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Johnny Dowd

Jul 11, 2025 at 8:00 PM  ·  The Treelawn, Cleveland, OH The Treelawn, Cleveland, OH

Johnny Dowd
Jul 11
Johnny Dowd

Johnny Dowd Tickets

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Johnny Dowd, born in Texas and raised in Memphis and Oklahoma, is known for his dark, country-folk-rock style, drawing comparisons to Nick Cave. His debut, *Wrong Side of Memphis*, features murder ballads with gallows humor and eerie organ touches, establishing him as a cult figure. Collaborating with bands and backup singers, he evolves his sound in albums like *Pictures from Life's Other Side*. Dowd's notable works include *Temporary Shelter*, *The Pawnbroker's Wife*, *Cemetery Shoes*, and *Wake Up The Snakes*.

Concert Info

Genre: Indie/Alt, Alternative Rock

Experience the Johnny Dowd concert in Cleveland at The Treelawn on Friday, July 11, 2025, at 8:00 PM. Tickets are on sale now!

Check this guy out if you dare. So ran the last line of a profile titled Johnny Dowd Slithers Onto Music Scene back in 1999. That gives you a pretty decent idea of how Johnny Dowd's music works: slither and dare being the key words. Johnny does both. In the traditions of Waits or Bukowski, he slithers into places most of us don't imagine or see. They might be back alleys, back porches, or just a bar down the street, but wherever he goes he dares to sing out what he sees. Will you dare to listen?

Musical Journey

Dowd conjures up characters with bluntness and an eye for telling details—a true writer's songsmith. Perhaps that's because he only came to the art after forty years of hard living. Even at that age, I never wanted to be a songwriter, he says. But when it became a matter of sink or swim, back around 1988, he dived into the deep end. The group he first led became Neon Baptist, but by 1995 Johnny had gone solo and self-released his debut cassette, Wrong Side of Memphis.

Recognition and Achievements

A Dutch TV documentary on Dowd was filmed in 2000, and in early 2001, the New York Times highlighted him as one of four Country Singers Who Still Display a Country Heart. He continued to release a record every year while touring both the US and Europe, making his major film debut in Jim White's Searching for the Wrong-Eyed Jesus.

Notable Albums

Record titles like The Pawnbroker's Wife, Cemetery Shoes, or A Drunkard's Tale seemed to suggest the stories within. The album Cruel Words, released in 2006, featured Sherwood-Caso on background vocals and The Mekons' Sally Timms and Jon Langford, with whom Johnny toured, on Drunk, ultimately winning the Independent Music Award for Best Alternative Country Album the following year. There isn’t a better band out there, Johnny said of The Mekons at the time.

Collaboration and Tribute

A collaborator with numerous alt-Americana luminaries, he contributed to 2021's release of The Wanderer - A Tribute To Jackie Leven.

Videos

Top Tracks

More Upcoming Johnny Dowd Concerts

Sun, 7:00 PM
Jul 13
2025
$70
Wed, 7:30 PM
Jul 16
2025
$144
Thu, 8:00 PM
Jul 17
2025
$116

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