Follow The Journey Of Christy Dawn
© 2019 Christy Dawn • Terms of Service
Story and Interview by Chasity Glass
Christy reached out to me on Instagram and was so kind in her message. She said she loved my music and wanted to send me a dress. I had been following the Christy Dawn fashion line for a while and was delighted to receive such a wonderful gift, the Valeria Dress. Christy Dawn has created a world that you want to soak into, with beautiful dresses you want to wear.
[Big laugh] I am a songwriter, a singer-songwriter, what I create is folk music. I’m drawn to simple 60s or 70s music. Music that is lyric driven, with simple arrangements, letting the voice and lyrics be the center of it.
[Long pause.] I’m going to open some wine while I talk to you.
The first album was just a few songs that I wanted to record. I went into the studio for fun. Over time I became surer of myself and my vision. My work evolved as I began to trust my intuition. The second album I recorded with my full band, and most of those takes were live, in-studio. It was a bigger sound. After that, I wanted to go back to something that was more sparse and intimate. I had written these songs that were very much my own story, rather than inspired by someone else’s (like many of my older songs - although those stories were inevitably guises for exploring my own feelings and experiences) The songs on this album are about my own life, my struggles and what I was going through at the time. I very much wanted it to feel intimate and honest and as though someone was sitting in my living room with me and hearing my story.
Yes. Absolutely. My work has evolved as I’ve been more comfortable looking inward. As an artist, I felt it took a while for me to be confident enough to let down my guard. These songs I wouldn’t have written about six years ago.
I went to Joshua Tree with my husband and sat in a room for a month and wrote most of the songs; it was cathartic to go back to those sentiments with more understanding and compassion for my younger self. It was as if I was reminiscing with an old friend.
I feel like such a newbie (after two years). We moved to Los Angeles when I was seven months pregnant, so it was only two months before we had a child. Everything changed at once. In a lot of ways, it has been such an incredible transition because it’s easier to raise a child here with more space and nature. And, creatively people are very open to collaborating. The city has embraced us, and we are constantly discovering new areas to explore.
I can be more still in the moment. Though, if I had a little more time outside of raising a toddler, I’d be more creative [big laugh], being a parent my creativity hours are limited. Though, I make sure to take a few hours each day to sit and write and play music. It helps me to not procrastinate knowing I have limited time.
Before I had such tunnel vision, focused on my music. Now I find myself crafting and doing other things creatively. I find it liberating to do something creatively when you’re not attached to whether it’s good or not.
[Long pause.] My husband and I, as we negotiate parenting, we make sure to give each other time for ourselves to tackle the things we want to work on, or simply go for a walk.
That is something my husband says all the time.
It doesn’t matter if you’re super successful according to normal social standards. It matters that your day to day life is beautiful and an adventure and that you’re striving and growing and staying engaged. For us, our art is working toward something that is… true. Did you ever watch that Springsteen documentary? [Noises, big laugh. Husband’s voice heard in the background reciting the quote.] “More than rich, more than famous, more than happy even… I wanted to be great.” But, I want to be happy too. For us, a life well-lived is working toward something that you feel in your heart is true and great.
When we got back from Joshua Tree, I found out I was pregnant. The song Last Night in My Dream is snippets of our time in the desert together and then the feelings of being excited and terrified at the same moment. It’s recounting the conversations of feelings, and what a life well-lived might mean now.
Melaena Cadiz will be playing on Saturday July 15th at 8 pm, helping celebrate the opening of the Christy Dawn factory in downtown Los Angeles. If you’d like to hear Melaena and celebrate with Christy and our team, please RSVP to RSVP@ChristyDawn.com