Adam Dawson

Tell us a bit about the career path that led to where you are now.

I guess my career path starts as a child music nerd. I’ve never had a musically talented bone in my body, but I’ve always been able to play the stereo like it was my job. Some of my earliest childhood memories involve listening to music. As a young kid in the 80s I watched MTV as much or more than I did cartoons.

A little more to the point, around 2005 or so I started promoting shows at a dive bar in my hometown, so that I could see songwriters that I loved without driving an hour to Columbus. That led me to starting my own blog/ podcast in around 2007 (RIP BrokenJukebox.com) as a way to justify my record collection. From there I began writing for a couple other publications. A few years later, I dabbled in the art of booking shows and eventually came to doing publicity and radio promotion.

What is your favorite experience you’ve had in your career? Perhaps a musical idol you got to meet or work with? A project you were involved with promoting?

This question feels a little like when one of my kids (I have four daughters) asks me who my favorite child is. It may sound like a copout, but every day I get to wake up and go to my office to tell people about a record I’m working on without having to shave or wear a tie and that is my favorite experience in my career.

I’ve been blessed or lucky enough to work with so many amazingly talented folks over the years that it often feels like a dream. My phone book looks a lot like my record collection and that 8 year old music nerd from the 80s would never believe that to be true.

What aspect of your job gives you the most satisfaction?

This one is easy, any and every time someone gets an album or song from me and lets me know how much they love it. Whether that is by writing a review, spinning a track on a radio show, or just simply an email thanking me for sharing it with them. I’ve spent a lot of my life asking people “have you heard this” and now essentially that is what I get paid to do. As cheesy as it may sound, I really believe that songs save the world one line at a time and I am giving the opportunity to be a small part of helping a bunch of tremendous songs get to the ears of folks that may need to hear them.

What band/artist or style of music outside the realm of your college/community radio promotion would people be most intrigued to hear you love?

Hip-Hop/Rap – I would never know what to do with a hip hop album promotion wise, but at any given time I am just as likely to be listening to the first Wu-Tang Clan record as I am to the Folk/ Americana that is my favorite genre and what most of my work is tied to. Also Rza’s beats are just way easier to mow the yard to than an acoustic guitar.

What job do you think you would have if you weren’t in this industry?

I’ve worked every kind of job you can think of in my past, food industry, customer service, glass factory, and furniture sales. But, that’s the thing, they were all just jobs, this is the only “career” I’ve ever wanted or pursued. So, if this hadn’t come together or if the other shoe ever drops, I’d be doing whatever I had to keep the lights on and put beans on the shelf, so that I could get home and call someone on the phone and ask, “have you heard this?”.

Summer is here! Do you have any fun plans or a vacation scheduled (or did you do something already)? Speaking of time off, what is your dream vacation?

My wife and I made the decision very early on in our marriage that we would prioritize traveling and seeing things. Both because we love it and we want our kids to be able to have as many experiences that we can possibly give them. This summer we took the family to our favorite place in the US, Tybee Island/ Savannah GA. Then just last week my wife and I took our dream vacation. We spent a week in Peru, visiting Lima, Cuzco, Rainbow Mountain and Machu Picchu. We have a long list of places we want to visit someday, for me I think perhaps Egypt would top it.

You just won 10 million dollars. What are you going to do with it?

Cash it all out in $1 gold coins and swim in it like Scrooge McDuck… just kidding. First, I’d convince my wife to allow me to build a modern castle complete with moat and drawbridge, probably on Tybee. Next I’d start a completely non-profit record label/ artist collective and probably a music venue next door to my castle (so I could walk home from every show in 2 minutes).

After fulfilling those ridiculous dreams, I’d set up some kind of fund that pays for school children’s breakfasts and lunches. My wife is a special education teacher in a pretty low income school district and the amount of kids that only get real meals while at school astounds me and so many of them can’t afford it and often pride stops folks from applying for free lunch. So, my goal would be to provide an even ground for all the kids in as many schools like that and make sure they all get that food.

Oh, I’d also never wear a pair of socks more than once. There is no better feeling than putting on a new fresh pair of socks, they never feel the same again after that.

Entertainment Time: What is/are your current favorite TV obsession(s)? What’s a great movie (new or old) you’ve watched recently? What is your current favorite album?

My television watching is definitely as absurd as I can make it. I watch TV normally as a way to unwind and think as little as possible. I watch a lot of documentaries, the more ridiculous the better. People have time to watch movies? Oddly I often answer my wife when she asks if I want to watch a movie that I don’t want to spend two hours doing so then we proceed to watch 5 hour long episodes of some show. I guess the last thing I watched that I would highly recommend is Somebody Feed Phil on Netflix.

Current favorite album(s)…these aren’t new albums but they are my current non work obsessions (I seem to go back to comfortable old favorites). Gretchen Peters : Goodbye Cruel World, James McMurtry : Complicated Game, Eric Taylor : Hollywood Pocketknife, Tom Waits : Blue Valentine.

Do you have a favorite restaurant in town for take out or to take out-of-town guests to?

Not many people find a reason to visit Lancaster, Ohio, but if they do we actually have a pretty decent BBQ joint called Bob’s and there’s a cool little bar/ restaurant called Ale House 1890 next to my office. But, if I am having out of town guests, I think my preference would be to fire up the grill or smoker and sit on my deck with them.

You’re stranded on a desert island. What five well known people (dead or alive) would you like to have there with you?

Well, she’s not “well known” to you or the readers, but my wife Michelle is well known to me and I’ll be damned if I’m getting stranded without her. After that, Tom Waits (we’d be best friends he just doesn’t know it yet), some amazing chef (I don’t care who but I love good food), Al Michaels because he’s seen/ called so many amazing sporting events and I’d love to hear some of those stories, and Muddy Waters… because, well…Muddy Waters.