If you wander into any bar in New York City with a backroom-turned-stage on any given night, you’re almost guaranteed to find pure, unrestricted talent. The city is brimming with young hopefuls looking to perform in front of what many consider one of the most challenging audiences to win over. However, I’ve found that most of the crowds in these small, dimly-lit rooms are warm and vibrant. Most of us bask in the presence of an undiscovered artist, so we quickly bond over our passion for attending these covert performances.  

The crowd for the undiscovered artists arrived again at Baby’s All Right on a late-August Sunday night, where Jillian Dawn was the headlining performer, with Annie Leppert and Chloe Southern opening. Dawn happens to be my backdoor neighbor at my summer house in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, so I’ve known of her singing for a few years. This summer, I sat down with her to discuss her upcoming performances, new music she’s been preparing to release, and all the ups and downs of becoming a musician. 

Jillian Dawn’s most recent song, “Fender Bender,” explores the uphill battle of creating the person you want to become. She mentioned that she wrote the song after a show that had been scheduled for six months was shut down after just a month. 

“It was the first time since my freshman year of college that really made me stop and think about what I was doing and what I wanted,” she said, “I had such a good month on the show, I had a taste of what I really wanted, but it was completely gone so quickly.”

Dawn often turns to music as a form of therapy, so when the show was canceled, she grabbed her guitar and started to play. The first few lines of “Fender Bender” were just a “stream of consciousness,” a simple explanation of her sacrifices so far.

I made all the right moves
I've put in the time
And I've poured it on the pages
Changed my address line

Dawn’s voice leads the track and is backed only by a guitar melody, allowing listeners to focus on the vulnerability she infuses into her lyrics. Her ability to lean into her true emotions and process them throughout the song organically connects her with listeners. The first half of the chorus expands on the verse, laying out the crux of the message, 

It's like you're just around the corner
From where you want to be
And the light turns red with no yellow
You brake before you breathe

In the second half, Dawn incorporates the initial references to a fender bender, highlighting that insurmountable incidents are just part of becoming who you want to be. 

And you're bracing for the impact
You cry and then you scream
But it's just a fender bender
On the journey to the dream

As powerful as these lyrics are, Dawn said the full song came together in under an hour. It was recorded in Brooklyn at one of her friend’s apartments. 

“You can hear the rustle of the city in the background of the track. There are trucks and kids screaming, which really adds to the New York effect,” she said.

Dawn has spent a fair amount of time in New York City performing and visiting friends. In 2022, she performed at Frndly Fest, hosted by Pianos on the Lower East Side. She also said she’s headlined at the Mercury Lounge, another staple East Village bar backroom-turned-stage.   

After writing “Fender Bender,” Dawn was contacted in May 2023 by a casting producer for American Idol. She explained that the audition process differs from how it appears on TV. The show requires a lot of behind-the-scenes auditions and castings, so Dawn did not get a chance to audition until November of the same year. She mentioned her mindset going into it was, “If it happens, great; if not, it’s still okay.” 

There was no need to leave room for rejection this time because Dawn achieved her dream and received a golden ticket from the judges. The show requires contestants to keep the good news under wraps for quite a while because the TV premiere aired in February 2024. After months of waiting, Dawn made the news of her ticket to Hollywood public via an Instagram post on March 24, 2024.

The caption explained that her audition was not aired on television, but she did, in fact, get a golden ticket and make it to Hollywood Week. On Idol, Hollywood Week is a non-aired series of competitions that includes all participants who received golden tickets. The objective is to eliminate participants down to a select number of contestants who will perform live. 

Unfortunately, Dawn did get cut during Hollywood Week. On her Instagram, she called it “the biggest cut in American Idol history. ” 

“Although it’s a bummer my time was cut short & my performances weren’t aired, I am so grateful for the experience & for the amazing people I met along the way.” the post from March 31 announcing her departure from the show said. 

In my final moments with Jillian Dawn, I asked her about my favorite song of hers, a 2019 single called “Matty.” The track follows a childhood crush that develops into a present-day situationship. The opening lines introduce a girl tracing the changes she’s noticed in Matty, a boy from her youth.

He used to have a buzz cut but now his hair is long
He used to wear T-shirts but now he got nothing on
He looks grown up in a kid kinda of way
He’s got the same smile he had in third grade 

In the chorus, it’s revealed that the reunion between the two was temporary, but there’s an understanding that things are how they’re supposed to be. 

And looking at him now looking back at me 
I know that something's shifted for good
I know that Matty's right where he should be

Dawn said in our interview that when she wrote the song in 2019, she was obsessed with The 1975 and Matty Healy. In her indie rock phase, surrounded by friends in indie rock bands, she decided to take a crack at writing in the style with this track. 

“It’s a nostalgic romance song. Everyone has been through that first crush feeling,” she said.

2019 was also Jillian Dawn’s sophomore year at the University of Miami Frost School of Music, so this track was the first song that she was able to include some of the things she’d learned into her music. There is no real Matty in Dawn’s life, she said, but the story is an amalgam of a few stories of friends. 

Looking toward the fall, Dawn said she has a few shows at colleges and other small venues lined up. As for new music, she is piecing together a new album with a launch set for 2025.

“2025 is the year for new music. This next project is the most ‘me’ that I have been in a while with my music. It’s a collection of everything I’ve learned and pulled from all the places I’ve lived in: Nashville, Miami, and Boston.”

If you haven’t started playing Jillian Dawn already, now’s the time!

PHOTO: Jillian Dawn Instagram