Dawson Reigns first emerged on the international stage half a decade ago with the rock drive of Enjoy The Ride. The Canadian songsmith returned after an extended break with the irrepressible single 'Love Was All You' before playing a handful of intimate UK shows. He's currently out on a UK-wide tour, showcasing his rock country sound, and is about to release the single 'The Night Ain't Even Over Yet'. Musos' caught up with him for a wee natter before he hit the road.  

MG: Hi Dawson! You're about to head out on a tour of the UK [22nd - 31st March]. Are you excited?

DR: I’m very excited to be back on my next UK tour so early in 2017. The UK is a major part of my touring so expect to see me a couple times each year going forward. Having country rockers like The Rising and BCMA Male Artist of the Year, Gary Quinn, joining the tour definitely takes the show up a few notches. It’s gonna be a full night of music that any country music fan will enjoy!

MG: What is it about performing in the UK that you enjoy?

DR: I love everything about the UK! I love the people, the cities, the food and the pubs! My one living grandfather is from Sheffield, so growing up I heard about his years in England and the history of the country and, yes, the food. Roast beef, potatoes, yorkshire pudding and meat pies were a regular for me growing up. As a performer I appreciate how welcomed the UK country music fans, UK country artists, radio and the media have made me feel. You don’t know what to expect until you get here and do your thing and it’s been great from the start! I plan on being back a couple times every year.

MG: You are a Canadian based in Nashville creating a cross-genre sound. What are your ambitions?

DR: I’ve had my career plans and goals set for some time now and have been checking them off over the past six years. Moving to Nashville was a big one and really the first major step in my career path. Writing with top industry writers, working with top producers and creating the business relationships I have now that allowed me to open my own independent label, Hit Maker Entertainment, are the foundations for my career and where I want it to go. Now it’s about touring as many
countries around the world annually, like the UK, and starting to establish myself back in the US as an artist to watch for years to come.

MG: Your debut single, 'Love Was All You', got a great radio response in the UK. Did you anticipate it's success?

DR: My team and I knew we had a great single with 'Love Was All You' coming out of the studio to launch with last summer. We had some good pre-release response from radio and other industry people that gave us some confidence with it. But to see radio, media and fans react the way they did in the UK has been great! The song is still being played in the UK and around the world so we think we made the right choice in leading with it off my new EP.

MG: We hear you have another single up your sleeve. Tell us about it…

DR: Another single is coming to radio real soon! It’s one that I wrote with one of the co-writers on 'Love Was All You'. It’s another high tempo, good feel, relationship story that we’re just as excited to release as we were with the first single. Definitely a good song coming outta the winter months into the spring and summer to get everyone feeling good!

MG: They are both lifted from your eponymous EP. How did you piece
together that body of work?

DR: Well along with getting Hit Maker Entertainment up and running, planning for this EP has been in the works for a couple years. Although I’ve been a little quiet on the live show side of things up until the 'Love Was All You' release last summer, I’ve been writing a lot with some of the very best writers in Nashville for this project. Also, I’ve sitting in publishing houses listening to songs being pitched to me for it as well. So you end up having dozens of songs iou’ve written and just as many collected songs from top writers in town. Then it comes down to putting the best songs on the CD or EP, be it your own or ones you collected. I think we did that with the six songs we selected for my EP.

MG: You have written a couple of the songs on the EP. How important is it for you to write your own work?

DR: I feel it’s becoming more and more important to me, and to many artists, that you have your own written songs on your projects. The songs have to mean something to me to be on my CD/EP and the more of my songs are included the more they are coming from my thoughts, my experiences or my wants. The
songs still have to be great to make it on the CD/EP, you aren’t doing yourself or your fans any favours by not putting on the best music you have be. I was
told long ago that you always put the best songs on your CD/EP even if that means fewer of your own. My goal is to keep writing with these hit song writers and every great song will be mine on the next CD/EP.

MG: When interpreting the words of others, what is your approach?

DR: I don’t really have an approach to be honest. I think you listen to a song and you either connect with it or you don’t. This is what we as artists are trying to do with our fans too. We put out music we love and we hope that they can connect with the song both musically and lyrically. So as an artist if I’m looking to collect songs for a project, I’m doing the same. It has to sound good musically to give me a feel for the song but lyrically I need to connect with it or I won’t cut it.

