Dawes: “Time Spent In Los Angeles”
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Following the dissolution of his high school band (which was called Simon Dawes) lead singer Taylor Goldsmith and his brother Griffin decided to hunker down in their native L.A. and dedicate themselves to the craft of songwriting. He soaked up that golden Southern California sound, kept the “Dawes” part of the name, and the result is a confident-sounding band ready for the spotlight.
The name Dawes refers to the Goldsmith brothers’ paternal grandfather, a longtime country music fan. Those rootsy fingerprints are all over the band’s sound, which recalls the infamous Laurel Canyon folk scene popularized by Neil Young, Crosby, Stills, & Nash, and Jackson Browne. Dawes even recorded their 2009 debut, North Hills, at producer Jonathan Wilson’s Laurel Canyon home.
But for all the sunshine in their melodies and harmonies, there’s a latent dose of darkness bubbling underneath. The four twenty-somethings that make up Dawes have been touring relentlessly the past few years, and that road weariness is apparent in their upcoming sophomore release, Nothing Is Wrong. Taylor Goldsmith writes about not truly knowing his friends or his home because he’s constantly carrying that suitcase from town to town. He pulls back the curtain on the romantic notion of the road, portraying it as a tough job just like any other.
Nothing Is Wrong comes out June 7, but in the meantime you can take a listen to “Time Spent In Los Angeles,” recorded live by Dawes in KUT’s Studio 1A.
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