Peter Dawson was focused on music from an early age, where he spent his junior high days singing around the Opry houses of Dallas. After attending a semester at Southern Methodist University, he decided to give Music Row a shot and applied and was accepted to Nashville's Belmont University. While attending Belmont, he also interned for a Nashville studio. He remained intent on his goal of music, finding time to write songs between his studies and his internship and with persistence, he finally recorded his first album in Nashville, 2000's Do You Don’t or Do You Do. Peter only wrote two of the album's cuts, "Willie Nelson For President" and "Change The Things I Can." "Willie Nelson..." was chosen as the album's first single, and it drew immediate attention. Radio stations across Texas began playing the song which rose to #72 on the Billboard Country Chart and #5 on the Texas Music Chart.

Peter traveled back and forth between Nashville and Texas, playing any honky tonk that would have him. He began realizing that his sound was more suited to the independent Texas music scene and focused his attention there, soon sharing the stage with names such as Jason Boland, Cross Canadian Ragweed, Pat Green and Cory Morrow, among others. He eventually settled in Austin, where he honed his songwriting skills and began finding his own sound while touring honky tonks throughout Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana.

Peter Dawson's sophomore album Live At Coupland was recorded in January of '03 at the famed Coupland Dancehall. Along with his regular drummer, Brooks Robinson, he brought along some stellar talent to help out with the show, including John Carroll (guitar) and Glenn Shankle (steel) from Cory Morrow's band, Brady Black (fiddle) from the Randy Rogers Band and  Amanda Brown (vocals). Ten of the disc's thirteen tracks were either written or co-written by Peter, and only his two self-penned songs from his debut disc are reprised here, the standouts "Willie Nelson For President" and the disc opening track, "Change The Things I Can." 

On Coupland Peter Dawson and band offers up a nicely diverse set of hell raising honky tonkers ("Willie Nelson For President," "A Love I'll Never Forget," "Blacktop Highway"), shuffles ("Change The Things I Can," "I Want To Get Loud," "Clay Pigeons," "Try"), waltzes ("No More Lies") and occasionally edgy, sometimes soaring, ballads of heartache, love and reflection ("As Big A Star," "It Ain't Texas," "Restless Spirits," "Crazy About You").

This live set spotlights one of Texas' brightest up and coming stars. Without a doubt Peter Dawson possesses some of the finest vocal chops around- powerfully strong, emotionally emotive and soulful- and his songwriting is fast catching up with his immense vocal talent. Surrounding himself with a group of ace musicians further accentuates his strengths making Live At Coupland not only one of the best live discs around, but one where he's found his direction and blows his first studio effort out of the water. 

As further proof, Coupland's final song is a studio track, "Travis County Heartbreak," a duet with Jason Boland, that proves to be the disc's highlight. With it's minimal, stark, acoustic arrangement, Peter and Jason's vocals shine, meshing together in glorious, goosebump inducing soulful perfection that leaves the listener hitting the repeat button on this one. As truly impressive as the live tracks are, "Travis County Heartbreak" leaves no doubt that Peter Dawson is one young up & comer well on his way to a long and successful career.     

Standout Tracks:  "Travis County Heartbreak," "Willie Nelson For President," "Restless Spirits," "Clay Pigeons," "No More Lies," "Change The Things I Can"

On The Net:  www.peterdawsonband.com

AnnMarie Harrington TakeCountryBack February 2004