Dove Pax
Songs for uncertain times.
Bio
Dove Pax is an indie and art rock duo based in Portland, Maine: husband and wife Jessica and Ryan W. Richards. Their songs move between classic rock drama and impressionist texture, with arrangements built around Jessica’s voice. They write about hard realities, from despair to displacement to war, and make the case that change starts with personal growth.
Jessica, originally from Paris, spent 13 years in Shanghai as a performer, composer and sound designer. Ryan, a Portland native, moved to Shanghai in 2008 and worked there as a musician and recording engineer. Together since 2015, they write, produce and record their own music.
Their 2022 EP “A Sense of Hope” earned a Portland Press Herald feature by Aimsel Ponti, who also played the band on WCLZ. The cinematic single “Child of the Universe” followed in June 2025. Their new EP, “Echo Lake,” recorded in a Fayette cabin, comes out Nov. 22, 2026. The duo is now finishing its first full-length album, “In These Times.”
Press Release
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Contact: dovepaxproductions@gmail.com
Portland duo Dove Pax records “Echo Lake” EP in a Fayette cabin, loons included - Three songs about hard times and how people grow through them, recorded with borrowed instruments, two microphones and the windows open
Portland art rock duo Dove Pax, whose songs tie the world’s problems to personal growth, recorded its new EP in two days at a cabin on Echo Lake in Fayette, Maine. “Echo Lake” comes out Nov. 22.
The cabin’s owner, David, left his Martin guitar, acoustic bass and cajon for the band after learning they were musicians. Dove Pax recorded on a laptop with two microphones, with no click track or pre-mix, and kept the imperfections. The windows stayed open, so rain, wind, birds, and loons are on the recordings.
“Everything was open: the windows, the porch, the lake,” said Jess Richards of Dove Pax. “For the first time in years, we had two full days to think only about music. You can hear where we were.”
Jess and Ryan Richards performed in Asia for over 10 years. Today they play across Portland’s music scene, at venues including Portland House of Music, Orange Bike Brewing, the University of Southern Maine, and at the MAMM Resurgam festival. The Portland Press Herald featured the band after the release of its EP “A Sense of Hope” (2020). Their music mixes indie, and cinematic art rock.
Dove Pax writes about specific problems: hopelessness, displacement, war. Every song also argues for a response that starts with the individual.
“We write about what’s hard,” Jess said. “And we write about how to keep hope alive through all of it by refining ourselves. Each of us can grow, and that growth is how things change.”
“I Won’t Let It Deceive Me” takes on the habit of despair. “Despite negativity, you always have the choice to reorient yourself toward the positive,” Ryan said.
“Make It Out Alive” is sung from inside a danger the narrator didn’t create. The band kept it symbolic, though Ryan said immigrants, refugees and victims of war came to mind. “We wanted to write a song that may help somebody to realize the perseverance needed to make it through hell,” he said.
“Build a Home” draws on Confucius’ idea that order in the world begins with the cultivation of character in families. Its refrain places the work with people: “It’s up to human kind.”
The band’s earlier releases, including the cinematic single “Child of the Universe” (June 2025), are fully orchestrated. “We usually go big,” Jess said. “This time we wanted to get back to the basics, back to our roots, and let the songs stand on their own.” The duo is finishing “In These Times,” a fully orchestrated full-length album. “‘Echo Lake’ fueled us to finish it,” Jess said.
“Echo Lake” will be available Nov. 22 on all streaming platforms
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