James Collector: At The Speed of Dawn
James Collector and Sloppy Joe Lessard Look to the Horizon With “At The Speed of Dawn”
by Jack Rush
A chance musical experiment has developed into an unexpected new partnership for James Collector and Sloppy Joe Lessard, whose forthcoming single “At The Speed of Dawn” finds two longtime musicians reconsidering familiar territory from an entirely different perspective.
Although both artists have roots in Colorado’s hip-hop community, neither has remained confined to it. James Collector has spent years expanding his work as a producer and multi-instrumentalist, while Sloppy Joe Lessard has established a career spanning violin, visual art, and bluegrass, including his work with Head for the Hills. Their latest collaboration moves elsewhere entirely, settling into the space between contemporary classical composition, ambient music, and understated electronic production.
The origins of the recording are appropriately unassuming. James Collector once challenged himself to write a new chord progression each day for 16 days. On the seventh day, during a foggy evening in San Francisco, the progression that would eventually become “At The Speed of Dawn” emerged. Years later, it reached Sloppy Joe Lessard in Arizona.
What followed was not an attempt to overwhelm the original idea, but to give it greater dimension. Sloppy Joe Lessard introduced violin and an unusually effective whistled melody, while piano and synthesizers were arranged into a spacious instrumental setting.
The title considers dawn not simply as scenery, but as movement: light continuously arriving across a rotating Earth. That image gives the composition its underlying character. It is patient without becoming static, contemplative without slipping into sentimentality.
“At The Speed of Dawn” also marks the first instrumental collaboration between James Collector and Sloppy Joe Lessard. More importantly, it does not appear to be an isolated experiment. The pair already indicate that further material is on the way.
Have a listen and connect with James Collector:
