Elexa Dawson was born in Citizen Potawatomi Nation territory in Shawnee, Oklahoma and has been singing ever since. She began writing songs at the age of 20, after singing along to soundtracks in talent shows her whole life. Her move to Kansas in 2005 brought her to a community of original musicians, introduced to her by the Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, Kansas. In 2008, she founded Weda Skirts with Sarah Bays, Melissa Tastove, Emily Wilson, and Brandi Emley. They were later joined by Rachel Allai in 2016, when they recorded their first album, Many Moons. In 2018, they recorded their second full studio album, Mother. Weda Skirts has performed all over Kansas, notably at the Walnut Valley Festival, Smoky Hills River Festival, and on the steps of the Kansas State Capital Building in Topeka, KS for the 2017 Women’s March. In 2018, Elexa set her mind to pursuing a full-time career in music. She had been on a journey of reclamation of her family’s Potawatomi culture, greatly lost due to three forced removals, residential schools, and Christianization. Elexa’s songwriting began to turn more and more toward this theme of reconnection, and through a grant from First Peoples Fund, Elexa self-produced Music is Medicine in 2019. This debut album was recorded in Taos, NM with friend and banjo master, Peter Oviatt, at the engineering helm. It features Elexa’s partner Kelby Kimberlin on bass, and Melissa Tastove of Weda Skirts on percussion and harmony vocals. It includes seven songs, a nod to the seven generations prophecies, and a hope that the album is one of many efforts to reclaim the bundles left along the ancestral path of forced migration. Upon completion, she partnered with Lost Cowgirl Records for promotion. Music is Medicine was awarded Best Country Recording by the Native American Music Awards in 2022.
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When the pandemic halted any chances of touring the album, Elexa spent 2020 homeschooling her young daughter. She was presented with an opportunity to go back to school herself and get a certificate in Sustainable Agriculture at Johnson County Community College in Kansas, with a full scholarship from the Kansas City Indian Center. It was there that the plan for Good Way Gardens began to form. After completion, Elexa took a year to explore physical locations for her art-farm concept. Good Way Gardens began a partnership with the Lyon County Historical Society in 2023, and GWG’s operations were launched with an educational, three-sisters garden space, and a concert series held on the first Sunday of every month at the LCHS’ Richard Howe House. The concert series continues April through October, and the garden has grown into two spaces, with a goal of being a productive fresh food source on Emporia’s south side. As the pandemic lifted, Elexa traveled frequently back to her family home of Lincoln County, Oklahoma where she was collaborating on a project with Stanley Hotel (Adam Stanley, Isaac Nelson, and Doug Stormont.) This groundbreaking project was thoughtfully crafted over a few years, at the pace of trust between the collaborators. With mutual admiration at the core of their sonic choices, Stanley Hotel’s earthy soundscape perfectly supports Elexa’s vocal prowess. With both parties contributing compositions, the album stays cohesive through the steady invocation of nature’s spirits, playing with the ether but always returning to the dirt. The finished product is Wanderlust, described as “a journey through space and time” and highly acclaimed by critics. Wanderlust charted on the NACC and debut at #11 on Folk Alliance International charts. The single “Answer” earned rotation on SiriusXM’s The Indigiverse, and SiriusXM’s The Village Folk Show on The Bridge. ‍
Stay Put is Elexa Dawson’s third studio album, a deeply rooted and timely work sprouted from the grounding element of earth. With this viscerally personal release, Dawson anchors her message in the soil of memory, tradition, and identity. Building on her two preceding albums, Elexa continues to amplify the ancestors, infusing her voice with the grit of Oklahoma red dirt and wind-washed Kansas prairie. From the opening reimagining of Pete Seeger’s “Where Have All The Flowers Gone” as an Indigenous chant, Elexa stimulates the memory of civil rights issues of the ‘60s and reflects their relevance to present-day conflict. The title track, “Stay Put” is a songwriter’s song, a confession of a restless poet who leaves the comfort of indulgent love to chase inspiration. “Man Mountain” and “Cove” were written about and by, respectively, a mentor and a man who knows the value of a place that holds you close. In “Roots Grow”, a backbeat of biomimicry edifies the listener with an assurance of resilience in the face of adversity. “Baling Hay” is a tribute to Elexa’s Grandpa, a humble, hardworking soul whose tractor-greasy grace lives on in memory and song. Finally, “The Riddle Song” documents Elexa’s inherited rendition of a traditional Appalachian tune sung to her from the morning she was born by her Nana, who dubbed her an alto that day, and continues to support her from the other side of the soil. Stay Put debuted at #9 on the Folk Alliance International chart and is on rotation on terrestrial and satellite radio.
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In addition to her musical career and Good Way Gardens, Elexa serves as Folk Alliance Region Midwest’s Board President, where she proudly contributes to the important work of promoting the folk music and dance community in the Midwest. Elexa is a Kansas Touring Roster Artist, Music to Life’s Juried Artist, and Mid-America Arts Alliance Interchange Fellow. Former fellowships include First Peoples Fund and Western Arts Alliance Native Launchpad. Elexa serves on the Lyon County Food and Farm Council, and on the Advisory Board for Matfield Green Works.
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“Elexa Dawson” solo or duo, Music is Medicine Show (30 minutes – 2 hours, All Ages) Elexa Dawson is a practitioner of the soul. Her red-dirt honey vocals and rhythmic guitar style deliver a sound that hits home. Deeply connected to land, her themes center earth and community, and celebrate all relationships, from mother and child to friend and lover. Elexa is a Citizen of the Potawatomi Nation. She founded Good Way Gardens in Emporia, Kansas, a land-based arts organization providing a concert series and educational community garden space at the Richard Howe House. Elexa is the lead songwriter of Kansas’ folk favorites, Weda Skirts. Elexa’s latest release, Stay Put, reached #9 on the Folk International Chart, and #14 on the NACC Folk Chart. Wanderlust (2024) debuted at #11 on the Folk International Chart. Music is Medicine debuted Elexa’s solo career and won a Native American Music Award for Best Country Recording. Keynote Presentation or Panelist Elexa Dawson is experienced in delivering public speaking presentations in a variety of settings. Elexa delivers a poignant presentation, including music, custom fit to your audience.

