Jason Dunn, former frontman of Hawk Nelson, released “The Lost Sessions, Pt. 1” this year; it excites me about subsequent The Lost Sessions. Having followed Jason’s career, there are some projects he is a part of that see a modicum of success, but for whatever reason, projects go by the wayside. These projects that have been left behind are what leave me excited about future lost sessions from Jason Dunn. I could sit here and type out a list of known songs unavailable that could be released or re-released. But I’m not that type of person, I like a story, so I will take you through his career so you can truly understand the amazing art that has the potential to be released.

Jason got bit by the music bug at a young age, leading worship for his youth group ‘touring’ to other churches and youth events to play. Before and during his days as a teenage youth worship leader, he played music with Dave Clark. They formed Satan’s Enemy and Green Cheese before recruiting Matt Paige for drums and Chad Cook for bass and changing their name to SWISH. As SWISH, they toured Quebec and Ontario playing where someone would let them. Chad left the band to pursue a “real” job and a degree, a wise decision. They recruited Daniel Biro, a lead singer from a post-punk band in Barrie called Cheese Monkeys From Planet 9. Daniel replaced Chad on Bass. Again, changing their name, they chose the name Jason used in video games, Hawk Nelson.

From there, most of you should know the story; they released an album “Saturday Rock Action” and caught the attention of Trevor McNevan of Thousand Foot Krutch (who went to their church). He made some introductions, and it ended with a five-album deal at Tooth & Nail. The rest, of course, is history. There is one confirmed unreleased song from that era, and we’ll get to that later.

Not unlike almost every musician ever, Jason Dunn had other projects going on, even before leaving Hawk Nelson. The Dunn Boys was his first of many projects over the next decade. A Celtic Folk Punk Rock band made up of his family, with Jonathan Steingard and Mark Drury producing they released a record “Volume 1“. With the debut album’s successful release, they gained some fans. They toured in pubs and venues across Ontario with their highlight show at the Tim Hortons Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival in 2011. They opened the festival and kicked off the entire weekend.

The Dunn Boys‘ debut album “Volume 1” was released on March 17, 2011. Appropriately released on St Patrick’s day; love that tidbit. The album consists of 11 tracks primarily written by Jason between 2009-2011. Some songs, such as Nova Scotia, had been in the family for decades. The Dunn Boys‘ really begins the cycle of unreleased songs, as you will read in just a moment.

2012 ended up being quite the year for Jason Dunn; at the beginning of the year, he announced a solo project, Lights Go Down. He also teased music that was all but complete from The Dunn Boys, and on February 1, 2012, he announced he would be leaving Hawk Nelson. Later that year, he would play his last show with them.

As I said before, The Dunn Boys really started the cycle of unreleased songs. Their sophomore release, Volume 2, was recorded and fleshed out. The tracks were never officially released, though. You can find the names of some of the songs on their MySpace and some rough versions of the songs from Volume 2 on the band’s YouTube page. I have no clue why the one has a camel in it.

That’s all that can be found though; we know that instruments were tracked, and vocals were recorded. The songs were mastered; whether they got final versions or were forgotten as life went on is unknown.

The Dunn Boys‘ wasn’t the only project Jason had cued up for 2012. As previously mentioned, he talked about a few projects after he had left Tooth & Nail. Lights Go Down and a solo album “Abandon Progress.” Lights Go Down ultimately went nowhere that year. After a month in the studio, he lost his $20,000 investment, concluding that he was not an acoustic singer/songwriter. There are a plethora of songs that could be on future Lost Sessions from that alone. We do not know, and just the possibility is exciting!

2012 really kept Jason busy. He started a foundation called The Jason Dunn Diabetes Foundation or The Jason Dunn Foundation depending on where you read. Its purpose was to raise awareness for diabetes among children and young adults. He was well acquainted with the disease and its cost, having been diagnosed at 12. He did quite a few tours under his name that year to raise awareness and money. One tour was called Jason Dunn Plays For Change Tour, which encouraged people to reach between their couch cushions and donate their money. The proceeds were benefiting his foundation, with every cent being matched by him.

Aside from some unreleased music that year, touring and his foundation. He started the beginnings of other unreleased (and released) projects.

2013, over a year and a half since leaving Hawk Nelson, Jason launched a campaign to raise money for Abandon Progress. It was finished at that point, but the final cost and bills still needed to be paid, so he, with help, did a Faith Launcher. His goal was $20,000, with various rewards from the suit he wore in Yours, Mine, And Ours to experiences like playing minigolf with him, acoustic serenades and phone calls. He also said he’d consider giving you Murphy (his pug) for $1,000,000. Though I highly doubt he would’ve.

He ended up surpassing his goal and raising $21,362. The extra money was given to his foundation. Among some of the goals is a project I found interesting and would love a public release or for Jason to re-release it. It was a documentary called “A Band In Progress.” I’ve been unable to find many references to it throughout my research, but somewhere out there exists “A Band In Progress.”

2013 was coming to a close. What may be the remains of the documentary or a second shorter documentary-like project was released. One episode remains on Jason’s YouTube channel, the second one. I think it was A Band In Progress because he makes a point of saying those words towards the end of the video.

Abandon Progress was released in 2014, and honestly, it’s a good album. There were a few things I didn’t understand, like the use of autotune, but that’s just a few songs. I remember hearing Insecurity for the first time, and I was stoked for the album. I listened to that song on repeat. Lost to time from that era are the behind the scenes videos and mini-documentary for the album. Again, more works that could be on future Lost Sessions.

