Most of us, at least here in the States, grew up hearing about the famous “midnight ride of Paul Revere” in grade school, about the blacksmith turned Patriot who rode north from Boston to Lexington to warn that the “British were coming”.  But I’m guessing few have heard of the midnight ride of William Dawes.  That’s probably because most of us got our history lesson from the famous Henry Wadsworth Longfellow poem “Paul Revere’s Ride”.  In it, Longfellow takes some artistic liberties and makes Revere the only character in one of early American history’s most notorious tales.  While Revere deserves much of the credit, there was another rider that night in April of 1775 who rode to warn Samuel Adams and John Hancock that the British were on their way to arrest them.  William Dawes actually set out first and took the longer westward route, leaving Boston just before the British regulars sealed off the town.  Both Dawes and Paul Revere arrived in Lexington within minutes of each other and helped Adams and Hancock escape arrest.  So why has history forgotten poor William Dawes?  We may never know…but it seemed only fitting, since we have a song about Paul Revere, to have one about William Dawes as well – here’s the short demo…(just click to listen or right click/cntrl click to download)

The Dimes – The Forgotten William Dawes (DEMO)

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone and don’t forget, the new record is out and available via our online store – http://www.thedimes.com/store.html – it includes a bonus EP which accompanies the new album and includes the song “Paul Revere”, among others…

See you soon,

Johnny