The Thought Vox

Dawn Langstroth came into this world with music in her blood and paint on her hands.

Born the child of music icons: Bill Langstroth and Anne Murray, Dawn has found her own identity and musical style apart from the fame she grew up surrounded by. With the release of her first full-length album she is ready to take center stage.

Dawn’s first recording gig was singing backing vocals, with Jann Arden, on Anne Murray’s song “The Other Side” (1996). Her next trip to the studio (1999) was for a very special duet, “Let There Be Love,” with Anne Murray. In 2007, she released a self-titled EP, which landed her a gig as opening act for The Rankins. Following the release of her second EP, “No Mercy,” Dawn toured North America, sharing the stage with Marc Jordan, David Clayton-Thomas, and Anne Murray.

When I requested a one on one interview with this busy young woman she graciously found time to chat. I think you’ll all find her as lovely as I did.

Your new CD, HIGHWIRE, just dropped, has the final project turned out as you originally envisioned? Are you happy with the end result?

I had no idea what I was getting into in the beginning, to be honest. This project has been the culmination of 10 years of work. I am completely elated with how it’s turned out. It’s better than I could have ever hoped for.

Some of the songs were co-written by the likes of Ron Sexsmith, Matthew Gerrard, Christopher Ward, and other notable musicians. How did these collaborations come to be?

Probably through EMI. I have written poetry for a long time, but never really considered writing songs until I had a meeting with Bruce Allen. We went out to dinner one night after I had been doing a concert with my mother in Atlantic City to talk about the music industry and such. We lined up to get into a restaurant, but everyone in the line up had just been to the show and all wanted to talk to me, and wanted autographs. Not a good start to a business meeting. We walked the boardwalk for a bit, and the only place left that was open was Hooters. LOL… My first meeting with Bruce Allen was at Hooters. I’m never letting him live it down. As women in tiny orange bathing suit-type uniforms brought us our food, he told me that if I have already been writing poetry, that I should be writing. I took his advice, and EMI set me up to write with the songwriters that you mentioned.

The album cover is very quirky and the lead off track “No Mercy” is dark/raw. What inspired these choices?

So many people thought I was crazy to use that picture for my album cover, and maybe I am, but at least it’s definitely what I wanted, and what I feel represents me. I would have been bored with just doing what everyone else is doing. Dark and Twisted was SO much fun to write. I needed another waltz like I needed a hole in my head, but that was just going to have to be okay. I wrote it with Jon Randall and Sally Barris. I wanted Sally to do backgrounds on it, because she has such an emotion provoking quality in her voice that just makes you want to cry. The demo is priceless. It’s JR, Sally and me singing to a tape recorder on a coffee table, and it sounds like a spiritual. Did I mention that it was fun?

Did you enjoy shooting your first scripted music video?

I got to hang out in bed with Zack Taylor, for Pete’s sake, of COURSE I enjoyed it! C’mon, ask me about the time I was facebook engaged to Aaron Carter… C’mon!

Do you have a favorite track on the album? If so – Why?

Probably Dark and Twisted. I love it. It is so cathartic. When I sing that, any anxiety I have just melts away. It’s quite an empowering song. It’s like “I could totally do some horrible stuff to you, but I choose not to, cause that’s not who I am, and dreaming about it is even more fun, because you get options!”

Aside from music, you are an accomplished artist. How long have you been painting?

I’ve been doing art my whole life. My father taught me as a child how to draw realistically, and I was totally into that for a long time, until it got boring, because I just copied things that had no soul.

Your artistic style is unique and fascinating. Did the paintings just naturally flow out of you this way?

In 2003, I was living in Vancouver, and I was a little irked at having to do Christmas the same way every year, which reminded me how bored I was with my painting. I came up with a sketch of my dog, Mikey in the room where we usually celebrate Christmas, loved it, and decided to paint it. That’s how “Cubist Christmas” came about. I thought if I did something different, that nobody would like it. As it turned out, the opposite was true. Everybody seemed to enjoy it as much as I did, so I’ve painted in that style ever since.

You’ve already been commissioned to paint several original pieces and your work is only becoming more popular. Do you find it hard to balance music and art?

I do find it hard to balance everything. Releasing the album really put a hold on painting for a while. I really miss it. Initially, the plan was that when I’m not doing music, I’m doing art, and vice versa. I guess if the music thing doesn’t pan out, I can always paint…

Getting back to the music: You have several upcoming tour dates around Ontario. Are there any plans to go across Canada and possibly into the US?

I hope to get to go to the US to tour. I love the US. Especially Florida… Mmmm…. Florida….

Where would you like to be, professionally, in five years?

Continuing to work, and finding balance…

If you are not familiar with Dawn’s work, now is the time to have a listen. I highly recommend you PURCHASE a copy of Highwire and catch Dawn live when the opportunity arises!

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