Elexa Dawson - coming home

A Chandler native is coming back to her roots to share the elements of her music.

Citizen Potawatomie Tribal member and Chandler graduate, Elexa Dawson will be in concert at the Manvel Avenue Coffee Co. Friday, Jan. 31 starting at 6 p.m.

Dawson’s album, Music is Medicine, released in December of 2019 through Lost Cowgirl Records.

“It’s a seven track album, which was the intent,” she said.

“I wanted to write seven songs that were a reflection on my research and growth of being a Pottawatomie Woman in today’s society.”

Dawson has been writing songs for 20 years as a hobby and creative outlet. She said the album came as a result of her wanting to start a solo career.

“This was my step into doing music as a career and being a professional songwriter and entertainer,” she said.

Dawson will be touring in Oklahoma, New Mexico and Colorado.

Dawson organized the band The Skirts in 2009. They released two albums, Many Moons in 2016 and Mother in 2018.

Dawson said she has had a strong support system who have been by her side throughout her touring experience.

“The album itself has done really well and has been played all over the country and in Canada and will be on in Australia soon,” she said. “It’s getting international play and I’m really happy with the way that it’s being received.”

Dawson said music something she always knew she wanted to do.

Before leaving high school, Dawson had professional training and performance experience due to her Nana, Mary Roberts, and Granny, Carole Dutton, taking her to lessons or helping her get ready for the stage.

“I’ve always had that as a core part of who I am,”she said. “It’s been a part of my life, my whole life. The experience of turning it into a career has been challenging, but it’s ultimately what I’m on this earth to do.”

When she was 20 years old and a young mother, Dawson’s grandparents introduced her to the Winfield Bluegrass Festival in Winfield, Kansas, which helped her discover the music is what she wanted to do with her life.

“It took me a long time to figure out that I wasn’t like everyone else and that I have this gift and I needed to find my own voice and my own way of expressing my voice,” she said.

Dawson is a mother of two daughters.