The Nighthawks
Invite You to a Back Porch Party with Their New CD Release, Coming April
21 on EllerSoul Records
America’s
Seminal Roots Music Band Continues to Deliver the Goods
WASHINGTON, DC – The Nighthawks, America’s seminal roots
music band, are throwing a Back Porch Party on their new EllerSoul
Records CD, coming April 21, and everyone’s invited. Following up the critical
success of their 2014 label debut CD, 444, the Washington,
DC-based quartet of Mark Wenner (harmonica/vocals), Paul Bell (guitar/vocals),
Johnny Castle (bass/vocals) and Mark Stutso (drums/vocals) once again show that
they can deliver the goods on a disc that’s destined to become a perennial
favorite all around the world.
Recorded “Live and Acoustic” at Montrose Studio in Richmond,
Virginia, the Blues Music Award-winning Nighthawks showcase an even-dozen set
list of songs that run the gamut of roots music, touching all bases with
excursions into blues, soul, rock ‘n’ roll, roadhouse country and rhythm and
blues, all the while demonstrating that you don’t have to plug in to get
electrified!
Along with five original songs from the band’s members,
Back Porch Party includes scintillating covers of compositions by
Muddy Waters (a band tradition), Lightnin’ Slim, Willie Dixon, Ike Turner and
Jimmy Rogers, among others. Bandstand favorite “Down in the Hole” (the theme
from the acclaimed TV series, “The Wire”) and “Walkin’ after Midnight,” a song
immortalized by country great Patsy Cline, are just two tracks that demonstrate
the breadth of The Nighthawks college of American musical knowledge, both live
and in the studio.
“It started with a memorial service,” recalls founding member
Mark Wenner about the genesis of the band doing acoustic recordings. “Thirty
years after the robbery/murder of Daniel ‘Duke’ Hope, an old friend of the early
band, the victim's mother asked the boys to play graveside. At first, it
appeared to be a complicated situation: How to get electricity to the site.
However, since the participants were few in number, it was decided to play with
a single snare drum, an upright bass, an acoustic guitar and harmonica, and the
vocals would be straight into the air. It worked. After watching a video of the
service, the band decided to try this format in smaller venues with tiny stages
with minimal amplification. It worked. People even danced.”
Wenner goes on to explain how that unplugged path would lead
The Nighthawks to some glorious results. “When Bill Wax, then head honcho at
Sirius/XM's Bluesville Channel, heard about the occasional acoustic Nighthawks,
he invited the band into their D.C. studios to record a couple of tunes for
their homemade blues jam segments. With very sympathetic engineering, The
Nighthawks knocked out an album's worth of mostly traditional blues in a couple
of hours. A week later, Bill presented the band with a wonderfully mixed digital
master with permission to use. Last Train to Bluesville was born.
It went on to garner a surprising amount of national airplay and win the band's
first Blues Music Award in Memphis in May 2011. It also helped put the band back
into the national spotlight, and they followed with their first Legendary Rhythm
& Blues Cruise performances and two successful subsequent releases,
Damn Good Time and 444.”
After two solid, critically acclaimed electric recordings,
The Nighthawks decided to go back to the unplugged route on their new CD.
“Although the band mostly continues its amplified style, they are quick to take
advantage of situations that warrant the acoustic format,” says Wenner. “Having
enjoyed both the sound and father/son team of engineers in Montrose Studio in
Richmond, Virginia, and mixing some acoustic numbers into the material on our
444 album, it seemed like the perfect place for another unplugged
recording. The band and EllerSoul execs also invited a small group of
sympathetic listeners in for the recording session. The resulting totally live
performance was captured by Bruce and Adrian Olsen and quickly mixed into this
presentation of a truly fun event, a BACK PORCH PARTY.”
True “road warriors,” The Nighthawks are booked by Blue
Mountain Artists (www.bmatours.com). The band plans to continue
their endless touring throughout the spring, summer, fall and winter in support
of Back Porch Party. To download a hi-res color photo of
The Nighthawks, click on this link: http://www.markpuccimedia.com-Nighthawks-PR-Photo.jpg
The Nighthawks, click on this link: http://www.markpuccimedia.com-Nighthawks-PR-Photo.jpg
For more information on the band, visit www.thenighthawks.com.
THE NIGHTHAWKS TOUR ITINERARY
3/20 Benji’s
Bluesdongle
New Smyrna, FL
3/21 Buckingham Blues Bar
Ft. Myers,
FL
3/22 Funky
Biscuit
Boca Raton, FL
3/26 Bradfordville Blues
Club Tallahassee,
FL
3/27 Blind
Willie’s
Atlanta, GA
3/28 Double Door
Inn
Charlotte, NC
4/4 The
Hamilton
Washington, DC
4/10 Garfield Center for the Arts @
Prince Theatre Chestertown, MD
4/11&4/12 Ramshead on
Stage
Annapolis, MD
4/17 Harvester Performance
Center Rocky Mount,
VA
4/24 Godfrey
Daniels
Bethlehem, PA
4/25 World Café Live @ the
Queen Wilmington,
DE
5/1 The Tin
Angel
Philadelphia, PA
Additional dates forthcoming ….
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