{"id":66604,"date":"2025-12-01T16:05:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-01T16:05:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/66604\/"},"modified":"2025-12-01T16:05:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-01T16:05:09","slug":"meet-st-pete-songwriter-and-activist-dames","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/66604\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet St. Pete songwriter and activist Dames"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"MusicianDylan Dames Credit: Screengrab via Dylan Dames \/ YouTube<\/a><\/p>\n

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. \u2014\u00a0As local organizing grows in importance and\u00a0arts<\/a>\u00a0programming faces rising\u00a0political attacks<\/a>, musician and community organizer Dylan Dames (performer name \u201cDAMES\u201d) combines both spaces through his own work.<\/p>\n

On Nov. 8th, the San Pedro Gazette attended DAMES at Woodlawn in Greater Woodlawn, St. Petersburg. Through interviews on Aug. 27 and Oct. 10, Dames shared his work and story.<\/p>\n

As the sun sets through the live oak trees of a local backyard, Dames takes the stage for soundcheck with his band. The scene comes to life as a couple, Trista and Justin Miller, with their young son, Harris, place hand-carved wooden lanterns throughout the backyard between rows of chairs awaiting the audience soon to arrive. Music swells over the fence into the Greater Woodlawn neighborhood, a melodic mixture of covers and original songs as the performers rehearse their setlist.<\/p>\n

Starting in a college dorm room<\/p>\n

Dylan Dames, 26, performs under the moniker DAMES, a project he began in a college dorm room. Dames classifies his unique blend of sounds as \u201cPop Soul,\u201d drawing from a broad array of time frames and generic techniques. His musical talents include both singing and acoustic guitar.<\/p>\n

Growing up with both music and writing, the evolution seemed inevitable. \u201cI would win national awards for storytelling, and eventually started singing. I\u2019ve been singing in church my whole life \u2013 the first time I sang in church, I was four years old. That developed and grew, and eventually I started putting together an imagination of what kind of performer I\u2019d want to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Dames directed the rehearsal, he led with collaboration, inviting his bandmates to participate alongside him in building the setlist and its structure. His approach treated the performance as collaborative joy. He ensured the comfort and wellbeing for his full team, heavily emphasizing preshow rest and dinner as they practice in front of a screened-in porch set aside for \u201cBand Only.\u201d He expressed his love and admiration for his wife, Gina Lever, as she prepared the DAMES merchandise table and checks in the concert\u2019s ticketed guests.<\/p>\n

Dames recalls his first show fondly during the August interview with the San Pedro Gazette.<\/p>\n

While brainstorming ideas to earn money for a Tori Kelly concert in 2018, Lever suggested hosting an acoustic show to her husband. \u201cI reached out to a couple friends of mine and was like, let\u2019s put on a funk show,\u201d Dames said. DAMES performed to a crowd at Concord Coffee, a coffee shop in Lakeland, Fla.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was packed wall to wall, body to body: over 100 people were there. I made nine bucks. I definitely did not fundraise for my trip, but something else was born that day,\u201d Dames explained. \u201cI\u2019m grateful that that was the path we took \u2013 that springboarded me into finding my individual voice.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"YouTube<\/p>\n

Faith, social justice and community<\/p>\n

The sun now disappearing, the crowd filed in to take their seats. Several sport progressive Christian slogans on T-shirts with phrases like \u201cAll Are Welcome\u201d on full display. Families arrive with their children, groups of friends swap stories, and a buzz builds among the crowd as they await DAMES and his band\u2019s presence.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Many attendees proudly align with\u00a0Allendale Methodist Church<\/a>, known both\u00a0locally<\/a>\u00a0and beyond for its social justice ethos.<\/p>\n

For Dames,\u00a0performance and local justice<\/a>\u00a0work both provide space for action, currently working as a paid community organizer for\u00a0Faith in Florida<\/a>, a faith-based nonprofit.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re like a multicultural solidarity network across the state of Florida[\u2026] Here in Pinellas, we work on housing and criminal justice,\u201d Dames said.<\/p>\n

