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Ronald James Hawkins | |
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| Born | November 29, 1964 |
Ronald James Hawkins is a musician from Toronto who is best known as a member of the band The Lowest of the Low. [1] He has also released music as a solo artist, and fronted the bands Ron Hawkins and the Rusty Nails and Ron Hawkins and the Do Good Assassins. [2] He has produced albums for multiple independent bands and artists and is also an accomplished painter.
The Lowest of the Low sold over 100,000 copies of their two independent releases[ citation needed ], Shakespeare My Butt and Hallucigenia . Shakespeare My Butt was voted by Canadians as one of the Top 10 Canadian Albums of all time by Chart magazine. [3] The band broke up in 1994.
After The Lowest of the Low broke up, Hawkins formed The Leisure Demons with former Squirrel drummer Stephen Keeping. The Leisure Demons recorded a four-song demo containing songs that were later recorded by his next band, The Rusty Nails. In 1995, he released his first solo album, The Secret of My Excess. The musicians on this release—Lawrence Nichols (vocals), Christopher Plock (saxophones), Michael Kaler (aka Blitz) (bass)—soon became known as The Rusty Nails, and were joined by Rob Fenton (saxophone, violin), and Mark Hansen (drums). Mark Hansen was a member of the Toronto band Dig Circus, which was mentioned in a Lowest of the Low song. The Rusty Nails spent much of 1996 and 1997 touring in support of The Secret of My Excess. In September 1998 their first album, Greasing the Star Machine, was released independently, and was followed by Crackstatic in 2000.
The band supported Billy Bragg, The Violent Femmes, Cracker and Big Sugar on tours.
In 2000, The Lowest of the Low reunited. They performed a reunion tour, which resulted in the live album Nothing Short of a Bullet . They later recorded another album, Sordid Fiction , before splitting up again in 2007. The Lowest of the Low continue to play sporadic shows to this day, including a tour celebrating the 20th anniversary of their most famous album, Shakespeare My Butt , which culminated at Massey Hall on May 7, 2011. The band reformed again and recorded Do the Right Now in September 2017 and Agitpop in 2019.
Exclaim! magazine, writing about the album 10 Kinds of Lonely (2009), notes that "the spontaneous results confirm his status as one of our best wordsmiths". Bob Wiseman joined him on keyboards to perform the record live.
In 2011 he formed a new band, the Do Good Assassins. They released a double CD, Rome, in 2012 and Garden Songs in 2015.
The song "Peace and Quiet" from Garden Songs was played prior to every home game at Air Canada Centre for the Toronto Maple Leafs for the 2015–16 and 2016-17 seasons.
Hawkins's sixth solo album, Spit Sputter and Sparkle, was released in 2016 on Pheromone Recordings.
In 2020, with Canada and much of the world in lockdown because of the coronavirus pandemic, Hawkins began hosting live shows broadcast from his living room for fans to watch. Dubbed "Tommy Douglas Tuesdays" (named in tribute to Tommy Douglas for his role in bringing universal health care to Canada), the weekly shows saw Hawkins play every song in his entire catalog before moving on to request nights and themed evenings.
The Band was a Canadian-American rock band formed in Toronto, Ontario, in 1967. It consisted of Canadians Rick Danko, Garth Hudson, Richard Manuel, Robbie Robertson, and American Levon Helm. The Band's music combined elements of Americana, folk, rock, jazz and country, which influenced artists such as George Harrison, Elton John, the Grateful Dead, Eric Clapton and Wilco.
The Lowest of the Low is a Canadian alternative rock group formed in 1991 from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They were one of the most influential bands on the Canadian alternative music scene in the early 1990s, garnering widespread critical acclaim and radio play. Their most successful album, Shakespeare My Butt, was later named one of the ten greatest albums in Canadian music history in three successive reader polls by the music magazine Chart, as well as being ranked as the 84th greatest Canadian album of all time in Bob Mersereau's book The Top 100 Canadian Albums.
Broken Social Scene is a Canadian indie rock band and musical collective including as few as six and as many as nineteen members, formed by Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning in 1999. Alongside Drew and Canning, the other core members of the band are Justin Peroff (drums), Andrew Whiteman (guitar) and Charles Spearin (guitar).
Joshua Ryan Freese is an American drummer. A member of punk rock band the Vandals since 1989, Freese has also been a member of new wave band Devo since 1996 and rock band Foo Fighters since 2023.
FM is a Canadian progressive rock music group formed in 1976 in Toronto, by Cameron Hawkins and Jeff Plewman. The band existed from 1976 to 1989, 1994–1996, 2006, and 2011–present. They have had periods of inactivity during their existence. Their music has been categorized as space rock, and lyrics are dominated by science fiction themes. In November 2011, Hawkins reformed the band with two new players.
Shakespeare My Butt... is an album by Canadian band The Lowest of the Low, released in 1991.
Hallucigenia is an album by Canadian band The Lowest of the Low, released in 1994. It was the band's first release distributed by a major record label until 2018, when the band signed with Warner Music Canada.
Nothing Short of a Bullet is a 2002 live album by The Lowest of the Low. The album documents the band's 2000 reunion tour. The title comes from a line in the band's song "For the Hand of Magdalena", Nothing short of a bullet could have broken your will.
Sordid Fiction is an album by Canadian band The Lowest of the Low. For this record, and all future releases the band switched to Lowest of the Low, dropping "The" from their name. Apart from three studio songs on the band's 2002 live album Nothing Short of a Bullet, it was the band's first album of new material since 1994's Hallucigenia. This is the first Lowest of the Low recording not to feature original bassist John Arnott who left the band in 2002. The re-jigged lineup featured Dylan Parker replacing Arnott on bass and long time collaborator Lawrence Nichols joining the band as a full-fledged member.
Domenic Michele Antonio Troiano was a Canadian guitarist and songwriter, best known as a member of Mandala, Bush, James Gang, and The Guess Who. He also recorded music for film and television, often made guest appearances on other musicians' albums, and worked as a producer.
The Weakerthans are a Canadian indie rock band from Winnipeg. The band, led by John K. Samson, has released four studio albums and is currently inactive.
Sneaky Dee's is a concert venue and Tex-Mex restaurant in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Originally opened in 1987 on the north west corner of Bloor Street and Bathurst, it moved to its present location at College and Bathurst in 1990.
Rusty Nail or Rusty nail often refers to:
The Partland Brothers are a Canadian pop/rock band, best known for their 1986 hit single "Soul City". Originally fronted by brothers Chris and G. P. Partland with supporting session musicians, more recently they have recorded and performed as a trio with their brother Robin Partland.
East Bay Grease is the debut album by the soul and funk group Tower of Power, released in 1970. The band was one of the early music groups to be signed by Bill Graham's Fillmore Records, which released the LP.
Con-Test is the fifth album by FM, a progressive rock band from Toronto, Canada, released in 1985.
The Sheepdogs are a Canadian rock band formed in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan in 2004. The Sheepdogs were the first unsigned band to make the cover of Rolling Stone and have gone on to a career featuring multi-platinum album sales and four Juno Awards.
The following is a list of notable events and releases that happened in 2016 in music in Canada.
Do The Right Now is the fourth studio album by Canadian rock band, The Lowest of the Low.
Agitpop is the fifth studio album by the Canadian band The Lowest of the Low. This is the third consecutive album featuring a new bassist, as Greg Smith from The Weakerthans replaced long time Ron Hawkins collaborator Derrick Brady. The record is a collection of protest songs that respond to current global events, including the rise of fascism.
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