Dawn Fest Backyard Concert Series: 2023 Edition

An evening built around music, connection, and community

On February 23, 2023, MEK Initiative welcomed dozens of guests to the Lawson home in Mobile for the inaugural Dawn Fest Backyard Concert Series.

The idea was simple: create a space where talented local artists could share their work, people could discover something new, and everyone could spend an evening together around good music.

As the sun went down and the backyard lights came on, Britain Lord and Isiah Holmes opened the evening, followed by Ian Dooley and headliner Stephen Sylvester.

Dawn Fest wasn't meant to feel like a traditional concert venue. The backyard setting kept things personal. Artists and guests shared the same space, conversations happened between performances, and music became the reason for people to gather.

Britain Lord & Isiah Holmes

Britain Lord and Isiah Holmes opened with a combination of vocals and saxophone, performing songs including Rihanna's Stay and Calum Scott's You Are the Reason.

Their performance set the tone for what Dawn Fest was intended to be: talented people sharing what they love in an environment where the distance between performer and audience almost disappeared.

 

Ian Dooley

Ian Dooley took the stage next, bringing blues and jazz influences to the backyard with performances that included Cream's Outside Woman Blues, Cover Me Up, and the Allman Brothers' Whipping Post.

There You Are Media helped capture the performance on video, preserving a piece of an evening that otherwise existed for only a few hours.

 

Stephen Sylvester: A Night of Originals and Fan Favorites:

Headlining the night was Stephen Sylvester, an artist whose talent has earned him a coveted golden ticket to American Idol. Stephen closed the evening with a combination of familiar music and original songs, including Home to Alabama.

His set also included I Promise You and Happy Endings, two original songs that had been recognized as semifinalists in the 2022 American Songwriter Contest.

 

 

More than a concert

Music brought everyone into the backyard, but gathering people together was just as important as what happened on stage.

A raffle, supported by MEK Initiative and friends at Zephyr's Market, added another element to the evening, while Nicholas Merch of There You Are Media helped capture performances and preserve some of the moments that made the night memorable.

Dawn Fest brought artists, friends, collaborators, and guests together in one place for an experiment in what could happen when creativity, hospitality, and community shared the same space.

Looking back, it also represented an early expression of something that continues to shape MEK today:

Create something meaningful. Bring people together. Give people a reason to encounter one another.