Dawn Brothers

+ special guests

If all bands wear their musical influences on their sleeves, the Dawn Brothers go a step further and reveal themselves as the last in line on the Evolution of Music poster…the one which starts with basic Rock n’ Roll on the left, and unfurls through Pop, Soul, Funk, Blues, Country, Americana until they emerge as fully-formed Dutch Masters and launch their seventh studio album, “Cry Alone”, in 2025.

If your time is precious, take 7 hours. Just 7 hours – it’s not how long the Brothers perform, it’s at least how far you should travel to see this band. And you really should travel to see this band. The simplicity of their sophistication is what has endured throughout their career. From the rock and soul resplendence of their debut album, “Stayin’ Out Late” in 2017, still one of those albums you literally play all the way through, to 2025’s outstanding “Cry Alone”, the Swamp People of yore are still, undeniably, the hipsters to hang with.

In the past years, Dawn Brothers have toured from Hungary to South Africa, played at both North Sea Jazz and Nashville’s Americanafest, provided support for The Black Keys and the Golden Earring, and made several records with their soul mates DeWolff.

Rotterdam’s Dawn Brothers have drained the Dutch Delta in search of the melodic magic we’ve now come to expect of these soul-savants, these students-of-the-game, these chaperons and adoptive parents of all that is good and went before. With so much reverence and excellence in their songs, the Dawn Brothers are almost impossible to categorize, one minute grabbing your attention as the sweetest-sounding vocalists since the Springfield and the Byrds (“Can’t Let You In, Can’t Let You Out”), then bottling the Laurel Canyon sound with jangly, surfy perfection then wait…..there’s a “film noir”, “‘50s feel” over threatening keys and insistent bass on “Let It Bleed” and a certain Lennon-inspired Beatles feel to “Don’t You Weep” had that band reformed in 1975. Elsewhere, “Jack Of All Trades” vacillates between an urgent mod-style bass backbeat with an almost Van Halenesque chorus – and their sense of humour permeates throughout; returning library books and getting a date never sounded so much fun. Partnering up with world-renowned percussionist, Claus Tofft, infuses “Do Me Wrong” and “Live A Little”, amongst others, with an infectious drive that propels these tracks front and centre.

The Dawn Brothers knack for a good tune is never more evident than on the heart-rending and beautifully-delivered, “I Will Never Hold Your Heart Again” whilst the impossibly-uplifting “I Cry Alone” refreshingly splashes sunshine on the subject of vulnerability and will surely be a “dancey” highlight of 2025’s gigs.

Somehow, the Dawn Brothers manage to mould their many classic influences into something of greater value than the sum of its parts – that’s called genre-defining and is absolutely the best way to define this band. Want to listen to soul ? Want to dance ? Catch snippets of Petty, Dylan and Orbison ? But then marvel at how very “2025” this all sounds. That’s a genre called The Dawn Brothers. It’s “retro-projecting” at its best…the ability to take all the best-loved elements of what has ever gone before…shape them, refresh them, blend them up, sprinkle some Dawn Brothers magic sauce and throw it out there for 2025 and beyond.

The seventh album from this ridiculously talented band features a cowboy-country rock little ditty called Seven Year Itch…..travel at least seven hours to see the Dawn Brothers and you’ll be itching to check out what came before. Coming to a venue within 7 hours of wherever you are in 2025.

Bas van Holt – vocals and guitar
Rowan de Vos – vocals, piano and organ
Tammo Deuling – vocals and bass guitar
Rafael Schwiddessen – drums

https://youtu.be/w0ewYKp0MaE?si=r7YGR3ZaS-d5F-Qg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLrsM2Gnk9I