MG: The tour sees you team up with The Rising and Gary Quinn, which is a real cross-continental line-up. How did it come together?

DR: I’ve very excited to have The Rising and Gary Quinn on this tour. My team and I had a list of artists that we really felt would be good to join up with for this tour. We had talks with artists in Australia, the Netherlands, Italy, US and, of course, the UK. We had talked to The Rising back in October about working together so they were on our list right off the top. They have a country rock fell like me so we knew it would be a good fit. As for Gary Quinn, I got to meet Gary last October at my Gullivers show in Manchester. He was good enough to play in the line up for that show for me. Not that I need to say it cause the UK country fans already know, but he is a very talented singer/songwriter and artist that I really enjoyed listening too. Having these two great acts, along with additional local acts from
each city we’re playing in over the tour, is gonna be a full night of great music that any country music fan will enjoy!

MG: Will we see any collaboration between bands on the road?

DR: You might! This sorta thing happens quite regularly with touring acts. You have a lot of down time hanging out and it’s always something fun
to do. So we might pick a cover song or two that we all like and put on an extra little show for everyone.

MG: Lastly, if you could achieve on thing in 2017, what would it be?

DR: As far as the UK goes, I really hope to connect with people and reach more country music fans through my live shows, my social media sites and through radio.
I really hope to continue to see the radio support grow for my music. The UK is going to be an important part of my career and like I said earlier I plan on being back a couple times or more every year now.

*** 

Dawson is currently on tour in the UK and still has a number of dates to go before his final gig at The Garage in London on the March 31. To check out the full tour schedule and to purchase tickets for the shows, check out his website. 

I caught up with drummer Eric Baconstrip (good grief!), from sizzling sausage 'n' roll garage goons King Salami & The Cumberland Three. Through the wonders of modern technology I ask such deep and meaningful questions such as 'has it really all gone a bit chicken oriental since last years appearance on BBC4's 'UK's Best Part-Time Band?'. We also take a wee trip down memory lane to the best garage club ever, and generally talk shop.

Debbie: Earth calling Eric ...

Eric: Debbie!! I just arrived I’m all ears or eyes.

D: You've been together as a band for 10 years, is that right? How did you meet and what have been the biggest changes over the years?

E: Yep we started in 2006, with this same line-up. I was in a punk rock band with Kamikaze UT the bass player before that, called CHINESE LUNGS, and when our singer Jasper left to go to live in Berlin to do a band with King Khan (the Black Jaspers), we thought "let's do a new band, some sixties garage Back from the Grave style!". My flatmate at the time T-Bone Sanchez said he played guitar so we went jamming on some old covers, and that's how it started.

D: Okay, so were you into garage beforehand, or was that a new discovery for you?

E: We had a few songs going and at some point we needed a singer, and I thought about this crazy guy that can dance great and dresses like Huggy Bear in Starsky & Hutch, I knew him from the Wild Weekend festival, so I thought let's try him, if he can sing a little bit that could work. We all always liked all sorts of music, but mainly punk! Sixties punk, seventies punk!

D: Aha! I was going to ask if you were a Frat Shack regular? 

E: Ha ha! Debbie those were the days! I moved to London in '96, and I met Josh & Babz straight away, and started playing in a band with Josh, so we played a few Frat Shack parties ...

D: Interesting! What was the band called? I probably saw you play ...

E: Josh & Babz, who were doing the Frat Shack...as you know. It was a big mess, called first the Potato Heads, and later the Sidekicks. We even played in Scotland once. Drove all the way from London for one only gig in Aberdeen and back! 

D: Oh my giddy goodness!

E: That's us in Aberdeen.. 

D: So how do you feel the 'scene' is faring these days? After the Frat Shack / Wild Weekend stopped there seemed to be a lull. 

E: From my point of view, here in North London, I think things got quiet after the Frat Shack, but recently, since the last few years it looks like there are many more interesting bands and more venues/clubs.

D: Agreed. Dirty Water Records have certainly rocketed.

D: How do you feel the reaction has been from your regular fan base since your appearance on TV (which I have to admit I haven't seen)?