2014 saw the release of another album of Jason’s, one of which no one was prepared for, and probably for the best, it went under the radar. The Grand Adventures of Hank Nielsen. A clear connection to his Hawk Nelson days in the name and use of the songs from then under different titles, releasing it under a (as far as I can tell) defunct label/management company called The Paradigm Collective. There are a few reasons why I suspect the album is no longer available. THESE ARE MY PERSONAL THEORIES AND NOT CONFIRMED. The number one reason is Jason didn’t have permission to use some lyrics. The song, Tried To Be, is Everything You Ever Wanted. Which is partially owned by Teerawk Music, Spinning Audio Vortex Inc., Tooth And Nail – Bec Songs, Daniel Biro Publishing, Day Thirtysix Music. Of course, this is all speculation, but it would make sense of why it was released and why it is no longer available. My other theory is that Jason got some backlash from fans because many of the songs were previously released. The others were putting it kindly, not his style.

More music that could potentially be on future Lost Sessions; whatever did happen to those pop sounding songs?

Moving past that album that shall no longer be named, but had excellent album art. We find ourselves at the beginning of a new chapter in his career. We’re going to skip past a tumultuous time in his life where he divorced his then-wife.

In 2015 to distract himself from life, he toured as Lights Go Down. Releasing, in my opinion, the best music he had in years. It’s a beautiful album with a fantastic sound I still love today. Again Jason fundraised money for an album. He parted with a signed and doodled on guitar for that fundraiser. Lights Go Down toured, they had music videos and making headway before it tapered off. Jason met and married Niamh, moved back to his hometown and had a son, Ryan. That sums that up real quick.

I can’t even begin to imagine what songs didn’t make it onto their EP, which makes me excited for potential Lost Sessions. It’s not just music lost sessions I’m excited for but also the potential for other forms of “lost” media. There’s bound to be some form of a documentary or recording of his Lights Go Down period; it’s just a matter of on whose computer where. From my research, I gather Jason is the type of guy who likes to document what he is doing. If there’s a camera or mic and Jason has a guitar, you best believe he will film himself, as is evidence of him at 12 filming music videos and making demos on cassettes.

Also, Hawk Nelson podcast that was on iTunes, documentaries and mini-documentaries for nearly every project he’s done, and what brought about this comment of mine, a photo book from the inside of the EP making process with LGD+handwritten lyrics. It’s a pretty cool thing; it appears that at least two do exist somewhere, but I’m betting there’s a few more. This isn’t me throwing shade; Jason is just a great documenter. 

Lights Go Down may have ended, but Jason didn’t stop playing. He played pubs and venues with his wife under their names. They released covers and an original.

He also released more music under his name of which I highly recommend. Back in Canada, he reconnected with his old bandmates, Matt Paige and Dave Clark. Together they made amends and formed a new band, Aid & Effect. They released two songs but had more recorded. Making Things New and The Answer slap, and I love listening to them. Another project started that has not seen the light of day; a documentary was shot during this time. Promotional material for the documentary was released along with a song in the background, which excited me.

Abruptly in 2019, Jason stepped back from all projects. His twin daughters Maddie and Mila, who were born prematurely, spent their first month in hospitals. Maddie was moved to a hospital a couple of hours away for emergency surgery. Chaos ensued until they settled in a Ronald McDonald House to be near their daughters. Mila was moved to a separate hospital in the same city as Maddie.

While at their temporary home, Jason wrote and recorded a song chronicling his girls’ birth and the intense love he had for them. Maddie recovered and was released a month after her birth.

What I found interesting while researching was that this was not Jason’s first time in a Ronald McDonald House. While touring Canada and the USA with Hawk Nelson, he frequented them, stopping in to say hi, playing music, being a presence, and trying just for a little bit to make the families there forget about everything. On his stay in the Ronald McDonald House, Jason had this to say, “

After that harrowing experience, it appears that the schedules of Aid & Effect haven’t lined up again as that project, which existed for 2018, has not released music since. There were songs that were in progress when Jason’s life was put on hold that exist in some capacity.

Jason Dunn doesn’t stop making music, though; after being hired at Pathway Church, he wrote and released a worship song under “Pathway Music” titled King of Glory. As always, it is fantastic.

Since then, Jason has released a few more songs. Notably, he released Dopamine, the song featured in a promotional video for the documentary about Aid & Effect. I had long anticipated the release of that song as it is a follow up to a previous Hawk Nelson song 36 days. It also makes me wonder, what other projects from that time are on someones hard drive, is there a potential Lost Sessions for Aid & Effect?

That brings us to now, nearing the end of 2020 and the reason I’m cautiously excited. We know from Jason and others that songs exist and were planned for release but never made it that far. These songs could be slated for release, but with a track record of releasing songs already available or differing slightly (this is the 3rd time Second Chances has been released). I am cautious about my enthusiasm. Jason is a busy guy between his family of five and his job. I can’t pretend to know what that is like. I can only hope for a second or third lost session to one day be released.

Now finally, let’s go back to the beginning, Hawk Nelson‘s sophomore release. The one song I have been dying to hear or even read the lyrics to, Smile, It’s The End of the World. That’s right, like every other Hawk Nelson album, there was a title track. This one just happened to be cut from the album. Have other songs from Hawk albums been cut? I know songs end up not going on albums for a multitude of reasons. There is the potential, in my opinion, for lost sessions from each era of Jason’s career, Hawk Nelson, The Dunn Boys, Jason Dunn, Lights Go Down, Jason & Niamh, Aid & Effect, Pathway Music. It’s exciting to think about not just the songs that could be released but the documentaries and photos from that time.

I’m positive there is some great music from Jason coming down the pipeline, and I’m excited at the possibilities. Whether it is a song from yesteryear or a new one, I will hold on to hope and remain cautiously excited for a Lost Sessions Pt 2.