Tag Archives: Dave Hawkins
Multi-Artist Collaboration Inspired By Original Songs
On Friday, Jan. 12, at The Bleeding Carrot in Owen Sound, six creative artists will present their original works based on four songs. The four songs are the work of Dave Hawkins. He has recruited visual artists and short story writers to create original works inspired by these four songs and they will be presenting them to an audience on Friday.
This past summer, Dave mastered recordings of four songs he’d written. While he performs regularly with the classic country band Trish and The Tractors, his original songs are something different. His song writing has a nostalgic air to it, reflecting as it does various aspects of life, mostly looking back, evoking the past. Dave performed his original songs a couple of times as part of a song writers’ evenings and found that audiences responded to his warmth and sincerity. Having created studio recordings he felt the urge to make something more of the songs.
“I was pleased with the result and I’ve always wanted to have a song inspire a piece of art and also do short stories,” he says, “I’ve always been a water colourist and in the past I was in a short story group where we sat around a wrote short stories once a week.
“I thought it would be fun to put those all together but then I thought I should get somebody out there who really writes short stories so I asked Maryann of the Ginger Press if she could suggest some writers for me because she’s in touch with a lot of local writers. She put out the word and two people contacted me and I got hold of a couple of artists that I know and asked them if they would like to be involved and I was very lucky to have them sign on too.”
The result is this unique presentation of music, art and stories built around four of Dave’s songs. The Bleeding Carrot is a very intimate venue where Dave had enjoyed success as part of one of the Songwriters’ shows and it’s ideal for this type of show. It starts at 7:30 with a cover charge of $10 at the door. No advance tickets will be sold and it’s a small room so it’s a good idea to get there early to get a seat. As a bonus, you receive a copy of the songs to take home with you.
“I’ll be giving away a flash drive with four songs on it with admission,” he says, “There will be two songs and then intermission and then two songs. There will be a song and then a short story or two will be read and then, of course, all through that you’ll be looking at a piece of art.”
He recruited two painters, one digital artist and two short story writers.
He had a special project for his brother “John who lives in Toronto, five years my senior, has been an artist all his life. I asked him to get involved, so he’s doing digital art, which we’re going to show on a screen. He’s done some fabulous stuff.”
One of the things that makes John Hawkins’ contribution special is that it is inspired by a song of Dave’s that evokes their summers together as kids. The song, “When I Was A Boy” captures the innocence and wonder of youth when he used to camp out with John and his other brothers, their souls open to the universe expanding above them when they were “sleeping out under the stars”. John has created a visual illustration of that.
“It’s just breathtaking. He did two of them and said ‘Which one do you want to use?’ I’m going to use them both, I’m gonna flip them back and forth because they’re both just stunning.”
Three Songwriters Back For More In Meaford
Three local songwriters who have been putting on concerts together are enjoying it so much and getting such positive feedback that they are back for more. Dave Hawkins, Bill Dickson and Bill Monahan will be playing a special evening concert at The Barn Coop in Meaford on Thursday, Nov. 16th at 7:30.
The Thursday Outlook – Sept. 21 to 25, 2017
At Kimberley Hall, just down the road from Meaford, a special art show is running all weekend and on Saturday night it will include live music from some local favourites. East Back Line, with Paul Woolner, David Marshak, Beaker Granger, and Tom Thwaits, will be on hand along with Chris Scerri’s new band Horseshoes & Handgrenades with Jon Zaslow, Beaker Granger, Erik Vandeweerdhof and as a special guest, violinist Victoria Yeh. The music is just part of a weekend-long celebration of local visual artists billed as “Apple and Art”.
If you can time it right, be on Hurontario Street in Collingwood today at 12:30 and you’ll be treated to a special pop-up concert with Tyler Yarema and Chuck Jackson at one of the pianos that are set up on the sidewalk. This is part of the promotion for a show that these two blues veterans have planned at The Historic Gayety Theatre on Oct. 5th.
Saturday night on Hurontario street it’s the annual Collingwood Art Crawl which includes live music in the evening from the Mike McCarthy Band.
Songwriters Night at The Bleeding Carrot
There is another Songwriters’ evening planned this Thursday, starting at 7:30 pm at The Bleeding Carrot in Owen Sound, this one featuring songwriters, Dave Hawkins, Bill Monahan, and Bill Dickson. Although the styles of the three are quite different, each has a distinctive way of weaving a story into a song. The evening will be set up so that all three performers share the stage through the show, taking turns with their songs and stories, in a conversational setting that mirrors the famous Bluebird Café in Nashville.
Dave Hawkins from Owen Sound and Bill Monahan from Meaford have done these songwriters’ nights before, with John Brownlow. Their first one was at The Red Door Pub in Meaford and the second was at The Garafraxa Café in Durham. Both evenings turned out to be very rewarding for the performers as well as for the audience. The idea of three songwriters in a single show offers a variety and range of expression that adds extra value for the audience, and it is a lot of fun. With the setup of this performance, there should be a lot of entertaining comments back and forth between the performers.
The third songwriter this time out is Bill Dickson from Sauble Beach. An appealing, melodic singer, his songs, like those of the others, tell personal stories with some clever wordplay and insights. He has a collection of songs on a CD called “Isn’t Life Grand”.
With the Bluebird Café style of show, the audience will get a chance throughout the evening to compare the songs and performances of the three unique songwrites, enjoy some laughs and some heartfelt moments and go home with new tunes playing in their heads.
Tickets for this show are $15, available at the venue or from the performers.