E: Since the TV show, things have changed! My local fishmonger recognised me after seeing the show, he didn't know I was in the band, which he loved, so now I got free fish every now & then!

D: Really? 

E: Really!!

D: Ha-ha!

E: And it's great fish! And I love fish, so that's all good! And also, we have a few more people at the shows, but that is secondary.

D: Do you find that you're open to a wider audience now that you have an agent?

E: Oh, you know our secrets! This mysterious agent offered us to book a few UK shows after he saw the TV show. We never used anyone before, and we thought we would give it a go and see how it goes. So the tour started at the beginning of March and ends the 1st of April.

D: I did notice that the tour was mainly weekend dates.

E: And our problem is that we all have full time jobs, and only a few weekends available for gigs each month, and we have lots of offers in Europe, like Spain, Italy etc. so we are more tempted to take those ... no offence to the lovely UK people.

D: Which festivals  are you playing this year?

E: We have been booked for a few already. In the UK, I think only one so far, the Red Rooster festival, in Euston Hall. We have some in Canada in June,

one in Croatia end of June, the great Sjock festival in Belgium in July ... 

D: Excellent, so is it safe to say that this has been your busiest year?

E: ... A few Spanish festivals in the July & August, and some in Switzerland and Portugal.

D: Okay, you're just showing off now! 

E: Ha ha ha!!! Actually it’s not really different this year, we are very lucky because we have been busy like that for years.

D: Are these all 'garage' type festivals?

E: Most of them, but not only. Some are eclectic festivals, which we really enjoy as opposed to play with similar type of bands all the time.

D: Yes, it must be a breath of fresh air I imagine!

E: We love garage festivals but it’s great to see something else

D: Yes exactly. So ... anything on the horizon recording wise?

E: We just finished a new album!  

D: Excellent. Is that on Dirty Water Records?

E: Yes, Dirty Water for Europe, Off The Hip in Australia, and Disk Union in Japan, and we started writing a few songs for the next album. But we will release an EP with Folc Records soon. Our new album is called Goin' Back To Wurstville, recorded at Gizzard studios in East London, produced by us and Ed Deegan, Gizzard's owner (and Holly Golightly's guitar player). Recorded and mixed over 4 weekends in mid 2016, mastered by Mike Mariconda (Crypt Records producer).

D: Impressive. Okay, final question, just for fun, if you could be in any band, past or present, who would it be?

E: That's a hard one Debbie, I would have liked to play in the Nipple Erectors back in the days and many other bands I guess.

D: As a drummer? or do you play other instruments?

E: In The Kids (Belgian band), in The Sonics, DMZ ... I can only (hardly) play drums.

D: Well who's being modest!

E: Peter Greenberg (The Lyres) plays on one song on our new album! The legend!!

D: Aah, doesn't he play with Barrence Whitfield these days?

E: Yep, that's him. I would have liked to play in the Lyres too then and The Fleshtones back in the day and The Cramps and 2 million times more ... but I'll stop here. Also Barrence Whitfield is a huge influence on us. I love the 1st two albums, and I wish I could have seen them at that time. 

Merci, arigatou and huge thanks to Eric for taking the time out to chat with us. You can catch King Salami And The Cumberland Three tonight at the Think Tank in Newcastle, details here, supported by the no-less-than-legendary Los Coyote Men! An after sausage party will also take place just along the road, with (on a very tight) budget rockers The Moron-O-Phonics, high-class lo-fi girls in the garage Thee Girl Fridays and surfin' birds from outer-space (via Japan) The X Ray Cat Trio. Music 'till 3am, spun by the infamous Jim Spence. Details here.    

Coro Fire release their first EP Once A Chore on Friday. The two-piece band from Perth, Australia consists of long-time friends Nick Cook on guitar/lead vocals and Adam Scott on drums. Once A Chore consists of four tracks drawing influences from a large variety of musical genres and bands. The EP was recorded over three months by Nick at his home studio in Perth, and mixed/mastered by Shane White, a close friend of his and an experienced audio engineer.

