Elexa Dawson presents sultry, spirited, original music with a "warm honey mixed with prairie dirt" voice. "Music is Medicine" (2019, Lost Cowgirl Records) has received international airplay and “High Place” charted at #6 on Sirius XM’s Indigenous Music Countdown.
First recognized as the founding member of Weda Skirts, two albums (Artist: The Skirts, “Many Moons” 2016, “Mother” 2018) present songs influenced by her Potawatomi heritage, nature, family, love and loss. Elexa also performs with Heyleon, a cross-pollination of established Kansas musicians. “Friends & Family” and “Fiddle Road” were both released by Elexa's burgeoning record label, Turns Out Records.
As a rural artist, Elexa values community. For twelve years, produced the Chase County Earth Day Celebration. In 2019, Elexa was awarded the Artist in Business Leadership Fellowship from First Peoples Fund and granted funding for her debut album. She performed multiple private showcases at Folk Alliance International in January of 2020, and was a delegate at the concurrent International Indigenous Music Summit. She’s on the Kansas Creative Arts Industries Commission Touring Roster. In 2020, she was awarded the Western Arts Alliance Advancing Indigenous Performance Fellowship. She serves on the Matfield Green Works Advisory Council.
History
Born on the Citizen Potawatomi Nation in 1979, Elexa's early life was filled with music. Her professional career began around Oklahoma City. She organized her first band, whose membership spanned Oklahoma and Kansas, and her new relationships and the beautiful landscape drew her closer to Chase County and the Flint Hills. She moved to Kansas in 2006, and has been active in the music community ever since.
In 2009 Weda Skirts, was formed among friends, primarily for their own enjoyment. In 2016, they released their first full-length album, "Many Moons", named for the song Elexa wrote after her experience on ancestral homelands. That album also includes "Chilocco", a song written as a historical account of her Grandmother’s experiences in residential schools. The Skirts performed at the Topeka Women's March in January of 2017. In 2018, they released "Mother", named for a song Elexa wrote about returning to the Mother Earth. The same day, she wrote "Blacksnake" as a tribute to the water protectors who were arrested at Standing Rock.
In late 2018, Elexa was awarded the Artist in Business Leadership Fellowship from First Peoples Fund and through that support was able to pursue her solo career with a concept album relating to her experience of being a Potawatomi woman removed from her ancestral homeland. Music is Medicine was recorded with Peter Oviatt of Moonflower Sounds in Taos, NM and mastered by Brody Wellman (Pretend Friend) in Wichita, KS. It features fellow Skirt, Melissa Tastove on Percussion and harmonies, Kelby Kimberlin (Dewayn Brothers) on electric and upright bass, and Peter Oviatt (The Neighbors) on banjo, mandolin and banjola.
Peter and Brody also work with Heyleon, a cross-polination of prominent Kansas songwriters and musicians who bring their "Pecan Grove Pickin" style out of the Walnut Valley Festival Campground. The core of their content is from a catalog spanning 50 years of authorship by Kansas original music trailblazer, Mike Helvey. Rachel Allai (Weda Skirts), Brandon Allai (Signal Ridge), and Bayley Kate (Ashes to Immortality) round out this powerhouse ensemble.
Elexa performs solo, with a blue folk trio, with Heyleon (Friends & Family 2020, Fiddle Road 2020) and Weda Skirts.
First recognized as the founding member of Weda Skirts, two albums (Artist: The Skirts, “Many Moons” 2016, “Mother” 2018) present songs influenced by her Potawatomi heritage, nature, family, love and loss. Elexa also performs with Heyleon, a cross-pollination of established Kansas musicians. “Friends & Family” and “Fiddle Road” were both released by Elexa's burgeoning record label, Turns Out Records.
As a rural artist, Elexa values community. For twelve years, produced the Chase County Earth Day Celebration. In 2019, Elexa was awarded the Artist in Business Leadership Fellowship from First Peoples Fund and granted funding for her debut album. She performed multiple private showcases at Folk Alliance International in January of 2020, and was a delegate at the concurrent International Indigenous Music Summit. She’s on the Kansas Creative Arts Industries Commission Touring Roster. In 2020, she was awarded the Western Arts Alliance Advancing Indigenous Performance Fellowship. She serves on the Matfield Green Works Advisory Council.
History
Born on the Citizen Potawatomi Nation in 1979, Elexa's early life was filled with music. Her professional career began around Oklahoma City. She organized her first band, whose membership spanned Oklahoma and Kansas, and her new relationships and the beautiful landscape drew her closer to Chase County and the Flint Hills. She moved to Kansas in 2006, and has been active in the music community ever since.
In 2009 Weda Skirts, was formed among friends, primarily for their own enjoyment. In 2016, they released their first full-length album, "Many Moons", named for the song Elexa wrote after her experience on ancestral homelands. That album also includes "Chilocco", a song written as a historical account of her Grandmother’s experiences in residential schools. The Skirts performed at the Topeka Women's March in January of 2017. In 2018, they released "Mother", named for a song Elexa wrote about returning to the Mother Earth. The same day, she wrote "Blacksnake" as a tribute to the water protectors who were arrested at Standing Rock.
In late 2018, Elexa was awarded the Artist in Business Leadership Fellowship from First Peoples Fund and through that support was able to pursue her solo career with a concept album relating to her experience of being a Potawatomi woman removed from her ancestral homeland. Music is Medicine was recorded with Peter Oviatt of Moonflower Sounds in Taos, NM and mastered by Brody Wellman (Pretend Friend) in Wichita, KS. It features fellow Skirt, Melissa Tastove on Percussion and harmonies, Kelby Kimberlin (Dewayn Brothers) on electric and upright bass, and Peter Oviatt (The Neighbors) on banjo, mandolin and banjola.
Peter and Brody also work with Heyleon, a cross-polination of prominent Kansas songwriters and musicians who bring their "Pecan Grove Pickin" style out of the Walnut Valley Festival Campground. The core of their content is from a catalog spanning 50 years of authorship by Kansas original music trailblazer, Mike Helvey. Rachel Allai (Weda Skirts), Brandon Allai (Signal Ridge), and Bayley Kate (Ashes to Immortality) round out this powerhouse ensemble.
Elexa performs solo, with a blue folk trio, with Heyleon (Friends & Family 2020, Fiddle Road 2020) and Weda Skirts.