Dawn Richard & Spencer Zahn

APPEARING: BROOKLYN MARATHON @ National Sawdust

Saturday, January 11, 2025

Dawn Richard treats Louisiana Creole culture, New Orleans bounce, and Southern Swag as elemental, allowing Dawn to weave in and out of house, footwork, R&B, and more. As she says, “I am the genre.”

As a founding member of Danity Kane, and later with Diddy’s Dirty Money, Dawn was able to explore the ins and outs of commercial pop music. As a solo artist, she opted to self-release her music. Over the span of five critically acclaimed full-length albums, Dawn has made the message clear that she will not bow down or bend to industry norms.

“You never see women appreciated as producers and artists alike—especially Black women in the electronic space. The time is now for us to start recognizing their talent, not only in electronic music but in all genres. I wanna be the reason why a young Black girl from the South can be whoever she wants to be musically, visually, and artistically.”

The music of multi-instrumentalist Spencer Zahn is marked by openness: spacious sonic landscapes, rich with contributions from his creative community. Born in Massachusetts, Zahn started playing the bass at age 12. Since moving to New York in the mid-2000s, he has worked as a touring musician, performing live with a range of acts across the genre spectrum. Zahn’s career as a solo artist began later, around the same time he started playing with like-minded guitarist Dave Harrington, in 2015.