Wanderlust
Deep in the red dirt country hills of Oklahoma, Elexa Dawson and Stanley Hotel built a spaceship. Described as “a soul-stirring journey through earth and sky,” Wanderlust contains songs that beckon the listener to sojourn through passages formerly unexplored. From the first song’s expedition to the outer limits of the human experience to the last guided meditation, delivering a message from the ancestors, this album is an epic quest worthy of your best traveling shoes. Each song is a stop on the tour, gathering sweet sentiments of loneliness, love, connection, and completion.
Released February 2nd of 2024, Wanderlust debuted at #11 on the Folk Alliance International Chart in January. "Lot of Life" also charted as song of the month.
Praise for Wanderlust:
“Elexa Dawson brings a singular, authentic voice to American music. Songs that speak to joys of living and celebrate connection with others and the world at large. A refreshing voice and vision.”
Jedd Beaudoin, Strange Currency, KMUW
“Elexa Dawson’s vocal quality cuts right to the soul with a sound that is equal parts unique and nostalgic. This collaboration is magic, and every song has a beautiful and expansive feel. This record is truly refreshing and keeps you captivated from the first track to the last.”
Raye Zaragoza
Elexa Dawson
Elexa Dawson is a practitioner of the soul.
Hailing from her Potawatomi and Cherokee country home in Oklahoma and now living in Kansas, Dawson's honey-dirt vocal quality shines through her work with Weda Skirts and Heyleon, and her 2019 debut album "Music is Medicine". Elexa’s 2024 album, “Wanderlust”, co-created with Okie indie-rockers Stanley Hotel, soared to the top of the charts with its soul-stirring journey across time, presenting ancestral channelings with an invigorating Americana soundscape.
In 2022, Elexa founded Good Way Gardens, a land-based arts organization bringing Indigenous values to suburban landscapes, featuring a seasonal concert series in Emporia, KS.
Co-Founder: Weda Skirts, Heyleon
Founder: Good Way Gardens, Turns Out Records
Recent Associations & Recognitions
Kansas Touring Roster Artist
Vice President, Folk Alliance Region Midwest
Board of Directors, Music to Life
2024 Mid-America Arts Alliance Interchange Fellow
2024 Mid-America Arts Alliance Artist Leadership Fellow
2023-2024 Music to Life Musician Changemaker Accelerator
2022 Native American Music Awards Best Country Recording, “Music is Medicine”
2022 & 2019 First Peoples Fund Fellow
2021 - 2024 Western Arts Alliance Advancing Indigenous Performance Native Launchpad Artist
2021 Walnut Valley Festival New Song Showcase Winner (“New Song”, “Glad We Came”)
2020 Western Arts Alliance Advancing Indigenous Performance Fellow
Elexa is on Patreon
“I've been writing songs for over 20 years, and as I develop new material, it's important to me to get feedback from my community. This is a space where those who believe in the work I'm doing are able to directly support and connect with new material before it's released.”
