Chris Hawkes

Chris Hawkes and Miranda Dawn singing at the Saxon Pub in Austin, Texas. Photo by Reagan Ashley O'Hare.

Chris Hawkes
Birth name	Christopher Thomas Hawkes
Genres	Rock Americana Indie folk
Occupation(s)	Singer-songwriter guitarist record producer recording engineer
Instrument(s)	Vocals guitar
Years active	1998–present
Labels	Self-released, Republic Records
Website	www.chrishawkesmusic.com

Chris Hawkes is a songwriter, singer, guitarist, recording engineer and producer. Hawkes performs with Miranda Dawn as the duo Dawn and Hawkes.

Music career

Beginnings and Bands

As a musician Chris Hawkes was first recorded and released on a 1998 compilation Garage Nights at Laser Trax released on Cannon Riggle Records. ^[1]

Hawkes formed a band called Redtag while attending the University of North Texas. ^[2]

Hawkes switched roles of frontman/songwriter to produce and play lead guitar for Five Times August, a previously solo project of singer-songwriter Brad Skistimas. The single "Better With You" was featured on MTV series Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County in its inaugural season.

A full length 2005 follow up album Fry Street, with performance and production by Hawkes, ^[3] received more play on cable and broadcast television. In 2007 tracks from Something Clever and Fry Street were compiled and released as The Independent. ^[4]

In 2005 Hawkes and other members, also known as Redtag, departed Five Times August and renamed as The Color Gray releasing 2005's self-titled EP and 2006 Control LP. ^[5] The release of The Color Gray's full-length album Control was preceded with the single "Nothing to Lose" released to commercial rock radio KTBZ-FM, KLAQ, KNCN, KEYJ and playlist rotation on KDGE The Edge Dallas.

Solo career

In 2007 Chris Hawkes released his first solo acoustic album Guitar and Voice ^[6] MTV featured "Falling Into Doubt" on episodes of the television series The Hills third and fourth season ^[7] and on Animal Planet show Jockey's in 2008. ^[8]

Hawkes released a second independent album Because I Feel That Way Too in 2009. Tracks from the album were pre-loaded in AT&T smart phones, featured on MTV's Teen Mom 2 and radio stations in the U.S. ^[9]

While touring in 2010, Hawkes co-wrote and recorded "Mystery" with Annemarie Jensen releasing the song on her debut album, Melodies ^[10] and his third album, Broken Record. Shortly after its release, "Mystery" was added to rotation on Danish radio station DR P4. ^[11] Texas Music magazine featured another track from Broken Record, "From Love (Momma Song)", in their winter 2012 issue, ^[12] while the title track "Broken Record" was included on MTV series Teen Mom 2 and "Watch It Fall" and "Little Too Long" were featured in 90210.

Dawn and Hawkes

In 2011, Miranda Dawn and Hawkes collaborated for the recording of Dawn's debut album, Reason to Feel Alive. ^[13]

Dawn was recognized as a finalist in the Kerrville Folk Festival New Folk songwriting competition for her songs "Forever Happily" and "Made to Roam" ^[14] and performed with Hawkes at the festival in May 2012. Dawn and Hawkes continued co-writing and touring together and released a collaborative effort, Golden Heart, in June 2012.

In 2013, the duo auditioned for season 6 of the American reality talent show The Voice . Their audition was broadcast on NBC on February 24, 2014. Adam Levine and Shakira pressed the "I Want You" button, turning their chairs.

Their iTunes single for "I've Just Seen A Face" charted No. 1 in iTunes Rock sales and No. 22 across all genres, selling 24,000 copies in the first week as a Billboard charts "Hot Shot Debut". ^{[15] [16]} Their previously-released "Golden Heart" EP followed. ^[17]

Dawn and Hawkes toured throughout 2014 including Levitt Pavilion in Arlington, Texas to capacity crowd, ^[17] California tour and appearances on Season 7 of The Voice supporting their friend Luke Wade's audition, ^[18] harmony vocals with Jimmy LaFave on Looking Into You: A Tribute to Jackson Browne, ^[19] summer tour with Austin, TX singer-songwriter Bob Schneider, ^[20] performances at Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth, Texas, ^[21] Austin City Limits soundstage at Moody Theater, ^[22] Austin City Limits Music Festival, ^{[23] [24]} and performances with Chris Isaak, ^[25] Patty Griffin, ^[26] Jim Lauderdale, ^[27] Robert Earl Keen, Hayes Carll and former host of The Tonight Show, Jay Leno. ^[21]

The duo continued touring throughout 2015 with appearances at music festivals like Folk Alliance International and South by Southwest while recording their first full-length album Yours and Mine. ^[28]

Dawn and Hawkes announced their marriage with the release of their new music video and single, "Yours and Mine", on August 21, 2015, via Huffington Post . ^[29] Their full-length album, also titled Yours and Mine, went on sale October 2 and followed with a second video release "Almost Mine" from Texas Monthly , ^[30] and third video for "Silver Line" from Acoustic Guitar. ^[31]

