Dawson Cowals

The music of Dawson Cowals has been described as "Dave Matthews sings Rich Mullins," and it is this combination of driving acoustic rhythms, falsetto vocals, and poignant lyrics that have caught and held the ears of his many listeners. As Sue Braiden of CBC Radio described it: And it is this shiny soul that Dawson allows us a glimpse of through his heartfelt lyrics. However, in listening you will find that he is not afraid to humbly display some of the tarnish and rough edges as in Stubborn Man: Where he laments his mistakes and the need to learn a lesson the hard way again and again. This kind of self-examination is sorely lacking from today's collection of cotton candy pop, which promises sweet fulfillment but leaves one empty with nothing but fluff. Dawson's refreshing approach of taking an honest look in the mirror gives one pause to reflect on one's own motivations. He opens a brief window into the journey of his life and shares his sorrows and struggles as well as his hopes and joys. His introspective lyrics are woven through modern folk-rock licks with a blend of soft jazz, funk, and acoustic noodlin' that challenges the ear and the tapping foot to keep up. And the mind isn't forgotten on the side of the road to fend for itself. Borrowing often nearly word for word from scripture Dawson's lyrics cover a wide range of topics from James' admonishment to tame the tongue in "Sticks and Stones" to a parallel drawn from Mark 5 about the man in the tombs and how we all need to find ourselves "Broken" before God. His songs focus on topics relevant to both Christians and non-Christians alike; ministering to believers and holding out the truth and hope of the gospel to those who so desperately need to hear it. If you are tired of the same old, dried-up, relationship angst that is always tearing others down, be prepared for some soul searching and a refreshing glimpse of truth. Zach Garland offers this summary, calling Dawson's music:

