Steve Dawson
CD Launch #2

Acclaimed musician/producer/songwriter Steve Dawson has released two new albums in 2008: Waiting For The Lights To Come Up and now Telescope.

"I decided to record two albums at once this year. It wasn't what I set out to do originally. I was getting ready to make a record that would feature a new batch of songs that I had been writing, but at the same time, I was learning the pedal steel guitar, and had been writing ensemble-based music that would feature that instrument."

Rather than waiting and recording them separately, Dawson decided to put together a crack band and spend a few days in the studio getting the majority of both albums done at once. The idea was to create two completely different projects that tied together sonically and that shared a similar energy. "I thought it would be interesting to have them both done in the same space at the same time, and by the same people."

The second album in the series, Telescope, is an all-instrumental release written primarily on, and based around the pedal steel guitar. Steve set out to create music that was a showcase for the voice of the pedal steel, a complex form of slide guitar with a series of foot pedals and knee levers that raise or lower the pitches of the individual 10 strings. The result is a beautifully unique instrumental album that emphasizes melody and interplay, displaying healthy doses of both structure and improvisation.

Telescope is a unique page in the career of Steve Dawson, and a refreshing blast of spirited and inspired rootsjazz-pop-improv that stands on its own in the landscape of Canadian music. In Steve's own words: "...I feel like we accomplished the goal of making something unique and compelling that also takes the pedal steel guitar out of its comfort zone."

This show will also be recorded by CBC Canada Live.

Websites: www.blackhenmusic.com, www.myspace.com/stevedawson05