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Psychedelic country rockers I See Hawks In L.A.

June-July UK Tour to coincide with the release of their latest opus Mystery Drug, which is released on Blue Rose Records on June 17 – see itinerary & album details below.

Includes Scottish Dates:

Scottish Gigs

June Weds 19  – Dingwall, Scottish Highlands, Square Wheels House Concert
Thurs 20 June   – Glasgow, Woodend Bowling & Lawn Tennis Club
Fri 21  – Kinross, Perthshire  Backstage @ The Green Hotel

 
“I See Hawks In L.A. are the finest country-rock band currently flying the freak flag of freedom, eco-peace and psychedelic transcendence on planet earth.” Mojo
 
Audio: ‘Mystery Drug’ (full album stream)

www.iseehawks.com
 

UK TOUR · JUNE 19 – JULY 8 2013

Psychedelic country rockers I See Hawks In L.A. announce the birth of a new CD, Mystery Drug, a gathering of their longtime musical tribe, with stellar guest contributions from California’s finest roots country musicians.
 
New and old Hawks listeners will be struck by the chances taken in this latest phase of the Hawks journey – mixing serious country cred (members have played with Dwight Yoakam, Emmylou Harris, John Denver, Hazel and Alice, and in every honky-tonk from Mississippi to Malibu) with wild lyricism and surreal story telling. Audra Schroeder of the Austin Chronicle calls the Hawks: “Americana, traversing the landscape of the Golden State like Didion on horseback. It’s a divine fusion of humor and twang that’s definitely high, but not that lonesome.”
 
I See Hawks In L.A. were founded in 1999 by Minnesotan turned Echo Park dweller Rob Waller and California natives Paul and Anthony Lacques and have been named “the city’s premier roots band” by the Los Angeles Times and “trance-inducing, the stories transfixing, the vibe completely Californian” by alt. country bible No Depression.
 
Mystery Drug, the band’s 7th release, cuts a wide swath of post-Gram Parsons California country music, with surreal musings on commerce as love (‘My Local Merchants’), desert marriage rituals (‘One Drop Of Human Blood’), and the vanishing of spirits and aquifers of the American west (‘Sky Island’).  Honky tonk and cowpunk grooves, a Celtic musing on death and ancestry, three memorable love ballads, the signature Hawks harmonies, and lots of cosmic acousticism make Mystery Drug a complex and varied voyage, full of wit and surprises.
 
Balancing this Joycean density are kickass performances by drummer Shawn Nourse (Dwight Yoakam, James Intveld), cosmic pedal steelers Rick Shea (Dave Alvin, Wanda Jackson) and Pete Grant (Grateful Dead, Rodney Crowell, The Dillards), psychedelic bass from Paul Marshall (Strawberry Alarm Clock, Hank Thompson) and big league harmonies and burning electric and slide guitar from the core Hawks crew.
 
Hawks records have always mixed traditional bar room musings with tales rooted in geography: mating dances of whales; the life of Senator Byrd from West Virginia; a Humboldt pot grower’s flight to Tibet; boom and bust in guitarist Lacques’ Mojave Desert homeland; wandering hippie caravans; the imminent collapse of suburban Houston. In 2002 the Hawks were decidedly ahead of the curve in condemning the Bush administration’s drums of war.
 
Despite this out on a limb perch, I See Hawks In L.A. have been embraced by legends of contemporary country, requested as an opener by Lucinda Williams and Chris Hillman (who plays on ‘06’s California Country), hitting the Americana Charts, #2 on XM radio’s alt country, and three #1’s on the Freeform American Roots Chart. They’ve toured the U.S. many times, and are returning to Europe & the UK for the 4th time from May 22-July 8.
 
You might catch the Hawks at Hempfest in Seattle, the Maverick Festival in Suffolk, Joe’s Pub in NYC, Old Town School Of Folk Music in Chicago, House Of Blues and McCabe’s in L.A., or on the main stage at Folk Alliance in Memphis.  From acoustic folk to raging big stage country rock psychedelia, the Hawks cover it all.
 
Mystery Drug was cut live in two days in February at Trend Coma studio, Echo Park (Los Angeles), with only harmony vocals and guest players added later. The no-safety-net immediacy of the grooves and Rob Waller’s rich baritone leap out of the speakers. I See Hawks In L.A. had fun with this one. Two-time Grammy winner Alfonso Rodenas kept it simple with a shimmering mix. I See Hawks In L.A. will tour the UK from June 19 to July 8 on acoustic instruments, returning to old haunts and introducing themselves to some new ones.
 

I SEE HAWKS IN L.A. · JUNE-JULY UK TOUR

Rob Waller (lead vocals, acoustic guitar), Paul Lacques (acoustic guitar, vocals), Paul Marshall (bass, vocals)

Scottish Gigs

June Weds 19  – Dingwall, Scottish Highlands, Square Wheels House Concert
Thurs 20   -Glasgow, Woodend Bowling & Lawn Tennis Club
Fri 21  – Kinross, Perthshire  Backstage @ The Green Hotel

PRESS ACCOLADES

 
“I See Hawks In L.A. are the finest country-rock band currently flying the freak flag of freedom, eco-peace
and psychedelic transcendence on planet earth.” Mojo
 
 “There’s a band out of southern California that renders music as uniquely forlorn as any Hank Williams tune.
The name of that group is, somewhat mysteriously, I See Hawks In L.A.” Counterpunch
 
“With their glistening harmonies, sharp songwriting, and a cosmic outlook that stays rooted in the tumbleweeds and Joshua trees, I See Hawks in LA fits right into the Golden State’s noble country lineage.” Crawdaddy
 
“I See Hawks in L.A. create country-rock more vital and fresh than most anything heard since the days of
Parsons and Hillman. Highly recommended.” Ink 19
 
“Post-millennial Eagles with a nice strain of Byrds-like psychedelia and a good sense of humor” L.A. Daily News
 
“I See Hawks in L.A. have established themselves by virtue of not only skill but also importance. They’re a fixation of Los Angeles and are making some of the most beautiful and well-crafted Americana of just about anyone.” PopMatters

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