Happy New Year!
2007 was a hard working 35th year for the Nighthawks. We continue to get positive feedback on the current line-up and consistently hear people think it is the best version of the band EVER. We agree!
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| Blue Moon in Your Eye - and a New Studio Release In the Works... |
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After the amazing success of Blue Moon in Your Eye (Thank YOU very much), we are finally working on what will be the first studio album for the current band, and we are discovering just how much Johnny and Paul have brought to the table. They both have LOTS of experience in the studio and play well under the microscope. They both have many ideas for arrangements and sound, and Johnny has contributed a big chunk of original material.
Working in The Red Room: We've been working in the famous Red Room at Cue Studios in Falls Church VA with our oldpal Chris Murphy atthe board. The Red Room is BIG and allows the band to play together with eye contact and still isolate the instruments enough for modern recording purposes. Much of the playing has been virtually live with a minimum of over dubbing and so far, no additional musicians.
UNPLUGGED: We have also recorded some of our unplugged performances for the first time. This is an aspect of the band we hope to continue to develop. It is generally only showcased locally since the upright bass and steel bodied guitar do not travel well. Yet. |
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| January Break |
We're taking our usual January break. Check the website listings for individual gigs.
Mark hooks up with Terry Garland for some acoustic shows and is planning harmonica workshops at Stancill's Guitar Studio in Kensington , MD.
Johnny continues his Thursday nights with the Thrillbillies and will bring them across the river for a show at the Quarry House in Silver Spring MD.
Pete will be hooking up with our old pal Catfish Hodge for a show a JV's in Virginia but there won't be January All Stars Tour this year.
Paul is getting out of Dodge and has no side gigs planned. You go, Paul! |
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| Chick Hall’s Surf Club – Final Show Ever! |
 The new year promises to be exciting. We kick off with the final show ever in the famous Maryland honky tonk Chick Hall's Surf Club in Hyattsville on January 31.
This is like the natural habitat of a band like the Nighthawks. We will not become extinct without such places, but it is truly the atmosphere in which we developed and thrived. As nice as a concert hall can be, our kind of music has always come with pool tables, dance floors, and that slight element of...well, you know. |
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| Pinetop Show Postponed; Pinetop Heads to the Grammy's; New Pinetop DVD |
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We had to postpone our show with Pinetop Perkins (and Darryl Davis) at Glen Echo's Spanish Ballroom so Pinetop can go to the Grammies again.
Pinetop Grammy Nominations:
Pinetop played on TWO nominated albums this year.
The first is for "Pinetop Perkins On the 88's - Live in Chicago". This CD is included in the DVD "Born In The Honey - The Pinetop Perkins Story".
The second nod is for "Last of the Great Mississippi Delta Bluesmen - Live in Dallas" and is shared with Henry James Townsend, Robert Lockwood Jr. and David Honeyboy Edwards.
The awards ceremony will be held Sunday, February 10, 2008 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles and broadcast live on CBS beginning at 8:00PM.
You go, Pinetop.
Pinetop DVD Released:
The Nighthawks with Jan Zukowski and Pete Kanaras are featured on Pinetop's documentary DVD released in 2007 - called "Born in the Honey" although we're not really listed on the cover and only individually on the disc. Oh well.
A Little Nighthawks/Pinetop History:
Pinetop's first recordings as a bandleader are on The Nighthawks Jacks and Kings, now available on CD and recorded in Silver Spring MD in 1977 during a week at the Cellar Door in Washington DC of The Muddy Waters Band with the Nighthawks opening.
After two shows each night, The Nighthawks, in the midst of recording Sidepocket Shot, would host all night studio jam sessions with Pinetop, Bob Margolin, Willie Smith, Calvin Jones,Jerry Portnoy, and Luther Johnson, all from Muddy's band, along with Dave Maxwell who played all that week with the Hawks.
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The Nighthawks and HBO's The Wire
The final season for HBO's The Wire just started. Once again The Nighthawks have two songs in the series, a repeat of Blind Love and the debut of I Told You So. both songs written by Pete Ragusa. Listen carefully. (Click here to view the full upcoming viewing schedule from HBO...)
Nonesuch Records is also releasing a CD of music from the The Wire that includes The Nighthawks doing Sixteen Tons from our screen cameo in Season Two Episode One. Still the best MTV style video we could have ever come up with. We have recorded Tom Waits' Down in the Hole, the opening theme for The Wire, for our upcoming CD. Probably too late for a crack at being included. Steve Earle's version is apparently being used for the new (and final) season. What an honor it is to have been included in so many different ways in this amazing series. Thank you David Simon. |
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| West Coast, Florida, Europe, and Japan |
The Laughlin River Run, a long time annual event for us, is being moved to another time this year, probably earlier. We hope we can continue our weekly run in with Michael Burks' and John Earl's bands. It has been our only access to the Western US recently. We'll keep you posted.
We are, however doing our usual Bike Week related run to Florida this year in March. We have no concrete overseas plans for 2008 and we'll miss seeing our friends in Europe and Japan but with the current state of the world we're kind of happy to stay stateside for the time being.
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Here's hoping it is a great year for you and for the Nighthawks. Prosperity and Peace, y'all...
THE NIGHTHAWKS MARK PETE PAUL AND JOHNNY |
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