Dawes was formed in Los Angeles by brothers Taylor and Griffin Goldsmith, and by the time they released Nothing Is Wrong in June 2011, they had established themselves as the most compelling contemporary inheritors of the Laurel Canyon country-rock tradition: the sound of the Eagles, Jackson Browne, and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young transplanted forty years forward.
This was an explicit and thoughtful appropriation rather than accidental resemblance. The Goldsmith brothers had grown up listening to 1970s California rock and folk, and their project was partly to demonstrate that the values of that tradition (craft, emotional honesty, the integration of country and rock instruments) were still alive and worth pursuing.
The Laurel Canyon Reference
The Laurel Canyon sound of the late 1960s and early 1970s was one of the more distinctive and influential moments in American music history. The community of musicians living in the Hollywood Hills, including Joni Mitchell, the Eagles, Jackson Browne, Neil Young, and many others, developed a style that combined country instruments and harmonies with rock and folk in ways that were simultaneously personal and commercially accessible.
By 2011, this tradition was old enough to be a heritage rather than a contemporary influence, and various bands had attempted revivals with mixed results. What distinguished Dawes was the quality of the songwriting: Taylor Goldsmith was writing songs with genuine melodic and lyrical ambition that could hold their own against the tradition they referenced rather than merely imitating it.
"A Little Bit of Everything," the album's standout track, was a song about a dying man's reflections on what he loved about life, structured with a complexity of observation and a melodic resolution that were genuinely impressive for a songwriter in his mid-twenties. The song was one of the better examples of empathetic storytelling in 2011 Americana.
Production by Jonathan Wilson
Nothing Is Wrong was produced by Jonathan Wilson, a guitarist and producer who had himself positioned as a keeper of the California rock tradition. Wilson's production philosophy was explicitly retrograde: he favored analog recording, warm vintage sounds, and arrangements that honored the mid-1970s California rock template without being slavishly imitative.
This production approach served the material well. The album sounded like it had been made with genuine love for its sonic influences rather than as a commercial calculation, and the warmth of the recordings complemented Goldsmith's songwriting.
According to critical reviews of the album in publications including No Depression and Paste Magazine, Nothing Is Wrong was recognized as one of the more accomplished Americana albums of 2011, praised for both its songwriting and its production quality.
The Los Angeles Americana Scene
Dawes was part of a broader Los Angeles roots and Americana scene that was developing in the early 2010s. Bands including the Rogue Wave, Father John Misty (who had connections to the scene), and various singer-songwriters were working in territory that drew on the California folk and country rock traditions without being located geographically in Nashville or the American South.
This geographic diversity was healthy for the Americana genre. A tradition that was primarily Nashville and Appalachian was narrower than a tradition that included California, New York, and various other regional influences. The Los Angeles Americana scene contributed a specific aesthetic perspective: sunlit, slightly melancholic, sophisticated about its own nostalgia.
The Touring Foundation
Like most Americana artists of this period, Dawes built their national audience primarily through touring. Their live performances translated the warmth and craft of the studio recordings into an energetic, emotional live experience, and they became known as a strong concert band. Festival appearances (Newport Folk, AmericanaFest, various summer festivals) were important in exposing them to audiences who were discovering the genre.
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FAQ
What is the Laurel Canyon country-rock tradition that Dawes drew on? The sound developed by musicians living in the Hollywood Hills area in the late 1960s and early 1970s: a blend of country, rock, and folk influences characterized by vocal harmonies, acoustic and electric guitar interplay, and emotionally direct songwriting. Associated with Joni Mitchell, the Eagles, Jackson Browne, and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.
Who produced Nothing Is Wrong? Jonathan Wilson, a guitarist and producer who shared Dawes' commitment to the analog California rock aesthetic.
What was notable about the song "A Little Bit of Everything"? A meditation on mortality and gratitude, structured as a dying man's reflections, the song was praised for its melodic sophistication and empathetic storytelling.
Where does Dawes fit in the Los Angeles Americana scene? They were among the most prominent members of an early 2010s Los Angeles roots and Americana community that drew on California folk and country rock traditions, contributing a specific sunlit, nostalgically sophisticated aesthetic to the broader Americana genre.
Was Nothing Is Wrong commercially successful? The album received strong critical reception and built Dawes' national profile significantly, though commercial success was measured in the independent Americana terms of touring growth and press attention rather than mainstream chart performance.
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