| Chris Hawkes | |
|---|---|
Chris Hawkes |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Christopher Thomas Hawkes |
| Origin | Austin, Texas, USA |
| Genres | Pop rock Rock |
| Occupations | Singer-songwriter Guitarist Record Producer Recording Engineer |
| Instruments | Vocals Guitar |
| Years active | 1998–present |
| Labels | unsigned |
| Associated acts | Redtag, Five Times August,The Color Gray |
| Website | Chris Hawkes |
Chris Hawkes is a songwriter, singer, guitarist, recording engineer and producer.
He attended the University of North Texas in Denton Texas studying Art before deciding to pursue music and sound recording full time.
Contents |
As a musician Chris Hawkes was first recorded and released on a 1998 compilation Garage Nights at Laser Trax released on Cannon Riggle Records.
Redtag:
In late 1999 Hawkes formed a band with fellow high school students, Daniel Loflin, Ben Drake and Aaron Cauble called Redtag. During his years in Denton at the University of North Texas Chris reformed Redtag several times.[1]
Five Times August:
Hawkes departed from the usual role of frontman/songwriter to produce and play lead guitar for Five Times August with singer songwriter Brad Skistimas and Redtag drummer Cason Clifton. Skistimas had previously released solo recordings under the name Five Times August. The first album featuring Hawkes and Clifton was 2004's EP "Something Clever".[2] In addition to performing lead guitar, bass, percussion, background vocals Chris also produced, engineered and mixed the album starting One Road Studio.[3] The single "Better With You" was featured on MTV series Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County season one. Following the success of the release, the other member of Redtag, Jake Baxter, joined Five Times August.[4] A full length 2005 follow up album "Fry Street", featuring performances and production by Hawkes,[5][6] received numerous plays on cable and broadcast television. In 2007 tracks from "Something Clever" and "Fry Street" were compiled and released as "The Independent" breaking ground as an independent release available at Wal-mart.
The Color Gray:
In 2005 after disbanding from the singer of Five Times August, Hawkes and other members, also known as Redtag, formed The Color Gray. Hawkes wrote, engineered and produced 2005's self titled EP and the 2006 "Control" LP.[7] The release of The Color Gray's full-length album "Control" was preceded with attention for the first album single entitled "Nothing To Lose". It received spins on commercial radio including KTBZ-FM The Buzz in Houston KLAQ "The Q" in El Paso KNCN "C101" in Corpus Christi KEYJ Rock 108 Abilene and an official playlist add in their own major market home area on KDGE The Edge Dallas. The Color Gray disbanded in late 2006.
Solo:
In 2007 Chris Hawkes released his first solo album "Guitar and Voice"[8] MTV showed interest in Chris's work again featuring "Falling Into Doubt" on the popular series The Hills Episode 305[9] and Episode 417[10] The song was also featured on Animal Planet show "Jockey's" in the 2008 season.
Hawkes released a second independent album "Because I Feel That Way Too" in 2009. The sophomore release features a diverse roster of Hawkes's musician friends. Three tracks from the album, "Again", "Falling Into Doubt" and "Finally Free" were pre-loaded in AT&T smart phones.[11] By late 2009 "Because I Feel That Way Too" was supported with commercial and independent radio play on 165+ stations in the U.S. and spurred national touring for the album.[12]
While touring in 2010, Hawkes co-wrote and recorded "Mystery" with Annemarie Jensen (a.k.a Mary May Love of Copenhagen, Denmark) including the song on her debut album, "Melodies"[13]. It also started the initial recording of what became his third album, "Broken Record". Shortly after its release, "Mystery" was added to rotation on Denmark's most popular radio station[14][15], DR P4. "Broken Record" features a variety from guitar and string arrangements to a full blues band.
Chris Hawkes graduated with a special training degree from the Dallas Sound Lab in Los Colinas, Texas in 2000.
Following an internship with Grammy Award Winning Producer Eric Delegard, Hawkes became lead engineer for the University of North Texas College of Music.
In 2003 Chris Hawkes started his independent recording efforts with One Road Studio by recording his own bands and other regional acts.
One of the early projects, Five Times August, received play on MTV popular show Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County during seasons one and two and later play on MTV, Fox, ABC, Oxygen and Lifetime. Efforts from The Color Gray were added to major market radio station playlists including KDGE in Dallas and KEYJ in Abilene. Hawkes's self produced solo record was featured on MTV popular show The Hills.
In 2006 Hawkes partnered with Disclive, a Dallas based recording company, as head engineer to record live performances. Bands to date include: 30 Seconds to Mars, Flyleaf, The Toadies, Cooder Graw, Spoonfed Tribe, Edgewater
2007 Hawkes collaborated with several acts co-writing producing and performing on albums for Killing Caroline, Lisa Apple and Faktion
While producing other projects Hawkes collected a variety of musician friends and starting recording "Because I Feel That Way Too" in 2008. The album was completed and released in March 2009.