Richard Dawson

Richard Michael Dawson (born 24 May 1981) is an English progressive folk singer-songwriter from Newcastle upon Tyne. He writes narrative-based folk songs with experimental structures, and has received acclaim for his storytelling capabilities, emotional depth and sense of humour. Alongside his solo career, Dawson is also a member of the experimental pop band Hen Ogledd (alongside Rhodri Davies, Dawn Bothwell and Sally Pilkington), and he has released electronic music under the name Eye Balls.

To date, Dawson has released nine solo studio albums. His 2014 album, Nothing Important, was released by Weird World and was met with critical acclaim. Between 2017 and 2022, Dawson released a loose trilogy of albums – Peasant (2017), 2020 (2019), and The Ruby Cord (2022) – each set within the past, present and future, respectively. The albums received widespread critical acclaim, with The Quietus naming Peasant as their album of the year in 2017.

In 2021, Dawson released Henki, a collaborative album with the Finnish band Circle, which was lyrically influenced by "botanists and plants." The Guardian named it a "botanical rock classic." Dawson released his eighth studio album, End of the Middle, on February 14, 2025, with the album's lyrical content focusing on "several generations of one family, and how patterns of behaviour repeat across them."