Watson, Dawn Tyler - Canadian Blues

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Watson, Dawn Tyler

Written by Baron Bedesky

Dawn Tyler Watson is living her dream.

To say the Montreal-based singer, songwriter, musician, and actor has a lot on the go is a vast understatement. To say she is a talented performer is simply not enough. To say she is versatile and a natural at nearly everything she tries does not paint the full picture.

Theatre and film, writing, recording, touring and performing. Blues, jazz, funk, gospel, folk, rock… it's all part of the repertoire. Is it overwhelming? At times, and Dawn is loving every minute of it.

"I really believe in the opportunity that's in front of you, doing the next thing to come," she says. "I just put my foot out the door in the morning and what comes to me, and I feel is right, I do it."

So rather than sticking with what is comfortable, rather than getting intimidated by something new, rather than over-analyzing the pros and cons of a project and never getting started, Dawn merely gets out there and does it.

"My manager isn't that happy about the fact I do a billion things," she admits. "I want to experience life and this art form in all its aspects. I love to sing funk and I'm not about to stop singing funk and R and B. I love it. I love to play the few gigs that we do. I love to sing jazz, I love to belt a ballad. I love to scat. I love all that stuff and I'm happy that I'm able to do that."

So there is a weekly gig with her jazz quartet at Biddle's, the distinguished Montreal club and eatery. There are live performances with her R&B/funk unit known as The Jamm. There is musical theatre incorporating a Motown revue at another Montreal hot spot, Club Soda. There is even a film proposal on the table, something that especially appeals to Dawn given her previous acting experience.

"I hope to be doing more acting soon," she says. "It's been a while since I've done any of that. I would do it because it's a challenge and it's exciting. This is a French film so I'd have to act in French and that would be a super challenge and the role is about a jazz singer. It's going to take up some time but I also like to multi-task."

Dawn's success stems largely from her didication and years of hard work but there were also some early influences that played a substantial role in her devlopment as an artist and a performer.

She was born in England but raised in Ontario. She always loved to sing and by age five, she was already performing in church. Her family couldn't help but notice her passion and started her on her formal musical journey at an early age.

"My parents sent me to choir school when I was 10 because I was always singing around the house," she recalls. "Since I was little I was singing all the commercials on TV and I knew everything off by heart. I'm really glad they did because I learned music there."

There were the usual distractions through high school and Dawn actually got away from music for a while but the seed had been planted and eventually she decided to enroll at Concordia University where she studied jazz and acting.

"I came back as a mature student," she recalls. "That's how I got to Montreal. I came here to study. They didn't have a blues program so I studied jazz. It wasn't anything I really knew about but I didn't really want to study classical. I didn't have much of a choice, it was jazz or classical and once I got in jazz, I fell in love with it. I could have been singing Bach. Instead we sang Gershwin."

Her tenure at Concordia not only provided the technical background to better understand and appreciate music as an art form, it also served as creative inspiration. Dawn learned how much she loved to perform and that a career in the music industry was a worthy pursuit.

"You study regular music history, and you learn to read music," she says. "You learn the basics of the academic side of music. I thought it was an excellent thing to do. I'm really glad I did it but I was one of these people who got into school based on an audition, really. It wasn't because of my academic background. I got through school on my talent because I was never really a left-brain person. I am more artistic-sided than academic-sided. All my teachers liked me and I did good concerts so I got by a lot on my performances."

No doubt, Dawn has always been talented enough that she could largely rely on her musical instincts to make an impression. Armed with formal training, she gained a more thorough understanding of how to succeed in the music industry. Her theatre studies helped teach showmanship. Focusing on the history of music enhanced her versatility, an invaluable asset when it comes finding work. The fact she cannot be readily categorized is something she takes pride in.

"It's really difficult for me to label myself as an artist,"she says. "I've been playing in this blues genre for about four or five years now and I'm doing really well in that field. I love singing the blues. I think it's a very passionate music and it's very dynamic. When you start a hoochie-coochie riff, it has a power to it. It's a power that you can build and you can bring it down. It has an intensity that other music doesn't have. I find it has a lot of power, the blues, a lot of power.

"But the blues is so mixed with all that other stuff, rock, folk, funk, jazz, swing… it's all there. The blues is great for that. It's a nice melting pot for all my styles."

"It has an intensity that other music doesn't have. I find it has a lot of power, the blues, a lot of power."

The blues first emerged as a profound influence on her work in 1997. Dawn was actually approached by the people at Preservation Records during a live funk performance. They were so impressed with her talent, they asked if she would participate and provide material for a blues compilation entitled "Preservation Blues Review." Dawn recorded three songs (two of which were originals) and the experience proved to be a professional turning point. The occasion also marked the genesis of her current blues band, the Dawn Tyler Blues Project.

"We came together as a result of the studio session and we immediately started getting gigs," says Dawn. "We got the Montreal Jazz festival that summer which freaked me out because I didn't think I was, by any means, a blues singer, and here I am playing the blues stage with 8,000 fans. I thought, 'Oh my God, what have I got myself into?' They threw me up on that stage and now I'm a 'Grand Dame de Blues'."

Contrary to her worst fears, the fans responded with enthusiasm.

There have been some changes since the beginning but the current line-up in the Dawn Tyler Blues Project includes original bassist Domenic Romanelli along with guitarist Andy Dacoulis and Sam Harrison on drums.

"I adore my band," says Dawn with a great deal of conviction. "I feel so blessed to work with these musicians. They are so conscientious, committed, punctual and no-nonsense. They're talented. They're just amazing and I'm very lucky to have them. It's hard to find good musicians that don't have egos and all the little problems that go along with this industry."

The release of her first CD in 2001, Ten Dollar Dress, has not only expanded her popularity, the project also helped further her songwriting talents. Is it a blues album? Dawn doesn't really think so but that hasn't stopped blues aficionados from embracing it.

"It's been so well accepted by the blues community that I'm just amazed," she says. "I was afraid of what kind of feedback we would get from the album. It's got enough blues content to be considered a blues album. I'm happy with the way it came out because it's multi-faceted. There's swing on there, there's funk on there, there's pop ballads, there's folk ballads, there's jazz."

Critics loved the results, applauding her versatility and her voice which in one reviwer's opinion "raises this disc to the level of masterpiece. It's a supple, sultry, sexy marvel, a scintillating instrument of seductive allure."

Dawn was pleased with the effort, for the most part.

"I was 95 per cent happy," she says. "The other five per cent was just a matter of time. There were a couple of things missing because we were pressed for time to get it released for the Jazz Festival date that we did in Montreal last year. We did marathon sessions. I think we mixed the whole album in 22 hours straight."

Talk about a surreal scenario. The pressure of a deadline, the building combination of anticipation and anxiety, the inevitable state of exhaustion, none of it compared to what was taking place just outside the studio - something entirely beyond anyone's control.

"It was ridiculous," says Dawn. "There was a fire next door to the studio, a four alarm fire. I mean the building was going up in big huge clouds of smoke right next door at four in the morning and we were in the studio mixing the album. The engineer said, 'Check the windows. If they're hot, then we'll leave. If not, we're all right.' There was a crowd outside and there were fire trucks and we were mixing that album because we had that deadline and we couldn't miss it."

The payoff was worth it, and it represented a landmark in her career and her life.

"I was so I happy I cried," she said. "They brought the box of CDs just before we went up on stage at the Jazz Festival. It practically made my life. It was my first CD and it was done on time because we all worked so hard."

When you see Dawn in concert, there is a particular aspect of her show that stands out, something that complements the high calibre of the songwriting and stellar performances of her band. It's called stage presence - not necessarily a bold and charismatic presence bordering on outrageous. No, this is a subtle and sophisticated confidence that exudes class. It's an attractive woman decked out in sharp attire moving to the beat with grace and elegance. Put it all together and it turns a "gig" into a "show."

"I like to be dressed up on stage," says Dawn, knowing full well the effect it has on the crowd. "People are there to see you and you want to stand out. I'm so blessed to do what I love to do and get paid for it. This is my dream. If you're not loving what you do for a living, then, jeez, it's so sad. You're in the wrong place. You're supposed to love it.

"As for stage presence, there have been a lot of stages that have brought me to a point where I'm comfortable enough to get on stage and be myself. Studying acting at school helped me to be focus and stay within myself. The whole theatre - drama, theatrics - I love that. I mean you're on a stage so let's be dramatic. Let's not do half-measures. That's what a stage is for, to live out your fantasies and to have other people say, 'Wow!' I just think that's part of my personality."

Ask Dawn about her musical influences and which blues musicians she admires most, and her answer is nearly as varied as her musical styles.

"I would say people like Susan Tedeschi," says Dawn, running through a mental list on the fly. "Lester Quitzau - a guy from out west - I got his album and I was really impressed with it. It was so different from anything I'd heard because I come from the school of twelve-bar blues, Bessie Smith and stuff like that. So I heard Lester Quitzau's album and it was like, wow, this is cool! Ben Harper, this is cool! Look what they're doing with the blues these days. Keb' Mo', wow! Keb Mo is wicked. Plus, my influences from Aretha (Franklin) and gospel. It's so mixed.

Other Canadian artists she cites include Jimmy James, Rita Chiarelli ("Oh my God, she can sing! She's amazing, that girl), Rob Lutes, Sue Foley, Jack de Keyzer, and Jeff Healey.

If there was one trend Dawn was not on top of, it was computer technology and the Internet in particular. That is until the spring of 2001 when she finally took the on ramp to the information superhighway. She readily admits it has opened a whole new world for her.

"Since I got the Internet, my life has changed," says Dawn. "It is just incredible. I had no idea it was that big a deal. I just got my computer last spring and I said 'What? You can find anything? You can do anything? I understand it now."

Dawn admits that downloading music is a sensitive issue and that some sort of regulations are probably in order. However, she also maintains she has broadened her musical horizons simply by visiting other artists' web sites.

"It has really helped me to see all styles and to listen to what's hot because I don't really listen to the radio."

Versatility, sophistication, broadening your horizons, these are all terms that aren't typically identifiable with blues musicians. They apply to Dawn Tyler Watson, however, and when you combine these elements with an abundance of talent, a wonderful performer emerges worthy of all the success and accolades that come her way.

© Copyright 2002 Feature by Baron Bedesky.

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