Bonnie Dobson and Friends
Ben Crosland on bass and Ben Phillipson on guitar
The Harwich Festival is proud to announce a special performance by Canadian folk singer Bonnie Dobson.
Her extraordinary career spans seven decades and shows no signs of slowing down.
At 15, her Uncle Paul smuggled her into a jazz club in Toronto, where she heard Jimmy Rushing for the first time — sparking a lifelong love of the blues. As a teen, she began performing French-Canadian, American, English, and Slavic folk songs at school.
In 1960, while babysitting for folk concert agent Marty Bochner, she was introduced to Sonny Terry and Brownie McGee’s agent. That led to opening for the blues legends, a recording contract with Prestige, and a busy schedule of gigs across North America.
In 1961, after viewing the apocalyptic film On The Beach, Bonnie wrote her first song — Morning Dew — an anti-war anthem that became a global folk standard. It has been covered by The Grateful Dead, The Allman Brothers, Jeff Beck, Lulu, Robert Plant, and many more.
Bonnie has shared the stage with blues legends including Reverend Gary Davis, John Lee Hooker, Buddy Guy, Mississippi John Hurt, and Big Joe Williams. She was friends with Bob Dylan and witnessed an early Simon & Garfunkel performance — then known as Tom and Jerry.
In 1969, she relocated from Canada to London. After a successful radio series and touring career, she stepped away from music in the late ’80s and became an academic — until a 2007 return at Jarvis Cocker’s Meltdown Festival reignited her performing life.
In 2013, she sang Morning Dew at the Bert Jansch Memorial Concert at the Royal Festival Hall, joined by Robert Plant, Danny Thompson, and Bernard Butler. Her 2014 album Walk Me Out in the Morning Dew (Hornbeam Records) featured Ben Paley, Ben Phillipson, and BJ Cole.
In 2018, she was inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame, presented by her old friend Gordon Lightfoot — 57 years after debuting Morning Dew at the first Mariposa Folk Festival.
Recently, she recorded new work with The Hanging Stars, a British band channelling cosmic Americana and the sounds of The Byrds and The Flying Burrito Brothers. The album, Dreams, is due for release on July 11, followed by tour dates in the UK and Sweden.
At the Harwich Arts Centre, Bonnie Dobson will be accompanied by long-time friends:
– Ben Crosland (jazz bassist), a Harwich Festival favourite who previously performed Ray Davies arrangements and with his jazz trio Threeway
– Ben Phillipson (folk guitarist), a member of psychedelic folk rock band The Eighteenth Day of May, whose influences include Fairport Convention, The Incredible String Band, and Steeleye Span
Location
Harwich Arts & Heritage Centre, CO12 4AH
