Stowite makes return to music with new recording

Check out this article that ran in Record Publishing papers this weekend.

Stowite makes return to music with new recording

by April Helms

Special Products Editor

The last few years have taken Andy Dolson, musician and Stow resident, on paths he had not anticipated.

When last Dolson talked with Record Publishing Co. in 2005, he had just returned from Nashville after recording his first professional release. He kept up with music, writing songs and participating in a band for about a year, until “we parted ways” in 2007. Dolson said he decided to concentrate on school. After he graduated, he landed a full-time job, which he stayed in for seven months.

“I really didn’t do much at all with my music,” Dolson said.

In the next year, he started working part time so he could concentrate more on writing music, and working on recording a new release.

“Where I’m at now, I’m definitely OK with,” Dolson said. “But it was an unexpected road for me.”

Fans of Dolson’s music may say he’s back on track, with a new five-song release, “The Last Thing You Want,” which will be showcased April 24 at Musica, 51 E. Market St. in Akron. The event starts at 8 p.m. For details, call Musica at 330-374-1114, or visit http://dolsonmusic.com online. Those attending the Musica launch will get the recording for free; it also will be available through Dolson’s Web site.

Dolson, 24, said he also has been working with Kent-based band, The Speedbumps, including going on a two-week tour with them in January.

“We’ve always known each other,” Dolson said. “We moved in the same circles, but we had never worked together. We recently decided to start a record label to help connect the great music that we keep hearing with the network that we’ve built over the years.”

Half of his latest CD was recorded in his basement, and the other half in Tennessee, Dolson said.

“I think I’ve developed a lot as a songwriter,” he said. “I was able to bring more experience into making this CD.”

The music on “The Last Thing You Want” has “more of a piano rock feel,” Dolson said.

“I think I’m settling into more piano keyboard-driven music, just because it’s been the songs that I enjoy performing the most,” Dolson said. “I feel like that might begin to define the sound of Dolson, but I want to be adaptable. I’d rather let the songs dictate the style and not vice-versa, but that’s some of the freedom I have with not having a permanent band, which won’t always be the case.

“Music has a unique way of communicating emotions at a deeper level more naturally than most other media. When you read a great poem, or look at a beautiful painting the meaning sometimes can take a lot of work for the observer. People connect with music naturally. They hear it and it evokes emotions that they may not have been to experience on their own. Great music can have a profound impact on people’s lives. Songs become mile markers in our lives. We listen to different music when we want to feel uplifted, or we just want to be melancholy. A great song has the ability to draw people in universally and connect them with a common experience, yet they still can make it their own. I hope to make music that draws something deeper out of people that they didn’t know was there.. . .and just have a good time.”

Dolson said his favorite song on the new CD was “Can’t Keep on Running.”

“It’s an older song I wrote,” Dolson said. “When I first wrote it, it was more of a pop song. I changed it around, adjusted the beat and it took on a whole different sound. It’s a lot darker.”

What has been invaluable to his recordings, and his music career, have been the contacts and friends he has made in Tennessee, Dolson said.

“I’m lucky to have the friends I have in Nashville,” Dolson said. “Especially with the budget I’ve had.”

Dolson said that he hopes to continue working with The Speedbumps and Erik Urycki on their label, LETA, and to start performing at colleges. He added that he would like to move to Tennessee, but “right now, that’s not practical.”

Ultimately, Dolson said he would like to make music “a self-sufficient career.”

“That is a viable goal,” he said.

E-mail: ahelms@recordpub.com

Phone: 330-688-0088 ext. 3153

You can view the article on it’s original site here.