LISTEN: Dawn Landes, “Dear Heart”

Artist: Dawn Landes
Hometown: Louisville, Kentucky
Song: “Dear Heart”
Album: ROW
Release Date: October 2, 2020
Label: CropDuster/AWAL

Editor’s Note: Landes’ new album offers songs from her anticipated new musical, ROW, which tells the true story of Tori Murden McClure, the first woman to row solo across the Atlantic Ocean. Landes wrote all the music and lyrics for ROW, while playwright Daniel Goldstein wrote the book, based on McClure’s autobiography, A Pearl in the Storm.

In Their Words: “‘Dear Heart’ was one of the first songs I wrote for this project. My collaborator Danny Goldstein (book-writer) and I met with Tori to ask permission to adapt her story into a musical. As a complete stranger, it was a nerve-racking experience to sing this song about one of the darker moments in her memoir, to her face. Something must’ve rang true, because she said ‘Yes!’ Getting to sing this song and tell some of her story at TED a few years ago was one of my most memorable experiences on stage.” — Dawn Landes

Photo credit: Shannon Kelly