The duo began jamming together in 2015 after becoming inspired seeing a band at a live music event in Brisbane. Their first songs were written on a couple of acoustic guitars before Adam transitioned to drums and purchased a kit. In early 2016, the two settled on their band name, and Nick began writing and recording demos under Coro Fire.

Since releasing their first track ‘West End’ to the internet in September, the duo has been working hard on their debut EP. Nick and Adam rarely break from writing and recording new material. They each have their own unique approach to song writing, which when combined proves to be very effective chemistry.

Skyping across the globe, the first thing Musos’ Guide notices is Nick’s avatar, “What’s with Ainsley Harriott?” The pair are close friends and rib each other constantly, “Go on Nick,” needles Adam, “Everyone wants to know!”. “I’m a massive fan of Ainsley.” insists Nick, “He’s a great chef. He’s a great inspiration for me. I hope that didn’t mislead you, I’m not really a good looking black man”.  “We’re going to write a song about him down the track” adds Adam.

The chemistry between them is obvious, “We’re long-time mates. We met when I first moved to The Gold Coast in Western Australia when I was about ten. We’re 23 now so it’s been a while. We went to school together. After that we went and did our own thing. We caught up and went to see a band, we got really inspired. We’ve always been very musically minded. I played guitar for as long as I can remember. We initially were going to do a two guitar thing but then Adam said “How about I transition to drums?", and bought a drum kit.” It wasn’t that long ago either so it’s pretty impressive, what he’s done. So we became a two-piece band about a year ago.”

Adam hadn’t even played drums up until then. “Not until about this time last year. I only moved over to Perth about a month and a half ago. We never had time to practice together. We were on opposite sides of the country. So I decided to make a move and we’ve been practicing non-stop to get our set tight”.

“We had written a couple of songs that are in our current set list”, Nick takes up the backstory, “The style changed quite a bit when we decided to become a two piece because obviously the original idea was that me and Adam would both be on guitar and have another bass player and drummer. It took a long time, a lot of experimenting, to get the sound right. We use two amps; a bass amp and a guitar amp. I split my signal between both. The bass amp takes care of the low frequencies and the guitar does its regular job. We kick the bass amp on and off with a pedal so we can bring it in and out. When it kicks in it makes this massive sound. We were really pleased when we got it to work.”

You can really feel the two amps on their recent single, ‘AMD Cramp’ (more information here). “We haven’t played that live yet. We will be playing it in a few weeks and we’re looking forward to seeing how it goes. It’s gonna be sick. It’s gonna sound awesome, I think.” The two-piece set up is increasingly popular, with the likes of The Bonnevilles and Royal Blood doing it. “They’re a big influence. We’re both massive fans of Royal Blood, and DZ Death Rays from Brisbane. They’ve the same sort of set up but they use guitar where Royal Blood use the bass. It’s the same fundamental principle at the end of the day”.

Neither of them have history in bands but both have played solo, to varying degrees of exposure. “I play acoustic solo gigs playing covers”, says Nick, “So I have that behind me but, in terms of playing with a band, it was a totally new field for both of us but we're really enjoying it and having a mad time at the moment. Just gigging as much as we can.” For Adam, it’s a baptism of fire, playing live on a new instrument, “The first time was quite nerve wracking. There were quite a few people at those gigs. Apart from that, the only time I'd played live was playing some nice Beatles covers in front of mums and dads.”

They’ll be gigging a lot more now with Once A Chore coming out on Friday. They’ve two singles out already. It’s been a productive year for them. “It’s gone really quick. The two singles are on there; ‘West End’ and ‘AMD Cramp’. They’re two very different songs. ‘West End’ was written when I went to visit Adam in Brisbane. We spent a lot of time in the West End and got inspired for the riff while walking around and we went home and recorded it. ‘AMD Cramp’ was one of the original demos that I wrote a year ago. There are two other songs. One is awesome and catchy. The last one is quite heavy. It’s a dark sort of song. We’ll see what people think. We're looking forward to getting the response and getting feedback on it.”

“The EP is out on Friday. It’s on Spotify and iTunes. Go ahead and stream it. I hope anyone who sees this will pick it up and listen to it from start to finish. It’s meant to be a journey that it takes you on. I love nothing more than sitting down with a brew and listening to an album from start to finish. I love a long album. We'll do that eventually. We've enough songs for an album now but one step at a time.”

