Chicago-based musician and songwriter Steve Dawson has released “Time To Let Some Light In,” the first single from his upcoming new album, Ghosts. The release is accompanied by a video. The album arrives on June 7th, 2024 on Chicago label Pravda Records on CD, 12” LP vinyl, digital download and on streaming platforms.

Steve Dawson is well-known for Alternative Country band Dolly Varden, and his new album presents “reasons to believe” whether that’s “in music, in human connections, in desert vistas.” All the while, it also faces the ghosts of the past.

Dawson comments:

I’m very aware the opening song says, ‘The past is gone,’ and then the rest of the album digs through the past. It was a conscious decision that reflects how it works for me (and others, I assume) where you decide to move on but ghosts from the past keep showing up. 

He continues about the album and collaboration:

My last album was pretty much all me. It was recorded and mixed mostly during the pandemic – I played all the instruments and sang all the parts (except for Diane on one and my friend Alton [Smith] playing keys on one song). So for this album I wanted to NOT do that. I wanted to play a ‘dream band’ of amazing Chicago musicians I’ve worked with over the last 15 years or so.

Collaborators include drummer Gerald Dowd and bassist John Abbey. Vocal harmonies are added by friends Nora O’Connor, Ingrid Graudins (who passed away unexpectedly shortly after that recording), and Diane Christiansen, his wife and artistic confidante of 35 years. 

The ensemble also includes Alton Smith on piano, Chris Greene on saxophone, and trumpeter John Moore. Chicago musician Brian Wilkie contributes the pedal steel.