It’s been a huge year for former JR Artist of the Month, Dawson Gray!
From major career milestones to hitting the road, Dawson’s 2025 has been nothing short of a breakout year. He signed his first-ever management deal, inked a booking agency contract, and landed a funded distribution deal — serious moves for the rising Canadian country artist.
He also made his country radio debut with the track ‘One’s Gonna Hurt’, marking a new chapter in his sound and storytelling — and let’s be real, when you heard it on the radio, you definitely turned those speakers up!
This September, Dawson kicked things off strong by joining Nashville star Dasha on her Canadian tour — and he’s not slowing down anytime soon. He’ll be on the road all fall with his very own Chevy Back Tour, taking his music coast to coast across Canada!
And just this past Friday, he dropped his debut EP, Chevy Back — a major milestone that’s been a long time coming.
We caught up with Dawson to get the inside scoop on the making of Chevy Back and what fans can expect next!
1. What inspired you to create this EP?
This year I turned 26, and for the first time in my life, I’ve started to feel the pressures of getting older. Things that used to seem so far away are all of the sudden at my doorstep. A few months back, I sat down and really thought about the type of songwriter, artist and person that I want to be. That process is not always linear and I wanted to create a project to represent that. From there I wrote over 50 new songs that eventually became the Chevy back EP.
2. Was there a song that came together really quickly—or one that gave you a hard time?
Chevy Back was the song that really sealed the identity of the project. Near the end of 2024 Kelowna Chevrolet sponsored us and set me up with my first truck. I wanted to write a song about it but could never get the execution of the idea right. That was until I sat down for a zoom write with Jesse Slack this past winter and within 45 minutes we had the entire song polished. It came together so fast and just felt like the perfect title track for the project.
3. What song(s) so far, are you most proud of?
My two personal favourites on the EP are “When It’s Time To Go” & “Heartstrings” are my personal favourites on the record. Both songs are solo writes and give a really strong reflection of the direction I want to take my music in. The two songs work together to address the past 3 years of my love life and the high and lows that have come with it. If I had to pick one… I’d have to side with “When It’s Time To Go” because I personally love a good breakup song to scream in the car 🙂
4. What do you want the audience to takeaway from this Chevy Back?
I want people to see a more honest side of me as an artist. My favourite part about being a musician is playing live shows. I made sure to track with a live band for this project so that people know when they come to a Dawson Gray show they are going to get what they hear on the record.
5. If you could describe your EP in one sentence, what would it be?
The “Chevy Back” EP is for anyone who likes their speakers way too loud, sun in the sky, and a few drinks on a Friday with the people they love most.
6. What’s next after this release?
We are currently on tour opening for Dasha across Canada on her first Canadian national tour. We also have 14 headline dates as part of our Chevy Back Road Show Tour from now until the end of October that we’ve booked alongside it, hitting small towns across BC and Alberta. After that we will be heading to Nashville for the month of November to get back in the studio and write some new songs for the debut album.
7. What makes country music so special to you?
Country music is special to me because of its simplicity. I’ve always admired how a great country song needs only an acoustic guitar and a vocal to captivate an audience of thousands.
Check out Dawson’s ‘Chevy Back’ EP HERE and see where you can CATCH HIM this fall!
Comments