Miranda Dawn and Chris Hawkes recorded music and vocals for Daytime Emmy Award winning 2016 StoryBots series Ask The Story Bots and StoryBots Super Songs ^[32]

Dawn and Hawkes appeared, individually and together, in the 2017 documentary film, Albert E. Brumley: Songwriter of the Ozarks ^[32]

The duo stored their possessions and lived on the road full-time while starting their second full-length album The Other Side, released July 6, 2018. ^[33] The first video from the album, 'Trees' premiered on Billboard . ^[34]

Recording and producing career

Hawkes studied audio engineering at the Dallas Sound Lab in Las Colinas, ^[35] interned with Grammy Award winning producer Eric Delegard ^[36] and became an engineer for the University of North Texas College of Music. ^[37]

In 2004, Hawkes established One Road Studio, for the recording and production of his own bands and other regional acts. ^[38] In 2006 Hawkes partnered with Disclive, a Dallas-based recording company, to record live performances of Thirty Seconds to Mars, Flyleaf, The Toadies, Sonic Youth, Cooder Graw, Spoonfed Tribe, and Edgewater. ^[39]

Discography

Albums

Released	Album title	Album/ EP	Artist	Singles/Feature Track
2004	Something Clever	EP	Five Times August	"Better With You"
2005	Fry Street	Album	Five Times August
2005	The Color Gray	EP	The Color Gray
2006	Control	Album	The Color Gray	"Nothing to Lose"
2007	The Independent	Compilation album	Five Times August
2007	Guitar and Voice	Album	Chris Hawkes	"Falling Into Doubt"
2009	Because I Feel That Way Too	Album	Chris Hawkes	"Again" "Falling Into Doubt" "Finally Free"
2011	Broken Record	Album	Chris Hawkes	"Mystery" (with Annemarie Jensen) "From Love (Momma Song)"
2012	Golden Heart	EP	Dawn and Hawkes	No. 25 Billboard Folk, No. 31 Top Heatseekers
2015	Yours and Mine	Album	Dawn and Hawkes	No. 5 Roots Music Report Folk Album Chart
2018	The Other Side	Album	Dawn and Hawkes	No. 8 Roots Music Report Folk and Contemporary Folk Album Charts

Singles

• "I've Just Seen A Face" (2014 Republic Records) No. 13 Rock Digital Singles No. 22 Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles
• "Stuck in the Middle with You" (2014 Republic Records)

Produced / Engineered / Mixed Albums / EPs

Released	Album title	Artist	Record Producer	Engineer	Mixer	Session Musician
2004	Something Clever	Five Times August	Y	Y	Y	Y
	Leaving Stella	Darby	Y	Y	Y	Y
2005	Fry Street	Five Times August	Y	Y	Y	Y
	The Color Gray	The Color Gray	Y	Y	Y	Y
2006	Time Stands Still	Crimson Soul	Y	Y	Y	Y
	Edgefest 15: Ripped	Thirty Seconds to Mars / Flyleaf		Y
	Acoustic Campfire with Rock 108	KEYJ / Edgewater		Y	Y
	(unreleased EP)	Faktion	Y	Y	Y	Y
	Exit 380: Live at Firewater	Exit 380		Y	Y
	Cooder Graw: Live at Firewater	Cooder Graw		Y	Y
	Spoonfed Tribe: Live at Firewater	Spoonfed Tribe		Y	Y
2007	Guitar and Voice	Chris Hawkes	Y	Y	Y	Y
	Life is a Cigarette	Better Than Sex	Y	Y	Y	Y
	Rock Show	The Toadies		Y	Y
	Dartmyth	Dartmyth	Y	Y	Y
	Life.Love.Travel	Lance Sitton	Y	Y	Y	Y
	The Independent (l.p.)	Five Times August	Y	Y	Y	Y
2008	Lisa Apple	Lisa Apple	Y	Y	Y	Y
	Killing Caroline	Killing Caroline	Y	Y	Y	Y
	Flu Sessions	Opium Symphony	Y	Y	Y
	Ignite What's Inside	Faktion	Y	Y	Y	Y
	The Rankin Twins	The Rankin Twins	Y	Y	Y	Y
	In Your Head/Waiting	Dartmyth	Y	Y	Y	Y
	Home Again	Jeff Metil	Y	Y	Y	Y
2009	Because I Feel That Way Too	Chris Hawkes	Y	Y	Y	Y
	Adam's Orchard	Zach Arrington	Y	Y	Y	Y
	Songland	Colin de los Santos	Y	Y	Y	Y
2010	The Rising Sun	Philip Q. Morrow	Y	Y	Y	Y
2011	Broken Record	Chris Hawkes	Y	Y	Y	Y
	Reason to Feel Alive	Miranda Dawn	Y	Y	Y	Y
2012	Golden Heart	Dawn and Hawkes	Y	Y	Y	Y
2013	The Cabin Sessions	Ben Smith			Y
2015	Yours and Mine	Dawn and Hawkes	Y	Y	Y	Y
2016	Lost Luggage	Lost Luggage	Y	Y	Y	Y
	Unladylike	Summer Dean		Y	Y	Y
2018	The Other Side	Dawn and Hawkes	Y	Y	Y	Y

