Los Angeles folk rockers kick off Nightfall series

Maybe it’s the unadorned folk/rock or the sepia tinge to the band’s vocal harmonies, but there’s something genuinely vintage in Dawes’ music.

“A lot of what matters to us — a lot of our priorities, musically — are things that we notice aren’t as important now and might never be again,” lead singer Taylor Goldsmith said. “For us, piano solos or guitar solos or well-played percussion are qualities that not only seem a little lost but are, in some cases, unaccepted.

“That’s something that’s important to us.”

Goldsmith cited artists such as The Allman Brothers, Grateful Dead and Tom Petty as among the group’s primary influences, but its music also shares much in common with other Angelista quartets such as Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and The Eagles.

Tonight, they’ll take the stage as the first headliner of the Nightfall concert series.

Dawes was formed in 2009 in Los Angeles by Goldsmith and bassist Wylie Gelber from the ashes of their alt-rock band, Simon Dawes.

When Simon Dawes started breaking up, Goldsmith said, he took a step back to reconsider his musical priorities.

“I started thinking, ‘What am I doing? What matters to me? Am I going to continue trying to be in this Simon Dawes alternative rock band, or will I try to write songs that help me out in the way that other songs have helped me out by writers I love?’”

Like those artists — Bob Dylan, John Prine and Will “Bonnie Prince Billy” Oldham — Goldsmith said he hopes to reach out and connect with listeners, even as he’s entertaining them.

“[Those artists] helped shape who I am as an individual and helped teach me patience and how to recognize things that are good and right and beautiful,” Goldsmith said. “My goal and our goal as a band is to try to help even one person to have that same experience in their music.”