I See Hawks In L.A.

“Twist through the high hills of bluegrass gospel, down into the deep valley of hillbilly rock then across a one lane bridge and into a meadow of surrealist country.”

That is how one reviewer describes the music of I See Hawks in L.A.

I saw them for the first time about four years ago. It was in a tiny basement listening room of a bar in downtown Los Angeles. Cole's is just off skid row (or maybe not off at all other than through its magical doors). I immediately knew that I'd stumbled upon something incredibly unique and wonderful.

The Hawks are Rob Waller (guitar, lead singer, songwriter), Paul Lacques (dobro, acoustic and electric lead guitar, lap steel, vocals, songwriter), Paul Marshall (acoustic and electric bass, vocals, songwriter), Shawn Nourse (drums, cardboard boxes and brushes), and Brantley Kearns (violin, mandolin, vocals, and a wickedly warped sense of humor).

Glenn Swan from All Music reviews the Hawk's eponymous first album:

I See Hawks in L.A. takes a slightly more cerebral approach to country music. This is not to say the genre is overrun with cavemen, but clipped onto the well-worn bootheels of this outfit is a spur of skewed wit, intelligence, and contemplation. The music itself is the very picture of congeniality — accomplished players strum languidly with reverence and grace, conjuring deep-seeded tradition rather than new country (aka, rock music from people in cowboy hats). There's a grass-roots essence running through the album, but the band sidesteps tradition in the lyrics with tracks like "Nicotine & Vitamin C," the lovely sunset lullaby of "The Beautiful Narcotic Place I Reside," and the saddle-shop quartet of "A Dog Can Break Your Heart Too." Furthermore, "The Mystery of Life" and "Duty to Our Pod" seem downright existentialist in their approach. The modest bari-twang vocals of Robert Rex Waller Jr. and the other contributing voices are all appropriately unpolished, and everything goes down as smooth as molasses. This self-titled debut album has too much grit and professionalism to be a novelty act, but I See Hawks in L.A. is, in fact, such a smart band that they practically alienate themselves from the genre they fit so well. Also, the fact that they received an award for Best Country Band in the city of Los Angeles only furthers the notion that the quintet is a little left of center. With a nod and a dry smirk, these boys are the best-kept secret in philosophical tongue-in-cheek Southern hospitality that California has to offer. Only you can decide how vital that is, but rest assured these boys can play.

Grapevine, their second album, continues the trip. The trip may be up the 5 north of Los Angeles ("Grapevine"), out to the high desert ("Wonder Valley Fight Song"), down to Mexico ("Libre Road"), from Minnesota to North Carolina to California in a Ford Taurus station wagon ("Texarkanada"), or up to the green fields of Humboldt County ("Humboldt"). Through their songs they took me along for the ride ("Hitchhiker"). I was a new resident of California when I first heard the songs on this album, so in very real ways, they served as my travel guide.

Their third album, California Country, will be released on May 9th. It was mixed at the Hyde Street Studios in San Francisco, California. The music is "woody" with an analog sound that is deep and real. The songs are just as real. (To read about the Hyde Street Studio adventure click here.) On the album there's a biography of Senator Robert C. Byrd from West Virginia "Byrd from West Virginia." "Raised by Hippies" is a story of a couple who move from San Francisco to the mountains of Tennessee and who discover along the way that "hippie" isn't about living in a school bus traveling along the Blue Ridge Parkway, but it's something you're made of that doesn't fade away ~ even among the Izod's and argyle's of Chicago in the 80's. You can hear cuts from the new CD on the I See Hawks in LA My Space page.

The Hawks will be traveling down to Texas for South by Southwest (SXSW) next week. Be sure to check them out if you're down there:

TEXAS TOURETTE:

Wednesday, March 15th
Sig's Lagoon (In-Store), 3710 Main Street, Houston, TX. 8 PM
Continental Club, 3700 Main Street, Houston TX. 10:00 PM

Thursday, March 16th
Maria’s Taco Xpress 2529 S. Lamar, Austin, TX. 3:20 PM
Hole in the Wall, 2538 Guadalupe, Austin, TX. 7 PM

Friday, March 17th
Opal Divines Freehouse, 700 W. 6th Street, Austin, TX. 6 PM

Saturday, March 18th
BD Riely's 204 6th Street, Austin, TX early afternoon
Opal Divines Penn Field, 3601 S. Congress, Austin, TX. 8 PM

Oh... and the "CD cover" at the top of this post isn't the one that's on the album. "Raised By Hippies" isn't the name of the album. It's just a figment of my imagination. The official cover is from pictures that were taken on the Hawks tour this past summer. The feel it elicits of traveling, illustrated by the gas station in the dark, is such a powerful one. But... those hippie children were just too good to leave unseen!