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Type
2014	NBC The Voice	Himself/Musician	TV series
2015	Longhorn Network Sessions from the Cactus Cafe	Himself/Musician	TV series
2016	Texas Music Scene TV w/Ray Benson and Jack Ingram	Himself/Musician	TV series
2016	Ask The StoryBots	Musician/Engineer	TV series
2016	StoryBots Super Songs	Musician/Engineer	TV series
2017	Albert E. Brumley: Songwriter of the Ozarks	Himself/Songwriter	Documentary Film

References

1. "Garage Nights At Laser Trax, Volume 1 (1998, CD) - Discogs". Discogs . September 1998.
2. "Good Friday: Seemingly Endless SXSW Backwash, The Sex Pistols Experience, Dale Watson, As Tall as Lions, Or The Whale, Billy Joe Shaver, These Arms Are Snakes, Randy Travis, Asobi Seksu, Great Lakes Myth Society and The Pink Spiders | DC9 At Night | Dallas | Dallas Observer | The Leading Independent News Source in Dallas, Texas".
3. "Fry Street - Five Times August | Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic .
4. "The Independent - Five Times August | Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic .
5. "Control - the Color Gray | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic .
6. Amazon.com: Guitar and Voice by Chris Hawkes
7. "Chris Hawkes - List of Songs heard in Movies & TV Shows". WhatSong. Retrieved November 21, 2023.
8. "Chris Hawkes Lyrics, Song Meanings, Videos, Full Albums & Bios".
9. "Chris Hawkes". Archived from the original on October 29, 2011.
10. "Melodies by Mary May Love". March 11, 2011. Retrieved November 21, 2023– via music.apple.com.
11. "Chris Hawkes".
12. "Winter 2012".
13. "Dawn & Hawkes hometown, biography". Last.fm. Retrieved November 21, 2023.
14. "History of the Kerrville New Folk Songwriting Contest | Kerrville Folk Festival".
15. "Chart Moves: American Authors Pen First No. 1; Brantley Gilbert Pops Cork Atop Hot Country Songs; Wisin's All-Star Collab Storms Latin Lists". Billboard . March 7, 2014.
16. "Dawn & Hawkes Sold 24,000 Copies of "I've Just Seen a Face"". March 9, 2014.
17. "Fresh off 'The Voice,' Hawkes & Dawn make Levitt stop in Arlington". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. May 30, 2014. Retrieved November 21, 2023.
18. "Luke Wade Gets His Star Turn on NBC's The Voice | DC9 At Night | Dallas | Dallas Observer | The Leading Independent News Source in Dallas, Texas".
19. "Looking into You: A Tribute to Jackson Browne - Various Artists | Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic .
20. "A night of Austin at the Varsity Theater: Bob Schneider with Dawn & Hawkes | Twin Cities Daily Planet". www.tcdailyplanet.net. Archived from the original on July 28, 2014.
21. "Central Track // Jay Leno // An Evening with a Legend". Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved February 9, 2016.
22. http://todo.nowaustin.com/event/2659498 ^{[ permanent dead link ‍]}
23. "2014 Artist List | ACL Music Festival". Archived from the original on January 8, 2015. Retrieved December 19, 2014.
24. "Austin City Limits 2014: Interview with Austin's Dawn and Hawkes « Miss A® | Charity Meets™ Style". Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved December 17, 2014.
25. "Chris Isaak et al. At Gruene Hall (8/14/14) | Pollstar". Archived from the original on December 17, 2014. Retrieved December 17, 2014.
26. "Patty Griffin brings Americana to the Yucca". November 5, 2014.
27. "Music City Roots • KKFI" . Retrieved November 21, 2023.
28. "Explore Steamboat".
29. "Black Cat: Chatting with Never Shout Never's Christofer Drew, Plus Dawn & Hawkes and Geoff deBree Exclusives". HuffPost . August 19, 2015.
30. "Watch 'The Voice' Stars Dawn & Hawkes Duet In The Middle Of Nowhere – Texas Monthly". October 5, 2015.
31. "New Music: Watch Dawn & Hawkes' Video for 'Silver Line' / News / Acoustic Guitar". Archived from the original on November 1, 2015. Retrieved October 31, 2015.
32. "Miranda Dawn". IMDb .
33. "Artist Interview: Dawn and Hawkes – Folk duo singing with depth and beauty". July 20, 2018.
34. "Dawn & Hawkes Share Stark, Gorgeous 'Trees' Video: Premiere". Billboard. August 8, 2018.
35. "Exclusive Interview with Dawn and Hawkes". December 14, 2015.
36. Artists. Eric Delegard grammy.com ^{[ dead link ‍]}
37. "After UNT, student becomes the Voice finalist". April 22, 2014.
38. "Dawn & Hawkes return to Steamboat Springs".
39. "Alumni US | University of North Texas, Dallas/Fort Worth Area".

External links

• Chris Hawkes Official Website
• One Road Studio Official site
• Dawn and Hawkes Official website
• Chris Hawkes YouTube Channel