Red Hawkins and Friends currently consists of Red on songwriting, guitars, harmonica and vocals, Double P. on guitars and harmony vocals, Theron on banjo, harmonica and harmony vocals, Uncle Vernon Jeeder on percussion, winds and harmony vocals, and an occasional Amelia Jeeder on guitar and vocals. We keep a spare microphone open for other friends.
Influences
Way too many to name, with more than half a century behind me. This is a short list from the top of my memory. Gehlek Rimpoche, Albert King, Albert Collins, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGee, Paul Butterfield, Charlie Musselwhite, Little Stevie Wonder, Nanci Griffith, Stephen Foster, Everything Motown, Hank Williams, Jesus y Maria, Willie Nelson, Lucinda Williams, Iris Dement, Gillian Welch, The Grateful Dead, Mazzy Star, Dave vanRonk, Maria Muldaur, Buffy St. Marie, Robert Zimmerman, Steppenwolf, Cream, Eddie Palmieri, Ralph Stanley, The Rolling Stones, Joe Pass, the Brecker Brothers, Beethoven, Bach, Bartok, the Cosmic Beam, Joni Mitchell, Shakyamuni Buddha, Keith Jarrett, Charles Lloyd, Chick Corea and Return to Forever, Taj Mahal, Toni Rice, Alison Krauss, Stephen and Ina May, Milarepa, Bill Evans, Michael White, Allen Ginsberg, Jack Dejeanette, Hot Tuna, Ornette Coleman, Norman Blake, Miles Davis, Bob Marley, Michael Peed, Gurf Morlix, Bill Monroe, Ricky Skaggs, Luke Hilton and the Bluegrass Partners, John McCutcheon, Trapezoid, The Clash, Mary Black, His Holiness The Dalai Lama, Claudia Schmidt, Loreena McKennett, Vas, John Lennon, John Fogerty, Mark Noffler, Neil Young, Jesse Colin Young, Dino Valenti, Van Morrison, Dolly Parton, John Cippolino, Jimi, Flatt & Scruggs, Merle Haggard, Bill Champlain, Duality, Hoolie, Zydeco Ziggie, Stonecross, Clear Light and more Clear Light. Not to mention the sound of my own hand slapping time on the steel stairway rail climbing the echo-chamber stairwell in Kroger Hall, finding a beat in the echoes of Will Scarlett’s harmonica.
Sounds Like
Red's voice has been compared by to that of Rambling Jack Elliot, Dave van Ronk, Michael Murphy, depending on which song he is singing.
According that reviewer, "This is Tom Paxton or Tom Rush without the sugar-coating. Townes Van Zandt without the manic depression." Click here to read that complete review .
Red has finished recording his third CD compilation, titled Spring Mix. Sample selections are posted here. For ordering information, see Red's web site at Red Hawkins CD Recordings
It is not hard to catch Red Hawkins live. He sometimes performs solo, and sometimes with several friends as "Red Hawkins and Friends". He most frequently performs with a loosely knit group of musicians known as the Old Town Saginaw Music Association's "Saginaw River Log Jam". If there are no events listed here at Red's myspace page, check the events listings at the Old Town Saginaw Music Association's myspace page.
THE LEGEND OF RED HAWKINS Somewhere along the road Red picked up a guitar. He played around with it for a bit, then left it laying around the house in a state of fluctuating humidity and approximate tunings. Then one day his muse happened to roll on through. Perhaps she was riding the waves drifting off an old Woody Guthrie recording Red was listening to at the time. Perhaps she just saw a suitable host. For whatever reason, Red's muse started singing. By taking that step, and channeling his muse, Red (Ready) Hawkins began what appears to be a journey without end.
