"Like Ry Cooder and Sonny Landreth, Steve Dawson wrangles slide guitars for a living."

"His guitar work recalls both Ry Cooder and Lowell George in his intricate rhythm riffs."

"Steve Dawson is a GREAT slide player, has a distinctive tenor voice and is a very gifted songwriter."

"At first listen, Solid States & Loose Ends sounds as if equal parts of Ry Cooder and Allen Tousssaint were tossed in a stew pot and seasoned with the vocal quality of Texan David Grissom, the heartfelt authenticity of Kevin Welch and the chutzpah T-Bone Burnett."

"Dawson’s assimilation of genres is both wide-ranging and seamless."

"Juno Award Winning producer, session player, multi-instrumentalist and solo artist Steve Dawson is one of the most respected artists on the Nashville music scene at present."

"It's a fully realized affair that showcases Dawson's mastery of both electric and acoustic guitar styles in the service of songs that flow easily from the blues to incorporate elements of country, soul, and gospel." 

"Whether it is the swamp rock of “Loose End,” or the fusion of soul and blues on “Final Words,” or the slide guitar virtuosity on “Monkey On My Back” and “You Got What It Takes;” it is a nice ride through the mind of a creative and mature musician."

"It’s as if Robbie Robertson suddenly warmed right up, opened up. In fact it’s the sound of Robertson’s great Storyville album if Cooder and Kottke had added their guitars and production thoughts."

"That move to the Music City has been a productive one for Dawson, producing 12 albums in the last three years from his new base of operations. It also afforded him the opportunity to work with such first-class Nashville players as the McCrary Sisters, Fats Kaplin, Mike Bub, Jim Hoke and many others."

"His tough new Solid States and Loose Ends CD makes a strong case that he deserves a place in the electric-slide-guitar pantheon alongside his idols Lowell George, Ry Cooder, and Sonny Landreth."

"It’s been three years since Dawson moved from his home in Vancouver, where he’d already earned two Juno Awards among many accolades, to Nashville, which is where he was able to build the team that made Solid States and Loose Ends."