Will Hawkins first got my attention a few years back when his newly formed band Nine Mile Station made their debut at Ultimate Jam Night at The Whisky coming out of the pandemic. He has developed into one of the great performers gracing the stage at various SoCal venues such as The Whisky, Troubadour, Hotel Café and more.
Written by Don Adkins
Over the last year Will has taken a break from Nine Mile Station to develop a personal solo project. This resulting album Cartas No Enviadas (Unsent Letters) sees Will going back to thoughts and ideas originally formulated in New York’s Hudson River Valley where he lived before moving to California a decade ago. What we’re seeing is a more personal journey that is deep in refection on life itself, everything from his middle class beginnings with his parents in the song C’mon Now to a relationship journey in “As Good As It Gets” of a former love in his life. We’ve seen a similar path with fellow music artist Jason Isbell who rocks it when he is with his band The 400 Unit but whose recent effort Foxes in The Snow goes down an introspective path following his divorce from music artist Amanda Shires. Whether with Nine Mile Station or in his solo effort Hawkins musical style is Americana twinged rock, basically in the vein of artists such as Tom Petty, Nathaniel Rateliff, Jackson Browne or The Eagles. The sonic palette of songs in this new release has no shortage of notable musicians that includes Leland Sklar (James Taylor, Carole King, Phil Collins and more), Marty Rifkin (Glen Campbell, Jewel, Springsteen and more), Steve Ferrone (Tom Petty, Melissa Etheridge) and Fernando Perdomo (Echo In the Canyon) along with a notable selection of LA’s best talent.
The album release show on October 1st at the Irelands 32 venue featured Will and his band delivering a blistering high energy set that started off with one of the crowd favorites “California”, a song that is the usual opener for Will’s live shows that is an anthem for what, why and how it feels coming to California from the East Coast. He then performed several songs from the new album with his band in a toe tapping night of music. The music is observational, contemplative and super catchy. This guy deserves to be known at the national level and would be a perfect fit on the summer tour circuit with the likes of Chris Isaak, John Fogerty or Jason Isbell.
The image gallery below shows some images from this album release show.
Will Hawkins web site
https://www.willhawkinsmusic.com
Written and Photography all rights reserved by Don Adkins
https://www.instagram.com/donadkinsphoto
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