All On Me - Devin Dawson
We head back to Nashville for our next LCM featured artist Country Rock & Soul singer songwriter Devin Dawson. Warner Music Nashville / Atlantic Records artist Devin is not your typical country artist. His look is dark and bold. His sound is sleek and raw. He has a knack for writing razor sharp stories that cut straight to the heart, full of detail and clever turns of phrase. And his songs speak the language of a new generation. Dawson is an edgy study in contrast, poised as the next bolt of lightning to hit country’s family tree. Dawson released a handful of songs on Spotify earlier in March from his debut full-length, due to be released later this year. Our LCM #TrackOfTheDay is Devin's recently released debut single 'All On Me' with received almost two million plays in its first two weeks. We like this one at lot at LCM HQ and can't wait to hear some more of Devin's music.
His approach to music is not different on purpose, it’s different with purpose. The twenty-eight years old from Orangevale, California, grew up just outside the gates of Folsom Prison. He heard the sirens at night and sang along to Johnny Cash, Alan Jackson, Marvin Gaye and Creedence Clearwater Revival. Arriving in Nashville in 2012, he put his unique skills to use authoring songs for other artists. When it came time to put together his own debut album, he teamed with equally daring producer Jay Joyce (Eric Church, Little Big Town, Brothers Osborne). Having co-written every track, the result is a mix of organic roots and high-voltage country, full of romance and delivered with a distinctive saw-toothed vocal. As he gets ready to join Maren Morris’ Hero Tour this year, Dawson is already establishing a reputation in Nashville as an exciting modern singer-songwriter.
"I learned how to write songs just by listening to country music and how to set up words. The weight of the words we have in this genre is unlike anything. We have the ability to let people in on certain things. Just the culture of songwriting in country music is what I grew up analyzing without even realizing it. [My music] might have more of a soul sonic identity with a little bit of rock, but with more of the honesty and vulnerability of a country lyric. I couldn't do what I do with any other genre because I'm such a stickler for words."