In his home region, Bob has been honored five years with Wammie Awards for Best Recording Engineer, and one year as Best Producer. He has received Grammy nominations 5 years in a row for his co-production work with John McCutcheon. He has recorded seven Mary Chapin Carpenter albums, which have received outstanding reviews both musically and sonically, selling millions worldwide.

His following in the jazz world has attracted projects with the Airmen of Note, Bruce Gates' Jazz Consortium Big Band, Blues Alley Big Band, The Howland Ensemble, Marty Nau Quartet, Pam Bricker, The Navy Commodores, Tim Eyermann, Vaughn Nark, Mike Crotty and Deater O'Neill, Robert Jospe, Alan Baylock Jazz Orchestra, The Capitol Bones Big Band, Army Blues, The Taylor/Fidyk Big Band and more. He has recorded Dizzy Gillespie, Benny Carter, Joe Williams, Joe Kennedy, Jon Faddis, Phil Woods, Slide Hampton, Jimmy Heath, Kenny Werner and Tommy Newsom.

His career started in his mom's basement as a teenager, recording fellow-teen Nils Lofgren. In those early days Nils and Bob worked together on his first major label release "Grin," and later on "Cry Tough", "I Came to Dance" and "Wonderland". Bob also had a decades-long working relationship with the legendary Danny Gatton, recording him live at Cellar Door in the 70's, recording and mixing "Red Neck Jazz" and later "Unfinished Business." So blues, rock, and roots rock credits are in his pocket, too. These days Nils says of Bob, "The first thing that comes to mind - besides the given that he is a great engineer - is his ability as a person to hang with any crowd and contribute in a comfortable manner. It's really something that sets Bob apart from most people, period."

Bob's gift extends beyond his ability to capture the purity of a performance. Whether the session needs a push in the direction of working harder to get 'where it needs to be' or a laugh to defuse the tension, Bob has become famous for being able to help deliver that special atmosphere.  

An on-the road Mary Chapin Carpenter says, "Bob is one of the most talented people I have ever had the privilege to know, much less work with." She adds that his contributions to the recording and production process of her projects "have been invaluable."

John Jennings, producer for Mary Chapin Carpenter, John Gorka and many others, says of Bob, He does every kind of music and he does them all well. He's got incredible ears and he's incredibly thorough, very meticulous and insanely fast. It sounds like the ideal situation, and it is.  Pete BarenBregge, director of the Airmen of Note, on why they have recorded at Bias for 20 years says Relaxed environment, personalized attention and proactive engineers are just a few reasons the Airmen of Note record at Bias. Bob Dawson is like a member of the band - he knows big bands and how they sound. David McGee, writing for Pro Sound News terms Bob, ...one of the class acts of the recording industry.

All apt praise for the extreme talents of this man behind the board.