GREG HAWKS
I THINK IT’S TIME
SO LONELY–I HOPE I NEVER KNOW–THE KING OF HATE–NOTHING MATTERS HERE ANY MORE–PRETENDING NOT TO KNOW–ONE LIGHT–FROM ONE TO THE OTHER EXTREME–I THINK IT’S TIME–THINGS I DID NOT SAY–IT’S GOING TO BE OKAY–ANOTHER POSSIBILITY
Greg Hawks hails from Chapel Hill, NC, and, on his latest album, “I Think It’s Time,” he presents eleven originals that trace all the influences he has know over a career that has spanned some 30 years. There’s classic twang, folk-infused Americana, and some of the damn best protest songs to come along in the last, oh, say, 600 days. Greg plays virtually all the instruments herein, and reached out to Chris Stamey to mix the project.
As you listen, you’ll hear songs inspired by Jones, Haggard, Buck, and even Big Star/Alex Chilton. They are songs of hope, despair, desperation, and reminders of the harsh realities of life. And, a few take a clean shot at the jaw of old #45.
Leading off, our hero ponders the musical question, that, in the “golden age of vanity” and round-the-clock social media, “how can I be So Lonely?” Having a lover to leave him is a feeling “I Hope I Never Know,” while a bittersweet ode to his deceased father is a stark reminder of life’s uncertainties, and the fact that tomorrow is never promised, with regrets for “The Things I Did Not Say.” “Pretending Not To Know” uses a Bakersfield-ish arrangement to convey the disintegration of a love affair where “secrets kept inside have stolen your soul.”
We grew up in the Sixties, and some of today’s crop of artists in both Americana and blues have crafted some of the best protest anthems since that era. “How low can you go when you’re below the floor,” and “we’ve never seen this kind of thing before,” because, now, “Nothing Matters Here Anymore.” You can sho’ nuff get on Greg’s fightin’ side by “spreadin’ rumors into what we call the news,” “From One To The Other Extreme.” But, nothin’ beats Greg’s most barbed shot at the current administration, the “King Of Hate.” It kicks old man Fred Trump’s little boy right square between his golf balls, as we all wonder what’s next from a man who “never met a law he couldn’t break.”
With “I Think It’s Time,” Greg Hawks puts himself out there by using a clever combination of all his varied influences over his career. A brilliant songwriter, you may not agree with all he says, but you gotta love his conviction. Until next time…Sheryl and Don Crow, The Nashville Blues Society.
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