met David Bowie!?
I did. I know. I know! So random. We talked about Ikea, of all things. It was the weirdest conversation. He was lovely.
I love it! So you spent 16 years in NYC?
Yes, yes. Long time. I started playing music with people and working in studios, and then eventually I started my own studio called Saltlands with a couple people in Brooklyn. We had that for eight years. I was touring and playing on different people’s projects and putting out my own albums.
Tell me more about touring. Any memories on the road that stick out to you?
Funnily enough, in the beginning I toured more in Europe because my first record came out on a French record label. I didn’t even speak the language, but I was touring in France and working with French musicians. And then my second record came out on a British label, so I was touring in the UK. I’ve played in the States a lot as well. So many amazing experiences and so many strange ones. You never know what you’re going to get until you arrive at the venue.
What are some of your favorite cities to play for?
I’ve always loved playing London. I play there a lot and feel like I have a good following there. It’s a great city for folk music. There’s such history there. I mean, I don’t know if what I do is folk music. I kind of walk the line between Americana and folk and rock and whatever else. But I really appreciate the tradition.
British folk, especially the vintage stuff, is some of my favorite music.
Oh, yeah? Who do you love?
Hmm. Anne Briggs. Donovan. Pentangle. Fairport Convention. Steeleye Span. Oh, and Richard Thompson.
He’s amazing! Yeah, actually, the show that I’ve been working on, I’m doing it in September in London. And I reached out to his daughter Kami, who I’ve sung with before. His son is also amazing, Teddy Thompson. And Linda Thompson, of course. They’re all just fantastic! Anyway, she can’t do it. I was bummed. But yeah, Richard Thompson is incredible! His guitar playing is beautiful.
So what brought you to North Carolina?
My husband.
Your husband? Tell me about him.
His name’s Creighton Irons. He grew up here and his family all lives here. He’s got a wonderful family.
We met in New York. We met because I was writing a musical, and he was writing a musical. We met at the Johnny Mercer Writers Colony at Goodspeed Musicals. We got together in New York, and then we decided to leave the city, but we didn’t know where to go. We city-shopped a bit, and ended up in Nashville, which is where I was working on a record at the time. That’s where our daughter was born. But then we found it was really difficult to have a kid without any support. So, we moved here in 2020 to be closer to his family.
He’s the music teacher at Woods Charter School. Woods is such a wonderful community and I really love living here. It’s so pretty. I mean, it reminds me of a lot of Louisville actually. There’s academia and arts mixed with a slower pace of life.
The Chatham Arts Council is so very excited to have you featured as one of our JumpstART artists at ClydeFEST this year. The concept for this year’s commissions is The Locals, focusing on a Chatham resident, past or present. Can you tell us a little bit about your project, and what it’s been like to delve into the history of this community?
I’ve been working on a project for maybe two years now called the Liberated Woman’s Songbook. I’m re-imagining songs from this 1971 songbook about women’s rights. I did extensive research at the Sallie Bingham Center for Women’s History & Culture at Duke and at the Southern Folklife Collection at UNC to learn as much as I could about the history of the songs and the time periods.
I filmed a music video with support from JumpstART Commissions, recreating some historical images with photographer Heather Evans Smith and filmmaker Sandra Katherine Davidson. recreating some historical images with a photographer and a filmmaker. We wanted to be as accurate as possible about things. So, there was this one photograph from the early 1900s of a factory worker, and a song in the project called “The Factory Girl.” While we were looking for a location, Chatham Mills was recommended at one point, in part because there was an old loom there.
It’s a really big building. I kind of poked my nose in a bunch of the rooms, and I didn’t see anything. I even asked someone working at Chatham Marketplace, “Is there a loom here? I’ve heard there’s a loom.” They didn’t know, but connected me with Tom Roberts who was so helpful and really into the project. It turns out the loom was in a completely separate space. I spoke with him, and he was so helpful and so wonderful, and he was really into the project. It turns out the loom was in a completely separate space. It has its own room that requires keys. But the loom was from the same time period! It’s from the turn of the century when the mill manufactured labels for clothing.
It was so much fun! I had period costumes on loan from PlayMakers, and my hair styled to look like the image of the factory worker from the photo. (It turns out the factory worker was making boxes for shoes. That’s what we figured out.) We had this giant loom behind me, and it just has its own essence, the piece of machinery in itself. To be in the mill where women used to work was a truly moving experience. There are still so many artifacts left over at the mill from when the building transferred hands. I’m hoping Tom will get me some of those to share at ClydeFEST, so other people get a chance to experience history. Because it’s really hard to connect with the past as an idea, but when you see a physical thing or you hear a song, or you see a piece of clothing or you see a piece of machinery, it just impacts you more.
Absolutely wonderful. I am myself drawn to projects with historical significance. I think history is a really interesting lens to view our own humanity. The arts are a wonderful access point for people to learn.
It’s easier to feed people information through music. They’ll listen and absorb it without resisting it or having it feel too intellectual. So many of the songs from my project are songs of women advocating for their rights–for voting rights and labor rights. And so many of the songs were written to hymns or to children’s songs–songs that were in the vernacular–because a lot of these people didn’t play music or read music, but they had something to say and so they just sang it to a known melody. For instance, there’s one song in my project that’s rewritten to the tune of “There Was an Old Woman Who Swallowed a Fly.” The lyrics are rewritten as “There Was a Young Woman Who Swallowed a Lie.”
And there’s music from North Carolinian Ella May Wiggins. She was a songwriter who worked in the mills and actually lost her life fighting for workers’ rights in Gastonia. I visited her grave and saw the plant there, which is interesting in comparison to Chatham Mills.
How did she lose her life?
She was killed, traveling with other union strikers, by an armed group associated with the mill owners. It’s a crazy long story, but she didn’t even work at that particular plant. She worked at a plant that was 15 minutes down the road, and was a very vocal advocate for workers rights. She was a songwriter and free spirit and people were drawn to her. It made her a target.
Sounds like the new album is full of inspirational stories. Where can people find and support your music?
My album, The Liberated Woman Songbook, comes out March 29 and is available for preorder! I’m doing a performance at Playmakers Repertory Company on May 4. I’ll be joined by a band and six incredible guest artists, including one of my heroes, Alice Gerrard, to reinterpret songs from the Songbook.
Find out more about Dawn Landes on her website, FaceBook, Instagram, Spotify, and YouTube.
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