Bobby Hawk's folk rock foray "Lights On Kinks Out" descends into a sort of lush madness

New York City based (by way of Sibley, Illinois) Bobby Hawk makes music and meditation parts of his daily life. He just recently released his first solo single Lights On Kinks Out. The track begins with static and far away sounds and then falls head first into descending folk rock melodies and lush mix of guitars, bass and drums. The dirty electric guitar lends a nice gritty kind of blues rock tone that is offset by oncoming orchestration (love the bits of piano) that swirls around it all. The kind of start and stop aesthetic that descends into a bigger psyche rock sound feels kind of art rockish and eventually the full tilt trippy pyschedelia blows up in a sort of Beatle-esque sort of way. Love the arc of the song. It starts and moves and goes somewhere. It is a journey.

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Robb Donker




THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM- PRESS NOTES;

During the first few seconds of Bobby Hawk’s first solo single, “Lights On Kinks Out,” the listener feels as though they’re tuning in through static to find a secret message unfolding on a faraway radio station. As the song comes into audio focus, it transforms into a haunting musical mantra about escaping a bad situation and returning to where one’s heart resides.

For Hawk, music, mantras, and meditation are all part his daily process. Born the tiny town of Sibley, Illinois (population: 300), the son of a musician quickly followed in his father’s footsteps, studying with Casey Driessen and learning to play violin, saxophone, mandolin, and guitar. Now based in New York City, he’s frequently found playing at his favorite Brooklyn venues: Sunny’s, St. Mazie, Skinny Dennis, and Barbes, among others.

Hawk uses twice-daily meditation and music as a form of spiritual healing and fulfillment; two practices he happily shares with his fans. Drawing inspiration from the elements he finds around him (reimagining a Django Reinhardt melody backwards or exploring an abandoned upstate New York property for the recording and video of “Lights On Kinks Out”) allows Hawk to create a musical experience that feels at once comfortably worn and familiar while also imaginative and new.

Over the years, Hawk has performed with the likes of Abigail Washburn, Jacob Jolliff, Clint Black, Vince Giordano’s Nighthawks, and more. As he sets off on his solo music journey, Hawk has one hope for his listeners: “I hope they hear how much music means to me, as well as how cathartic listening and creating can be.”