At 10 years of age, in a brand new school, Dawn began her first foray into choir. That tenacity as a new kid in school continued into the following school year where she continued to hone her vocal skills.
Seeking a new challenge, Dawn tried her hard at the flute and middle school brought on a consistent first chair spot that continued for the next three years in the school orchestra.
Dawn’s high school experience entailed jazz band participation, playing by invitation at famous California hot spots such as The Biltmore Hotel.
Marching band in high school found Dawn again playing flute and piccolo in first marching position in the Los Angeles parade, also by invitation.
Honoring her roots as a vocalist, along with her High School band commitments, Dawn participated in high school choir as a soprano. High School launched Dawn into the spotlight as she quickly demonstrated impressive vocal range, covering songs an octave above the key they were initially recorded.
Her senior year of high school saw Dawn singing by invitation in the first year revival of Los Angeles All City Choir as a second soprano-with ability to produce on-the-fly harmonies to virtually any recorded music.
Some years later, Dawn found herself as an opening act for an accomplished Elvis Presley impersonator, contributing music to local Midwestern Relay for Life events, holiday parties, anniversary parties and auto shows.
Church experience included years in choir, her spot as a choir soloist, and performances of independent special music as well as serving occasionally as a worship coordinator.
Today, Darker Shade of Leather is a labor of love, focusing on music from Dawn’s formative years in an acoustic format-designed and arranged to pay homage to 80’s-and-beyond greats such as Ronnie James Dio, Reba McEntyre and many more. 80s’s hard rock bands such as Scorpions and Bon Jovi have a legacy that drives Dawn’s passion for bringing a version of their music to both new and seasoned listeners.
Erica Mays received her first electric guitar as a gift at age 11 – the Sears catalog Harmony Flying V in dark metallic red. Her first stage performances occurred at age 14 and it was clear she was hooked. Just one year later she was playing guitar in her first hard rock cover band, working the local Ohio bar scene to the surprise of many who saw her perform live at such a young age.
By age 16 she would become the lone guitarist in her band and took on the responsibility of managing all of the lead guitar work at a time in rock music when hotshot guitar heroes were the norm. She quickly learned that one of the best ways to improve a guitarist’s chops is to dive in with both feet. Soon, she found herself competing in the 1990 Northwest Ohio Hot Licks contest – a showcase of a long list of local guitarists to show off their solo-shredding chops for fans, friends and family. She placed second in a pool of over 25 guitarists.
By age 18 the hard rock music scene was changing drastically and grunge had become new hot rock style. The complex, acrobatic guitar playing of the 1980s was dead and there was seemingly nowhere for a young guitarist playing in the way of the 80s guitar greats to go to be heard.
With seemingly no clear path to go forward as a hard rock lead guitarist, Erica opened up her first garage studio and began a 4 year stint recording and producing demos for other local bands and musicians. Her guitar playing was confined to the studio space where she cut a few demos, hoping for a pendulum swing back in rock music, and with that, a chance to take her favorite form of guitar playing back up on the stage.
Stints in cover bands came and went as Erica progressed as a musician on several different instruments – thanks to the unfettered access to equipment afforded to someone who owned her own project studio.
In 1998, Erica was offered the drumming spot in an up and coming local metal band comprised entirely of skilled musicians who, coincidentally, all once attended the same rural high school. This was the first band she performed with that she felt had the potential to succeed in really big ways – she just wasn’t playing lead guitar this time around. Consequently, guitars were sold and drums were purchased, as she began a brand new chapter in her life as a working musician.
There were many successes with this group, notably the recording of one full-length album, and having the opportunity to open for famous acts like Ted Nugent. Other bonuses enjoyed were occasionally meeting extremely successful hard rock musicians like Tommy Aldridge (Ozzy Osbourne, Whitesnake) as the band grew in popularity and exited the tiny stages of the bar scene for the opportunity to play larger and more prestigious night club venues.
It was during the recording sessions of the band’s third full-length album (Erica’s second with the band) when the energy within the band grew stagnant, the momentum faded away, and Erica made the heart-wrenching decision to part ways with the group.
In 2002, after months of disillusionment with her lack of progress as a professional musician, she left the music business all together to focus full-time on a new business in the growing field of 3d computer graphics.
Fast-forwarding to 2016, and thanks largely to the steady prompting of Erica’s spouse Dawn Mays, the two began to rehearse a short list of acoustic cover songs together. Suddenly playing music was fun again. The two rehearsed the music intensely, and soon decided to take the “MTV Unplugged” style of music that they were enjoying so much, out to the people.
Darker Shade of Leather was born.