Once upon a time there was a music scene in Laurel Canyon that brought forth art created among people who flocked to hills above the city of angels. The names are legendary: Mitchell, Mama Cass, John Phillips, Graham Nash, Neil Young, Jackson Browne, The Eagles, The Doors. And these are only some of the people who seemed to live next door to each other back in the 60s and 70s.
Today, another band, Dawes, has sprung from these hills and the LA streets beneath; founding member, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist, Taylor Goldsmith caught up with us from a brief break from the road while he was kicking back in Southern California. Dawes comprises Taylor, his brother Griffin, Wylie Gelber and Tay Strathairn; the sounds they create share a similarity in style to the earlier Laurel Canyon days, most notably to bands and songwriters like The Eagles, Jackson Browne and Neil Young. This is some heady company to be compared to when you only have a couple of CDs under your belt.
“LA is a big place and it is not as much of a community anymore [but] we definitely feel like we are part of some musical families. Griffin and I are going to be performing with the Watkin siblings from Nickel Creek; and hanging out with Blake Mills and Dave Rawlings is here a lot. So there is a crew that hangs together and plays music together but there are so many other types of music. Like Foster The People are an LA band and Maroon 5 are an LA band but we don’t necessarily get on the same bills,” laughs Taylor.
Jonathan Wilson had a hand in some of this coming together when he had a studio set up in the Canyon, called 5 Star Studio. People like Benji Hughes, Will Oldham (Bonnie Prince Billy), Chris Robinson (Black Crowes) and others have worked with Wilson and his presence in the ‘hood seemed to help out Dawes in the early days.
“We met Jonathan just around town and he was working with a lot of different people. We were a band playing around town doing gigs but we had no record and we did not even know how we were going to make a record. We met him and our paths lined up and even though he was not familiar with our material he kind of knew what we were about and it was up his alley. So, we asked him what would he suggest for a group like us and he said he had some producer buddies who might be able to help. He was not sure he was going to be able to help us out personally due to his schedule and he was referring us to other people and none of it was panning out. Finally he just said, why don’t you just come over and we will try to make it work. We were [at his studio] for two weeks and we made our first record [2009’s North Hills]. We made the second record with him 2 years later. We built this relationship all around the music,” Taylor recalls.
North Hills and Nothing Is Wrong [2011] are gorgeous records filled with sun soaked harmonies, sensational lyricism and a sound that can only be defined as Southern Californian. But besides hooking up with someone like Jonathan who shared the same sensibilities, there were a couple of other lucky breaks that involved two other musical legends: Robbie Robertson and Jackson Browne.
“When I was in our previous band, named Simon Dawes, our producer, Tony Berg, was approached by Robbie’s manager, saying he needed some backing vocals for his record [How To Become Clairvoyant]. Tony said you should call my friend Taylor because he can do it and he is a big fan and it would really make him happy. So I went in and met Robbie and I sang on a few things and I figured that was it. Then 6 months later they were looking for a band, and instead of piecing together a band of players, Robbie liked the idea of a band that already existed. He watched a couple of You Tube videos of us, listened to the records and thought we would be perfect. It was amazing working with him. He is a very nice guy, gracious and humble, and basically told us to do whatever we wanted to do and make it our own. It was a really fun, easy process,” Taylor says.
That was break number one. Along with that came TV appearances with Robbie on Later With Jools Holland and The Late Show With David Letterman that showcased not only Robbie’s new songs, but the mystery backing band. Just after that Jackson Browne entered their orbit.
“Jackson is a fan of the singer/songwriter Benji Hughes who is a life long friend of Jonathan. Jonathan met Jackson and told him about us…Jackson really liked our music and said, let’s all go to Spain and play some music together. It was overwhelming to have someone whom I admired so much wanting us to tour with him as his backing band. On top of that he really dug our music and that was a trip. I am a fan of his and every time I am even around him I feel very lucky and amazed. It’s not like I just say to folks, ‘Oh yeah, come on around and this is my buddy Jackson.’ I don’t want to undervalue how special this relationship is to me and the band,” Taylor says.
No matter the talent of any rock and roll band that intangible ability to be in the right place at the right time can make or break a musical act. Dawes has hit upon some gold here and that is very precious. The songs feel like they are well travelled and the production of the two records set them up for a future in creating more works of art as they progress. Taylor may not be as prolific as someone like Ryan Adams, but the two dozen songs on these two records put him in the same company as far as quality goes.
“I just write on acoustic guitar by myself and then we arrange it as a band. I really want to make sure first that the song is good enough for me to play on its own. I don’t write a lot. When you hear about guys like Ryan Adams who write 5 songs a week, I can’t do that. That is not me. Our songs are kind of long so I don’t get them falling from the sky like some songwriters, they don’t pop out that way. Overall though, I feel like I am ahead of the game with my song writing,” he says.
There are songs here that should be heard if you like harmonies and words that make you feel. The emotions are so strong and the ability for Taylor to turn a simple phrase into a universal feeling is a gift only a few of the greats have. ‘A Little Bit Of Everything’ is one of those moments that you just have to experience for yourself but it is a song that can move you in so many ways.
“When we went into cut Nothing Is Wrong I did not have that song written. The first week we had one day off and I had some time to write before we went back in the next day and I wrote half of that song. I was thinking it would be great for the third record [but] then I finished it faster than I thought I would. Everyone thought it was cool and we should put it on the record. Now I could not imagine the album without it [but] originally it was not going to make it.”
Work it does. The song has shadows of Jackson Browne, David Lindley, and most of all, the late great Warren Zevon. There is a solo within this track that makes you think David Lindley or Waddy Wachtel has entered the studio to lay down the lick and it truly is a tip of the hat to the musicians who started this style many decades ago. This is a different time, a different world, but this is music from the heart and soul and every generation needs something that moves that part of their existence. For a band that has three of the four members still residing in their 20’s, they are living a charmed life so far in an art form that leaves many people by the wayside. Long may they run.
Dawes will be performing at Bluesfest over Easter and supporting My Morning Jacket for a couple of sideshows over that same period. Check out our chat with My Morning Jacket here.
