Artists To Watch: Dawne Allynne

from Asbury Park Music (www.asburymusic.com)
June 2004

Dawne Allynne is one pretty busy girl these days. In addition to a thriving career in the children's music field, she's been landing opening spots for some prominent shows in town as a rock and roller. The Long Branch-based singer-songwriter considers Asbury Park to be her base and she's been working hard to build a good following in town.

Her shows this June include sets at the Great Bamboozle at the Stone Pony, the Asbury Cafe at the Saint and an opening spot for Jeffrey Gaines at Harry's Roadhouse. Later this summer, Dawne will be performing as part of the Writers In The Raw show at Harry's Roadhouse and on stage at the Clearwater Festival.

Although her name may not be familiar, chances are you've seen her on stage before. In fact, while she looks as though she might get carded at the door, she's been playing throughout the area for some time. She slowed down her career to raise her kids and now that they're old enough (teenagers heading to college) she's ready to play out again. But the age question seems to always come up because Dawne really does look much younger than she is.

"My daughter got her belly button pierced and they said to her, 'you really can't do this without your mom here,' recalled Allynne. "And then she goes, 'well, this is my mom.' They looked at me and said, 'that's your mom?' Then they gave me a strange look. I had to give them my driver's license to prove I was her mother."

Recently, Dawne has been getting more and more good opening spots around Asbury Park. This can be partially attributed to the hard work of her manager, Bob Benjamin, who is well connected with the local music scene. It also has something to do with the fact that she blends a lot of musical styles in her show. Dawne's songs contain pieces of folk, blues and rock and roll. She says that the artists who influenced her early on include Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, and Heart.

"When I was a little girl, I was mesmerized by Joni Mitchell," said Allyne. "Her writing ability is just phenomenal - the way she can let you see a picture of what she's trying to say.

"I write from experience and I've had a lot of experience. I've had a lot of turmoil in my life - not that I'm any different than anybody else, but I've been through a lot. I have a way of trying to put it into my music and the fact that I'm older than people think throws them off. I don't think they expect me to write the way I do. It's like when you hear a 14-year-old singing about heartbreak and heartache and you think to yourself, 'how could they know? They're only 14!'"

Dawne uses her experiences to form the basis of her songs. She says that she has a tendency to write an entire song usually within a few minutes - both the lyrics and the melody. Unfortunately, inspiration for her seems to come at a rather awkward time.

"A lot of times it's just when you start to fall asleep and you go into that sort of sub consciousness," she explains. "And that's the best time because you're so relaxed and comfortable. Unfortunately, for me, what happens is that that's the best time to write songs so I have to snap out of it and quickly get out a pen and paper and start writing really fast. I can't write fast enough because the words are just pouring out of my head and sometimes they come out in a really great way so you don't want to lose that. But sometimes you never really do get it back. When you start to write a lot of really good songs it's not so bad because you're always coming up with something else. I've become a writing fiend! It's out of control!"

You can view her upcoming show schedule at her website at www.dawneallynne.com.

- Gary Wien