Released recently through Heavenly Records, Duke Garwood’s most recent record Garden Of Ashes is his most heavenly yet (sorry). Carrying on his career-long tradition of gritty narratives and bone-shaking instrumentals, it’s pure music for the soul, and your bones will shake in the emotion way not the “OH MY BASS!” way.

To coincidence with that release, and Garwood’s recent stint around the UK, we popped over some questions and he proved the answers. We hope that the below provides you with enough information to entice you into this Londoner’s discography, and you can get lost in the wonder from there, enjoy:

Musos’ Guide: Now onto your sixth solo album, 'Garden of Ashes' sounds to be the most "accessible" record yet in terms of tone alone, in that your characteristic gruff sound is at an all time low, was this an intentional move or natural evolution?

Duke Garwood: I couldn't say exactly. It just happened this way. We guided the songs. If anything I can say I am harder on myself to create beautiful things. But I do let the songs live free. If they don't cut it. Out they go.

MG: In terms of evolution musically, which artists would you said have been most influential throughout your career, and which newer acts have had a significant effect (if any)?

DG: John Lee Hooker, Jimi Hendrix, John Coltrane, Minutemen, Tim Buckley, Charles Mingus, Eric Dolphy, Giuseppi Logan, Dmitri Shostakovich and Ennio Morricone. New acts would be Kreol Lovecall, Smoke Fairies, John J Presley, Lyenn, and Cactus Truck.

MG: As with your entire back catalogue, 'Garden of Ashes' effortlessly bridges across various genres, is this an intention of yours or simply a fortunate product of your musical prowess?

DG: You are very kind. It's a natural thing. The intention is always to make an album that entertains the mind, body and soul. Songs can make their own.

MG: You've guested on a number of records across the years, were any of those particularly memorable, and do you have any other compositions in the pipeline?

DG: Composing is always going on, I have had very good times recording with the Archie Bronson Outfit, and cutting tracks for Mark Lanegan. I particularly liked doing the horns for his new record, and the guitar for 'Bleeding Muddy Water'.

MG: Despite the less "gruff" nature of the new record, the vocal performance is as striking as always, do you view this as one of your musical strengths, and just any instrument in the repertoire?

DG: These days as my fingers get stiff in the icy weather, I see my voice as being one of my strengths. I like singing more and more as time goes by.

MG: Looking forward to the future, what are your goals and aspirations for the year ahead and beyond, and what hopes do you have for life beyond music?

DG: World peace of course. Make more good music. Beyond music I want to grow vegetables and fruits of exotic kinds.

MG: How would you describe your live shows, and how do they compare to the music on record, and which shows hold a particular place in your memory?

DG: I play every show like it's the last. My band is beautiful. Live is now. Records are an artefact to enjoy in your chosen comfort zone. The show in Privatclub, Berlin on the 19th February 2017 was a high point for energy and beauty.

MG: With the artwork of the record, why was that particular portrait chosen, and why was it chosen to be present in black and white, assuming there was a reason?

DG: It is a plate photograph taken in the old way. There is only one. It's real. The method reveals the subject.

MG: Finally, what are your favourite games (be it board, video, card or whatever) to play, and why?

DG: Gin rummy.

Weren’t those answers short and sweet? If you’d like to get to know Mr. Garwood a little better, you can catch him on tour with Mark Lanegan this summer (dates below). Additionally, you can watch and listen to the video for ‘Cold Blooded’ from that new record too, to get more of an audible feel for the man’s earthy sound (at the very bottom).

JUNE

19th – Library, Birmingham, UK
20th – The Garage, Glasgow, UK
21st – Ritz, Manchester, UK
22nd – Koko, London, UK
25th – Live Music Hall, Cologne, Germany
26th – Gruenspan, Hamburg, Germany
27th – Gibson, Frankfurt, Germany
28th – Zeche, Bochum, Germany
29th – Rock Werchter, Werchter, Belgium

JULY

1st – Effenaar, Eindhoven, Netherlands
4th – Wizemann, Stuttgart, Germany
5th – Rockhouse, Salzburg, Austria
6th – A38, Budapest, Hungary