Dawn Landes is a relative newcomer to the Piedmont of North Carolina but is already making a mark.
In 2023 Dawn created a show for PineCone’s Down Home Concert Series based on the classic 1970s book “The Liberated Woman’s Songbook.” She said, “The songs spoke to me then and lately they’ve been speaking a little louder.”
The show features a full band with guest singers Alice Gerrard, Emily Frantz (from Watchhouse), Rissi Palmer, Charly Lowry, Kamara Thomas and Lizzy Ross (from Violet Bell). Together the ensemble will reimagine some of the songs included in the songbook that was published in the height of the Women’s Liberation Movement.
“It’s an honor to get to work with this group of women. I mean, Alice Gerrard is an inspiration! She’s 88 and still writing and touring and making her voice heard,” said Dawn on stage while opening the Steel Wheels concert. “I’m excited that Emily Frantz from Watchhouse is going to sing with us too, she’s a force. Add Rissi, Kamara, Charly and Lizzy… that’s a lot of power on one stage. It’s going to be something special.”
Shortly after PineCone’s premiere of “The Liberated Woman’s Songbook” the Newport Folk Festival booked Dawn to perform the material at the 2023 festival.
Dawn is a prolific songwriter. She has released five full-length albums including “ROW,” a record based on the musical that tells the story of Tori Murden McClure, the first American woman to row solo across the Atlantic Ocean.
Dawn’s songs have appeared in film and TV shows including The Good Wife, Bored to Death, Skins, House, Gossip Girl and United States of Tara.
In addition to her solo work, Dawn was a member of Sufjan Stevens’ touring band. She’s also performed with Jose Gonzalez, Andrew Bird, Suzanne Vega, Ray Lamontagne, Feist and The Steel Wheels (in the 2023 Down Home Concert Season opener).
She lives outside Chapel Hill with her husband Creighton Irons, a composer and songwriter, and their children.
