Chris Hawkes is a songwriter, singer, guitarist, recording engineer and producer. Hawkes performs with Miranda Dawn as the duo Dawn and Hawkes.
Music career
Beginnings and bands As a musician Chris Hawkes was first recorded and released on a 1998 compilation Garage Nights at Laser Trax released on Cannon Riggle Records.
Hawkes formed a band called Redtag while attending the University of North Texas.
Hawkes switched roles of frontman/songwriter to produce and play lead guitar for Five Times August, a previously solo project of singer-songwriter Brad Skistimas. The single "Better With You" was featured on MTV series Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County in its inaugural season.
A full length 2005 follow up album Fry Street, with performance and production by Hawkes, received more play on cable and broadcast television. In 2007 tracks from Something Clever and Fry Street were compiled and released as The Independent.
In 2005 Hawkes and other members, also known as Redtag, departed Five Times August and renamed as The Color Gray releasing 2005's self-titled EP and 2006 Control LP. The release of The Color Gray's full-length album Control was preceded with the single "Nothing to Lose" released to commercial rock radio KTBZ-FM, KLAQ, KNCN, KEYJ and playlist rotation on KDGE The Edge Dallas.
Solo career In 2007 Chris Hawkes released his first solo acoustic album Guitar and VoiceAmazon.com: Guitar and Voice by Chris Hawkes MTV featured "Falling Into Doubt" on episodes of the television series The Hills third and fourth season and on Animal Planet show Jockey's in 2008.
Hawkes released a second independent album Because I Feel That Way Too in 2009. Tracks from the album were pre-loaded in AT&T smart phones, featured on MTV's Teen Mom 2 and radio stations in the U.S.
While touring in 2010, Hawkes co-wrote and recorded "Mystery" with Annemarie Jensen, releasing the song on her debut album, Melodies and his third album, Broken Record. Shortly after its release, "Mystery" was added to rotation on Danish radio station DR P4. Texas Music magazine featured another track from Broken Record, "From Love (Momma Song)", in their winter 2012 issue, while the title track "Broken Record" was included on MTV series Teen Mom 2 and "Watch It Fall" and "Little Too Long" were featured in 90210.
Dawn and Hawkes In 2011, Miranda Dawn and Hawkes collaborated for the recording of Dawn's debut album, Reason to Feel Alive.
Dawn was recognized as a finalist in the Kerrville Folk Festival New Folk songwriting competition for her songs "Forever Happily" and "Made to Roam" and performed with Hawkes at the festival in May 2012. Dawn and Hawkes continued co-writing and touring together and released a collaborative effort, Golden Heart, in June 2012.
In 2013, the duo auditioned for season 6 of the American reality talent show The Voice. Their audition was broadcast on NBC on February 24, 2014. Adam Levine and Shakira pressed the "I Want You" button, turning their chairs.
Their iTunes single for "I've Just Seen A Face" charted No. 1 in iTunes Rock sales and No. 22 across all genres, selling 24,000 copies in the first week as a Billboard charts "Hot Shot Debut". Their previously released "Golden Heart" EP followed.
Dawn and Hawkes toured throughout 2014 including Levitt Pavilion in Arlington, Texas to capacity crowd, California tour and appearances on Season 7 of The Voice supporting their friend Luke Wade's audition, harmony vocals with Jimmy LaFave on Looking Into You: A Tribute to Jackson Browne, summer tour with Austin, TX singer-songwriter Bob Schneider, performances at Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth, Texas, Austin City Limits soundstage at Moody Theater,http://todo.nowaustin.com/event/2659498 Austin City Limits Music Festival, and performances with Chris Isaak, Patty Griffin, Jim Lauderdale, Robert Earl Keen, Hayes Carll and former host of The Tonight Show, Jay Leno.
The duo continued touring throughout 2015 with appearances at music festivals like Folk Alliance International and South by Southwest while recording their first full-length album Yours and Mine.
Dawn and Hawkes announced their marriage with the release of their new music video and single, "Yours and Mine", on August 21, 2015, via Huffington Post. Their full-length album, also titled Yours and Mine, went on sale October 2 and followed with a second video release "Almost Mine" from Texas Monthly, and third video for "Silver Line" from Acoustic Guitar.
