:: Background

Dawn’s current musical projects include instrumental duo Mental 99 with guitarist extraordinaire Joe Gore. She has also recently been touring with Grammy winning singer/songwriter Tracy Chapman. Other current projects include singer/songwriter Shana Morrison. Musical projects in the not too distant past have also included rock band Dolorata, multi-media project 2 Toggle, and sessions with singer/songwriters Alexis Harte, Toby Beard, and Tim Owen.

Dawn has three drum method books published by Mel Bay Publications (Building Blocks of Rock; Fill Workbook; Block Rockin’ Beats) and has appeared in feature articles in Modern Drummer and Drum! Magazines. She has also done some writing for various drumming publications along the way. Her most recent drumming publication is called Beginning Rock Drum Chart. This is an easy to read chart to help beginners of all ages get started on the drum kit utilizing both drum tab and standard notation and also includes tips on playing position and kit set-up. She also has a children’s drumming method that will be published soon.

As a member of 4 Non Blondes, Dawn received gold and platinum records for sales in the United States and abroad. She toured the world, opening for such rock legends as Aerosmith, Neil Young, Pearl Jam, and Prince and has appeared on national and international television performing live on The Dave Letterman Show, The Late Show with Conan O'Brien, MTV's Beach House, The Billboard Music Awards, and England's Top of the Pops.

Dawn has also toured and /or recorded with Erika Luckett (Birdfish Records), Lillix (Maverick Records), Penelope Houston (Normal Records), Gus (Almo Sounds), Angel Corpus Christi (Almo Sounds), The Loud Family (Alias Records), Go Go Market ((Innerstate Records/featuring Chuck Prophet)), Holly Vincent, Blame Sally, Kindness, Joe Gore, The Martinis (featuring Joey Santiago of The Pixies), and Vicki Randle (The Tonight Show).

Dawn grew up in Los Angeles and began playing the drums at the age of 13. Throughout high school and college, she played drums and percussion in all sorts of groups including rock bands, marching band, concert band, orchestra and percussion ensembles. She holds her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Percussion from Cal State Los Angeles and has studied with the principal percussionist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Raynor Carroll and with studio greats Steve Houghton and Greg Goodall. Dawn currently lives in San Francisco where she teaches and continues to perform and record with various musical projects. Dawn is endorsed by Pacific Drums, Zildjian Cymbals and Vic Firth Sticks.