Ham hocks, grits and collard greens, and a portal into the real blues with Dawna Rae Scammon
In the earliest days of my learning about the blues.... I was fortunate to have met and befriended Dawna Rae. One day while working in the machine shop in Cambridge Johnny bopped into work and told me that he had been hanging at the SpeakEasy the night before and met a 'chick singer' who he thought was really beautiful. [probably not the words he used] Not too long afterward Johnny and Dawna were hanging out together and as was typical in those days that meant hanging out with me, too. Dawna would tell us which shows to see and where to go to see them. When she wasn't gigging then she might join us, and to my amazement she seemed to know everybody. Charlie Musselwhite, AC Reed... it seemed to me that everybody that came through town knew who Dawna was. And it was through Dawna that I got to know Eddie Shaw and the Wolfgang. Eddie's son Vaan was especially friendly to Johnny and me, thus helping to cement my love for the blues, and to overcome whatever shyness I felt about hanging with 'the stars'.
Dawna, is special to me for many reasons. I was 18 or 19, really just getting out from under the watchful eye of my parents and starting to experience life. Dawna, on the other hand, was older than me, and had had a lot of experience in living life. She was cool, and open minded, and just knew a lot of shit. And she treated me well, always making me feel special. As quickly as she came into my life, she was gone again. She and Johnny moved in together and had a tumultuous relationship. Once that ended somehow, she was gone.
Sometime in the 1990s (I'll assume around 1997 as that's when the autographed image indicates) Dawna blew back into town after having lived in Spain and Paris. We reconnected right away, and enjoyed a few more years or hanging out. She moved to Portsmouth NH with occasional forays to New Orleans. I lost touch with Dawna around the time of Hurricane Katrina and learned in 2015 that Dawna's life sadly ended in 2013.
Regretfully I never photographed her in performance. We saw her a lot, quite often and the Blackburn Tavern in Gloucester, MA. If you walked into a venue on the night she was performing, you knew that she was the star. Her clothing always told you so, be it a short sequined dress, or a beautiful blouse. Her vocals were distinct. She could sing like Etta James; take you deep like a Billie Holiday blues, or get you moving with something catchy.
I've had a lot of big brothers in the blues, but only two big sisters, Dawna Rae and Mai Cramer. May each rest in peace forever.
Dawna, is special to me for many reasons. I was 18 or 19, really just getting out from under the watchful eye of my parents and starting to experience life. Dawna, on the other hand, was older than me, and had had a lot of experience in living life. She was cool, and open minded, and just knew a lot of shit. And she treated me well, always making me feel special. As quickly as she came into my life, she was gone again. She and Johnny moved in together and had a tumultuous relationship. Once that ended somehow, she was gone.
Sometime in the 1990s (I'll assume around 1997 as that's when the autographed image indicates) Dawna blew back into town after having lived in Spain and Paris. We reconnected right away, and enjoyed a few more years or hanging out. She moved to Portsmouth NH with occasional forays to New Orleans. I lost touch with Dawna around the time of Hurricane Katrina and learned in 2015 that Dawna's life sadly ended in 2013.
Regretfully I never photographed her in performance. We saw her a lot, quite often and the Blackburn Tavern in Gloucester, MA. If you walked into a venue on the night she was performing, you knew that she was the star. Her clothing always told you so, be it a short sequined dress, or a beautiful blouse. Her vocals were distinct. She could sing like Etta James; take you deep like a Billie Holiday blues, or get you moving with something catchy.
I've had a lot of big brothers in the blues, but only two big sisters, Dawna Rae and Mai Cramer. May each rest in peace forever.
copyright unknown: Dawna gave me this image of her.
Selfie out the window of Johnny's 1950's Chevy, myself, Dawna and Johnny
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Dawna and Johnny, Somerville, MA
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