Dawn Landes is a North Carolina-based singer-songwriter whose music you might have heard if you watch The Good Wife, House or Gossip Girl. Along with releasing seven albums and five EPs since 2005, she’s a frequent collaborator with contemporaries such as Sufjan Stevens, Norah Jones and composer Nico Muhly. She has appeared with the Boston Pops, the NYC Ballet and on the TED main stage. Her musical ROW about fellow Kentucky native Tori Murden McClure’s quest to become the first woman to row across the Atlantic Ocean premiered in 2021 at Williamstown Theatre Festival and is available on Audible. Her latest release is The Liberated Woman’s Songbook, an album of folk songs that leads us through a history of women’s activism from the 1800’s through the high times of Women’s Lib in the 1970’s. The album was produced by her longtime collaborator Josh Kaufman (Bonny Light Horseman) and features guests including Emily Frantz (Watchhouse, formerly Mandolin Orange), Kanene Pipkin (The Lone Bellow) Charly Lowry, Rissi Palmer and Lizzy Ross (Violet Bell).
Tyrone Cotton’s earliest musical revelation was listening to the raspy, inspirational voice
of his grandfather, the Reverend Cleveland Roosevelt Williams, at his childhood home
in Louisville, KY. Cotton began playing guitar along to the sounds of popular rock and
blues artists and draws inspiration for his debut album from influences such as Jerry
Garcia, Jimi Hendrix, Buddy Guy, and Mississippi John Hurt, who intrigued Tyrone with
his “ finger pickin’ and soft, wispy voice.” Cotton’s debut album, Man Like Me, is the
result of a lifelong journey of his nearly 30 years of performing in venues and as a
beacon of the Louisville music community where he continues to reside today. The
collection of songs developed over the past decade and documented on Man Like Me,
is a deeply stirring reflection of Cotton’s own experiences which explores connection,
loss, hope and resurrection, punctuated by a voice that is hauntingly evocative yet
equally warm and alluring.
The title track is a stunner: “Man Like Me” is melancholy, dark and haunting as Cotton’s
rich vocal shrouds the opening line. “I understand you’re afraid / And you don’t want to
get mixed up / With a man like me / Rumors follow me wherever I go / You better watch
your step / You might learn something you don’t want to know”. Producer Josh
Kauffman’s production throughout is impeccable in both its restraint and expanse, which
is no surprise given Kauffman’s prior production work with artists such as The National,
Bob Weir, Anais Mitchell and Josh Ritter.
His own writing is deeply personal and pulls from those influences and embodies a vast
landscape of soul, folk, blues, jazz, and rock n roll. “I’m working on new angles and
approaches to songs. I’m intrigued by the process of having a story already in place and
chiseling it into a song; looking outside but still looking in.” says Cotton.
Cotton has toured throughout the United States and overseas but it’s in his hometown
where he’s played hundreds, if not thousands of shows at clubs and festivals. He also
retains residencies at several senior living centers where his vast knowledge of
repertoire is showcased through performance every week which span 70 years of
contemporary music. Soon, Man Like Me will have its moment to join the canon of
those celebrated contemporary works
