Dawn Tyler Watson is a Canadian blues and jazz singer.Roger Levesque, "Dawn Tyler Watson expresses her Mad Love for the blues continuum". Edmonton Journal, November 13, 2019. She is most noted for her 2019 album Mad Love, which won the Juno Award for Blues Album of the Year at the Juno Awards of 2020.Stephen Cooke, "Virtual 2020 Juno Awards includes breakthrough win for Neon Dreams". Halifax Chronicle-Herald, June 29, 2020. Born in Manchester, England, Watson immigrated to Canada with her family in childhood. Raised in Southwestern Ontario, she moved to Montreal to study jazz at Concordia University. She first began performing blues after being invited to contribute to a local compilation album of blues artists, and released her debut album Ten Dollar Dress with her band Dawn Tyler Blues Project in 2001."Dawn Tyler Blues Project: Ten Dollar Dress". Sherbrooke Record, November 9, 2001.
In 2004 she had an acting role as a jazz singer in the film Jack Paradise: Montreal by Night (Jack Paradise, Les nuits de Montréal), and performed much of the film's soundtrack.Brendan Kelly, "Jazz film's got no rhythm: Magic is missing Roy Dupuis, great score can't save flimsy story". Montreal Gazette, February 20, 2004. Over the next number of years she regularly collaborated with guitarist Paul Deslauriers,Norman Provencher, "Blues duo rocking steady: Ups and downs eased with a bit of swing". Ottawa Citizen, February 13, 2006. with whom she recorded the albums En Duo (2007)Mike Regenstreif, "Dawn Tyler Watson & Paul Deslauriers ... en duo". Montreal Gazette, April 26, 2007. and Southland (2013).Brian Kelly, "'Somebody has to take lead'". Sault Star, March 1, 2013.
In 2016 she released the solo album Jawbreaker!,Kathryn Greenaway, "Watson brings brash new sound to blues festival". Montreal Gazette, June 15, 2016. and in 2017 she won the International Blues Challenge.Peter Hendra, "'The blues chose me'; Canadian musician brings band to Kingston to headline Limestone City Blues Festival". Kingston Whig-Standard, August 24, 2017.
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