I have always loved music and been musically inclined playing piano by ear and playing flute in wind ensemble and marching band starting when I was 12. Between my mom rocking me to sleep to John Denver and my father playing acoustic guitar around me when I was a baby, perhaps it is no wonder that sometime in my Junior year of high school I finally picked up the guitar. Soon afterwards my good friend Kelly Graham and I began leading worship for our small home fellowship on Sundays and occasionaly helping out at high school Bible studies in our home town of Grants Pass, Oregon. During this time I wrote the first of what would turn out to be many songs, some intended to be worshipful and others with more of a message in them. In the fall of I went away to college at Oregon State University and this is when my songwriting began to pick up as God laid a burden on my heart to share with others in song the scriptures through which he'd been speaking to me. The first song I wrote at OSU was "Abba Father", while sitting alone up in my empty room and feeling a call to speak to those who feel alone and abandoned as orphans. Over the next several years I led worship for the First Baptist college group Campus Ambassadors, and helped occasionaly with Campus Crusade and the Calvary Chapel campus Bible study. I also started a Friday night Praise and Prayer in roving living rooms where we'd pack as many as possible to pray for the campus and sing praise on a night when most were out partying. During this time I wrote and shared many of the worship songs that would later come out on the "Inhabit Our Praises" CD. I continued to share some of the songs I was writing on Sundays at church and the occasional coffee house. The first offical gig that I had with a band was on , at Milam Auditorium at OSU where we opened for the band "Thread" (now known as "Wide Awake"), under the name of "Sewing Machine Leg". Playing with me was our drummer Beth Lyall, on bass Ernie Parashis, and on electric guitar my good friend Aaron Koch who later became my roommate before getting married and going on to play in the NFL with the Titans and the Jaguars for a few years. This was a short-lived group and after the gig I moved on to doing more solo acoustic performances at churches and coffee shops. By I had written over 100 songs and God opened the door for me to be able to do some professional recording through AppleSeed Studio at Applegate Christian Fellowship just outside of Jacksonville, Oregon. On I did a live interview with Web Staunton for the show "Stay Tuned" on their radio station, KAPL 1300 AM. The interview was interspersed with some of the recordings we had been doing that month and some live performances as well. Things began to snowball at this point and at the end of I was invited to do a live concert at the Solid Rock Cafe in Ruch, Oregon along with my good friend Kelly Graham who backed me up on congas and additional guitars. On , I released my first studio album, , on Applegate Fellowship's AppleSeed Records label. This was a collection of 13 songs including "Abba Father", "Nuthin' Funny 'Bout That", and "Without You". I was joined on the album by the incredible musical talents of the two studio engineers Jim Sitter and Demian Norvell who filled in the additional parts. Then on , I was back out at the Solid Rock Cafe with Kelly Graham again to share some of these newly released songs. This was an amazing time for me as the doors were thrown wide and I was able to spend every possible weekend down at the studio recording the backlog of over 100 songs that I had written while at OSU. Most singers and bands take years between albums, but as I already had enough material for several we kept rolling them out. On , we released the second full-length studio album entitled, , which contained 12 new songs like "Pride", "Pray" and the wedding song "Your Face", that I had written for Aaron Koch and his wife. Although I had enough songs written at this point to keep busy in the studio for a few years I wasn't sitting back and waiting for all of the old material to get recorded before continuing to write more. So we soon released a 6-song EP that featured some of the new material written since the last release. was released on , and included the much requested songs "Green", "Tree", and "I'm Not That Strong". Two months later we had finished enough new tracks for another full-length release and made some new mixes of some of the songs that had previously been on the EP. was released on , and included such new songs as the silly "Lazy Laundry Day", and the Russian Gypsys Dance feel of "Pain" along with 10 other tracks to make a full 12 song CD. A few days later on , I was back out at the Solid Rock Cafe performing material from the recently released CD as well as some of my original Christmas carols that we had been working on in the studio. In , after having released 4 CDs the previous year I slowed down a little and mostly spent time playing at church and coffee shops, finding the odd weekend to drive the 3 hours down to the studio. I opened for Zach Vestnys and his band, "Thru the Roof", up in Salem, Oregon on , and performed my song, "The Vow", on at my friend Jeff and Rhonda's wedding. Then on we had finally recorded enough of my worship songs to release a full-length worship CD entitled, . This CD included songs that I had been singing during the previous 10 years at small groups and college Bible studies. Friends who had joined me in our evenings of Praise and Prayer at OSU were happy to finally have a copy of the songs "Most High", "Ruler of My Heart" and the favorite from Matthew 11:28-30, "Come Unto Me". This CD featured 12 other songs, many of which came directly from various Psalms and other passages in scripture, for a grand total of 15 tracks with over an hour of original praise and worship. I spent the next few months in the studio wrapping up the recording of the remaining tracks slated for my first Christmas album. On , we released , and it met with instant success. At the time the title track, "Born Is The King", was available for download on MP3.com and was downloaded more than 40,000 times in a few weeks to bring it to the overall ranking on the site out of the more than 1 million songs available. It was beat out at the time by, of all things, a newly released Madonna single. This CD included new arrangements of classics like "We Three Kings", "Silent Night", and "Away In A Manger", plus several originals like "Born Is The King", "When Jesus Was Born", and "Sweet Baby Jesus". On Christmas Eve I participated in our church's celebration by sharing one of the songs from the CD, "Room In This Inn". We were at the Reed Opera House in downtown Salem, Oregon, and it was beautifully decorated with candles and had a very family-room feel despite the several hundred people in attendance. I was honored and blessed to be able to share in this celebration. began as a bit of a slow year with me mostly spending time in the studio wrapping up remaining tracks for the CD. I was able to have several guest musicians join me on this project including my old friend Aaron Koch on electric guitar, Lorn Dunn on some acoustic guitar parts, Sonny Nicholson from high school with her amazing background vocals, and some friends from the OSU Marching Band who drove all the way down to the studio to help me lay down some horn and sax parts. In and I put in a few more concerts down at the Solid Rock Cafe bookending the next release on , of the all acoustic CD, . This CD included several brand new songs that no one had heard yet, as well as a few unplugged versions of songs that had full-band versions slated for the CD. Tracks included "Stubborn Man", "Sticks and Stones", "Down In A Ditch" and "Shoelaces". Finally on , the official release of the 2 year studio project occured. Applegate Christian Fellowship had sponsored this project on their AppleSeed Records label and the CD was manufactured at the Sony plant here in Oregon. I sang "Broken" at the morning service out in the amphitheatre, and 5 more songs in the afternoon, followed by "No Need to Worry" at the evening service. It was very encouraging to meet a lot of people who had been listening to my music over their radio station down there, but had not had a chance to see or hear me live yet. A big thank you to everyone who made me feel so welcome down at Applegate. In and of I had several more concerts spread throughout Oregon from in Portland to out on the coast to in The Dalles. I once again finished off the year by sharing some special Christmas music at our annual church celebration in Salem and participated in the choir as well. In I started a new job and was too busy to pursue much with my music, but I managed to fit a few concerts in with just me on solo guitar at in Corvallis, Oregon. Then on I was asked to come and perform at the in Vancouver, Washington. I had a three-piece band with me for this outdoor event including Casey Murphy on the bass and Larry London, a local virtuoso and

I play frequently at the Solid Rock Cafe, a coffee house in Southern Oregon, as well as various venues in Corvallis and Salem. So far I've done these gigs by myself on acoustic guitar, with a friend sitting in on congas or additional guitar work. Playing live gives me a chance to get feedback from people who have enjoyed the songs, or were able to relate and connect to something I might have been saying. If you don't play live you are definitely missing out on a great opportunity to reach people and impact their lives.

I'm sure you've heard people drop names like hot potatoes in forums like this, but everyone who has listened to my music agrees that these influences are readily apparent. My sound is heavily charged with the falsetto hooks and acoustic guitar driven sounds of Dave Matthews. Occasionally some of my softer influences like Sarah McLachlan or John Mayer shine through in some melody and vocal parts. Other groups that have inspired or just grabbed me with their great sounds include: Stephen Curtis Chapman, Shaded Red, White Heart, PFR, Caedmon's Call, Phil Keaggy, Bryan Duncan, Iona, Out of the Grey, Burlap to Cashmere, Small Town Poets, Jars of Clay, more than I can list...