Growing up in the church with a pastor mother, faith and music have been constants in Dames\u2019 life, alongside lifelong involvement in activist spaces. His recent reengagement in community organizing began in the late 2010s and continues to this day.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was disappointed in the church\u2019s inaction during\u00a0COVID<\/a>, and then also in the church\u2019s response to the uprisings in Minneapolis, and then eventually across the whole country after the lynching of\u00a0George Floyd<\/a>,\u201d Dames said. \u201cIn that space, I was like, well, I need to ask some hard questions. I need to reevaluate some relationships and figure some things out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dames began seeking spaces for meaningful action, which brought him to the same Allendale community, showing up in support of his Nov. 8th concert.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIn 2021, I found an internship at Allendale, which connected me with the organization that I work for[\u2026] 2020 to 2022 was a revolution of sorts, where I went from being an activist to an organizer, and realized that people closest to the problem needed to be at the center of the solution: it wasn\u2019t me, with my advanced degree and my middle class upbringing that needed to be talking about gentrification and food deserts in South St. Petersburg \u2013 it was people from South St. Petersburg,\u201d Dames asserted.<\/p>\n

Dames cemented himself as a cornerstone of community activism and connection.<\/p>\n

DAMES, Live at Woodlawn<\/p>\n

DAMES at Woodlawn attendees rose with reverence as the show began, a wave of support responding to his intentional work.\u00a0<\/p>\n

These spheres are inseparable to Dames, neither existing as a full picture of his work without the other \u2013 a sentiment clearly shared as the band takes the stage to enthusiastic applause. He recently\u00a0performed<\/a>\u00a0for the City of St. Petersburg\u2019s Pride Festival and People\u2019s Pride at Allendale.<\/p>\n

\u201cWherever music takes me, I\u2019m still going to be doing it. I can\u2019t think of a single version of myself where I\u2019m not organizing. Even if I\u2019m selling out stadiums, I\u2019m probably still going to be doing community organizing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dames, alongside his band, begin their two-part set with a medley composed of covers and his original songs. His soulful vocals are supported by\u00a0Carol Larrinaga<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Astrid McIntyre<\/a>, with\u00a0James Brimson<\/a>\u00a0on guitar and sound mixing,\u00a0Joshua Rodriguez<\/a>\u00a0on bass, and\u00a0Jovanni Salas<\/a>\u00a0on drums.<\/p>\n

As the show winds down, Dames and his band expressed their gratitude to the crowd. According to Lever, about 70 people came to the show. The merging and separation of DAMES, the musician and the activist, appears in his greetings to the audience as various groups approach him with their congratulations.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to make music that connects with people, and I want to make music that feels honest from me, and music that I think actually contributes something to the cultural zeitgeist,\u201d Dames said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He recalls his St. Pete Pride performance while reflecting on these converging spaces.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the People\u2019s Pride Coalition, a lot of those people are my friends, and a lot of those people understand me as an organizer, a community organizer that can sing,\u201d Dames says. \u201cAt the\u00a0Pride Parade<\/a>, those people understand me as a musician and a singer that does community organizing on the side. I\u2019m neither of those things.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like I\u2019m just Dylan in some ways, but it [did] help me think critically about how I wanted to be sure that I was showing up as myself in both spaces,\u201d Dames said.<\/p>\n

Whether Dames is showing up to an organizing shift with Faith in Florida or DAMES is performing his original songs onstage, his investment in his communities remains at the forefront.<\/p>\n

You can support DAMES directly at\u00a0DamesTunes.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Stream his original music on streaming platforms, such as\u00a0Spotify<\/a><\/p>\n

Follow DAMES for future performances on Instagram\u00a0@dylandames<\/a><\/p>\n

Subscribe to Creative Loafing newsletters.<\/a><\/p>\n

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This article appears in Nov. 27 \u2013 Dec. 03, 2025<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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