GARETH DAWKINS SINGLE RELEASE – ‘MY LITTLE MAN’
By Steve 'Habibi' Kelk
Alice Springs artist Gareth Dawkins is nothing if not versatile. This genre-hopping troubadour has a body of work ranging from hard-core punk to country rock, with some metal, folk and hip-hop into the mix for good measure. Whether as a bassist/guitarist in a band or as a soloist, Gareth pretty much can do it all. He has suffered the usual ups-and-downs of being a working musician, losing and finding love along the way and writing the occasional piece here and there from his experiences. Now that he is a father, he has found fresh inspiration to produce a remarkable single, ‘My Little Man’.
Sweet vocals sung from the heart, acoustic guitar with soft bass and backup vocals from his wife Karolina Dawkins make ‘My Little Man’ a truly personal song written from the very personal experience of childbirth and new parenthood which, as any parent will tell you, fundamentally changes one’s outlook on life. Says Gareth:
‘My Little Man’ was written for my son the day after he was born. I picked up my guitar while I was waiting for a ride to the hospital and wrote everything I was feeling in that moment. A few months later in the studio my wife and I recorded our vocals while holding our son.
If that doesn’t get you all choked-up and clucky, then nothing will. They say that inspiration is where you find it, and find it he did in the recent birth of his first child. ‘My Little Man’ is a song of joy and hope for the future, of a man who has found who he is supposed to be through giving life to someone else – it really is true that it is better to give than to receive.
Gareth has written the music and played all instruments on this recording. He has done so subtly – there are no big riffs or power chords, there is no need – the music is a device to carry his poetry and message across to the listener. No need either for flashy vocal gymnastics – Gareth’s sublime voice barely gets out of first gear because this song is not a race, it is a gentle stroll in the park, looking at the wonderment of the world through the freshly-minted eyes of a new dad.
We very much look forward to whichever direction Gareth goes in his next musical endeavour but, for the moment at least, it seems that he and Karolina will have their hands full. No doubt Gareth will find further inspiration from the adventures that lay ahead.
‘My Little Man’, expertly recorded, mixed and produced by Ross Muir, is available for streaming or downloading via Bandcamp here: https://garethdawkins.bandcamp.com/releases
Cover photography by Jasmine Hull
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