A Northumbrian singer/songwriter with a flair for shambolic psych-folk and exploratory rock,
Richard Dawson became a fixture in the underground folk scene with his distinctive blend of traditional English folk music, Sacred Harp-kissed North Country blues, jazzy psych-folk, and progressive rock. He flirted with mainstream success on the acclaimed outings
Nothing Important (2014) and
Peasant (2017) and teamed up with Finnish experimental rockers
Circle on 2021's nature-themed art rock opus
Henki.
Based out of the industrial Tyneside region of Northern England,
Richard Dawson's eclectic style has drawn comparisons to other singular artists like Jandek,
Mike Waterson,
John Martyn,
Bonnie "Prince" Billy,
Adem,
Skip Spence, and
Robert Wyatt.
Dawson issued his first recording, Richard Dawson Sings Songs and Plays Guitar, in 2007 before bursting out of the Newcastle experimental scene in 2012 with the critically acclaimed
The Magic Bridge. Released in 2013,
The Glass Trunk found
Dawson offering up a largely a cappella set of six songs inspired by a month spent sifting through the tattered documents of his local Tyne and Wear history museum, and 2014's well-received
Nothing Important was his first outing for Weird World Records.
Dawson released his second album for Weird World in 2017;
Peasant was inspired by tales of life in the Middle Ages, and based on his research on the history of North East England.
Dawson's music took a more contemporary approach on 2019's
2020, which was dominated by rock-influenced arrangements and songs that focused on people's struggles to understand life in an increasingly unpredictable world. He continued to operate in the rock realm on 2021's driving, flora-themed
Henki, which saw him collaborating with shape-shifting Finnish art rockers
Circle. ~ James Christopher Monger