Presentation on Anishinabe Culture (30 minutes, Adaptable to All Ages) Elexa Dawson of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation shares historical and cultural perspectives on Potawatomi migration. The Potawatomi people originated from the Great Lakes area, where their communities lived as autonomous groups within the Anishinabe Three Fires Confederacy, recognizing the Odawa and Ojibwe as brother nations. The Trail of Death brought many Potawatomi to Kansas and later, another forced removal sent some to Oklahoma. The Anishinabe culture is still thriving, with language, food and clothing unique to the Anishinabe people. Learn about this culture and the history of the Potawatomi, with recognition that the Potawatomi are a vibrant and living people with sovereign nations and current relevance in today’s society. Elexa is thrilled to adapt programs to people of all backgrounds and ages.

$700 for Performance, Songs and Storytelling plus standard mileage.
Elexa specializes in listening rooms, small theatres, house concerts, and gallery settings. $2,400 for Keynote Presentation – negotiable based on location, content and purpose

Additional charges are negotiable, but as an example:
$200 if sound equipment is provided by the artist
$200 if overnight lodging is required
$200 for Educational activities as add-on to performance
$10 per person for Educational Activities requiring planting materials.

Songwriters – Open Forum (1 to 6 hours, High School and Adult)
Elexa Dawson facilitates an open forum between fellow songwriters and those interested in writing music. Encouraging and inspirational. Balance in the Business of Music – Open Forum (2 to 6 hours, High School and Adult)
Elexa Dawson facilitates an interactive session for those who are interested or experienced in a career in music. Encouraging and inspirational.

Seedsongs (10 minutes, All Ages)
Our seeds are our past, and our future. The Anishinabe people have had agreements with plants that have sustained us, even as we have cared for them. Participants will receive a seed and a vessel to plant it in, and a song to sing to their seeds as they grow. As we plant these seeds, we’ll learn about our responsibility to our foods to nurture them as they nourish us. The Power of the Voice (10 minutes, All Ages)
Anishinabe cosmology teaches us that the world began with sound. Sensing sounds is an exercise in presence, reflection and relaxation. Participants practice using our ears and our voice to interact with the world. Land-Based Songwriting (1-3 hours, All Ages)
Place is central to our understanding of ourselves as individuals and communities. Discover how the places that made us inform our creativity and worldview.