Miranda Dawn and Chris Hawkes recorded music and vocals for Daytime Emmy Award winning 2016 StoryBots series Ask The Story Bots and StoryBots Super Songs
Dawn and Hawkes appeared, individually and together, in the 2017 documentary film, Albert E. Brumley: Songwriter of the Ozarks
The duo stored their possessions and lived on the road full-time while starting their second full-length album The Other Side, released July 6, 2018. The first video from the album, 'Trees' premiered on Billboard.
Recording and producing career Hawkes studied audio engineering at the Dallas Sound Lab in Las Colinas, interned with Grammy Award winning producer Eric DelegardArtists. Eric Delegard grammy.com and became an engineer for the University of North Texas College of Music.
In 2004, Hawkes established One Road Studio, for the recording and production of his own bands and other regional acts. In 2006 Hawkes partnered with Disclive, a Dallas-based recording company, to record live performances of Thirty Seconds to Mars, Flyleaf, The Toadies, Sonic Youth, Cooder Graw, Spoonfed Tribe, and Edgewater.
Discography
Albums Released Album title Album/EP Artist Singles/Feature track 2004 Something Clever EP Five Times August "Better With You" 2005 Fry Street Album Five Times August 2005 The Color Gray EP The Color Gray 2006 Control Album The Color Gray "Nothing to Lose" 2007 The Independent Compilation album Five Times August 2007 Guitar and Voice Album Chris Hawkes "Falling Into Doubt" 2009 Because I Feel That Way Too Album Chris Hawkes "Again" "Falling Into Doubt" "Finally Free" 2011 Broken Record Album Chris Hawkes "Mystery" (with Annemarie Jensen) "From Love (Momma Song)" 2012 Golden Heart EP Dawn and Hawkes No. 25 Billboard Folk, No. 31 Top Heatseekers 2015 Yours and Mine Album Dawn and Hawkes No. 5 Roots Music Report Folk Album Chart 2018 The Other Side Album Dawn and Hawkes No. 8 Roots Music Report Folk and Contemporary Folk Album Charts
Singles "I've Just Seen A Face" (2014 Republic Records) No. 13 Rock Digital Singles No. 22 Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles "Stuck in the Middle with You" (2014 Republic Records)
Produced / Engineered / Mixed Albums / EPs Released Album title Artist Record producer Engineer Mixer Session musician2004 Something Clever Five Times August Leaving Stella Darby 2005 Fry Street Five Times August The Color Gray The Color Gray 2006 Time Stands Still Crimson Soul Edgefest 15: Ripped Thirty Seconds to Mars / Flyleaf Acoustic Campfire with Rock 108 KEYJ / Edgewater (unreleased EP) Faktion Exit 380: Live at Firewater Exit 380 Cooder Graw: Live at Firewater Cooder Graw Spoonfed Tribe: Live at Firewater Spoonfed Tribe 2007 Guitar and Voice Chris Hawkes Life is a Cigarette Better Than Sex Rock Show The Toadies Dartmyth Dartmyth Life.Love.Travel Lance Sitton The Independent (l.p.) Five Times August 2008 Lisa Apple Lisa Apple Killing Caroline Killing Caroline Flu Sessions Opium Symphony Ignite What's Inside Faktion The Rankin Twins The Rankin Twins In Your Head/Waiting Dartmyth Home Again Jeff Metil 2009 Because I Feel That Way Too Chris Hawkes Adam's Orchard Zach Arrington Songland Colin de los Santos 2010 The Rising Sun Philip Q. Morrow 2011 Broken Record Chris Hawkes Reason to Feel Alive Miranda Dawn 2012 Golden Heart Dawn and Hawkes 2013 The Cabin Sessions Ben Smith 2015 Yours and Mine Dawn and Hawkes 2016 Lost Luggage Lost Luggage Unladylike Summer Dean 2018 The Other Side Dawn and Hawkes
Filmography Year Title Role Type 2014 NBC The Voice Himself/Musician TV series 2015 Longhorn Network Sessions from the Cactus Cafe Himself/Musician TV series 2016 Texas Music Scene TV w/Ray Benson and Jack Ingram Himself/Musician TV series 2016 Ask The StoryBots Musician/Engineer TV series 2016 StoryBots Super Songs Musician/Engineer TV series 2017 Albert E. Brumley: Songwriter of the Ozarks Himself/Songwriter Documentary Film
References
External links Chris Hawkes Official Website One Road Studio Official site Dawn and Hawkes Official website Chris Hawkes YouTube Channel