Reviews

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by Michael Doherty

I See Hawks In L.A. returned to McCabe’s last night, delivering an excellent set and delighting an appreciative crowd at the sold-out show. This was the first time the Hawks had played that venue since the special celebration of Paul Lacques’ life back in April of 2024. That show was at a time when the band’s future was uncertain. Now the band is going strong again, with Dan Wistrom on guitar and pedal steel (though last night he played Weissenborn guitar instead of pedal steel). Interestingly, and fittingly, this show was also in honor of Paul Lacques, held to celebrate his birthday, which was the 20th. 

Mike Stinson

Mike Stinson opened the show, joined by Jesse Harris on electric guitar and backing vocals. He opened the set with “Something Right About You And Me,” which contains the line “You’re my kind of crazy.” That’s a line, or at least a sentiment, that most guys are in touch with. A perfectly sane partner is not to be found (and perhaps not to be desired, even if she did exist), so the trick is to find someone who is your kind of crazy. His set also included “Late For My Funeral,” “The City I Love,” “Out Of The Rain,” “Draw The Line” (which he introduced by saying it “started as me lamenting the death of customer service in America”), “Forever Is Too Long” and “Box I Take To Work” (which was a crowd favorite). He wrapped up his set with a cover of Eliza Gilkyson’s “Beauty Way.”

“Dancing Like A Feather”

Less than fifteen minutes later, Victoria Jacobs and Dan Wistrom took the stage and began the set with one of Victoria’s new songs, “Dancing Like A Feather.” “This has been a really weird year,” Victoria said. She mentioned how a lot of stuff had been happening, then added, “Too much stuff.” Indeed. “Dancing Like A Feather” is a beautiful song, and its line “There’s no place I can go to where you are” is heartbreaking. Rob Waller and Paul Marshall then joined Victoria and Dan on stage, along with Richie Lawrence on accordion, and the entire band played another of Victoria’s new songs, “Forever Shine.” She has a solo album in the works, and it might be out around the end of the year, so keep an eye out for that, friends.

“Okay, going back to my job now,” Victoria then said, putting down her acoustic guitar and moving to her spot behind the drum kit. “She can do it all, folks,” Rob told the crowd. And the Hawks went into “Hitchhiker,” such a good song, and one I hadn’t heard them do in a while. It was included on the Grapevinealbum. Richie Lawrence remained on accordion for the rest of the set, adding a special flavor to the songs. That was followed by “On Our Way,” the title track from the band’s 2021 album, and then another song the band hadn’t done in quite some time, “Slash From Guns N’ Roses” from the California Country album. The audience recognized it immediately, and responded with appreciation and joy. One of my favorite elements of this song is that cool bass part. “It was Slash. That’s a true story,” Rob said after the song. “But you guys knew that already.” Yeah, I got the feeling that probably everyone in the room had seen the band numerous times. It was that kind of crowd, and the band was able to feed off that energy. Rob then told the tale of the shirt he was wearing, how he’d lost it after a gig at McCabe’s six or seven years ago and then found it again for sale online. The very same shirt, his shirt. I wonder just how winding was the path that shirt took in getting back to Rob.

The band delivered a really sweet rendition of “I See Hawks In L.A.,” featuring some great vocal work. Dan played Weissenborn guitar on this one. Rob gave him a pat on the back at the end of the song, and the audience responded too. I can’t imagine it would be all that easy to step into the role that Paul Lacques played in this band, and Dan is doing a fantastic job, fully embraced by the group’s fans. Richie introduced “The Wonderful Waltz,” a song that he wrote with Paul Lacques. For this one, Richie was on both vocals and accordion. It was so good to hear this excellent song performed live again. “I love you, Paul,” Richie said as they ended the song. Everyone in the room felt the same way. “The Wonderful Waltz” was followed by “Carbon Dated Love,” which, by the way, the band listed as “Fern” on the set list. The band delivered a particularly good rendition last night, featuring some cool guitar work by Dan.

“Songbird”

In addition to Victoria Jacobs’ upcoming solo album, there is a new I See Hawks In L.A. album to look forward to. When Victoria introduced “Skipping Stones,” a song she wrote with Paul Lacques, she said it’s going to be on that new album. It’s a fun song, with something of a Bo Diddley beat, and it featured some great stuff on accordion. Afterward, the band mentioned that Paul’s band Bonedaddys had toured with Bo Diddley. Crazy. “Skipping Stones” was followed by “California Country,” always a crowd-pleaser. I’ve said this before, but one way you can be sure a band is going to be good is if you notice there are musicians in the audience. There are always respected and talented musicians in the audience at Hawks shows, and last night after “California County,” Rob Waller gave a shout-out to members of The Firkins, mentioning how they do a great version of that song. And speaking of talented musicians, Gwendolyn Sanford joined the band on vocals and guitar for “Songbird.” In introducing the song, she told the crowd how she saw a hawk on her porch. The song’s first line is “I saw a hawk in L.A. outside my window.”

“This is the one song I need a chart for,” Dan said before playing “I Fell In Love With The Grateful Dead.” Rob added that it’s the one Hawks song that uses all the chords available to them. There was an incredible energy to the song last night. Paul Marshall then sang lead on “Salvation,” a song that has become a highlight of the band’s sets. That was followed by another crowd favorite, “Good And Foolish Times,” which sounded even better than usual because of the presence of accordion. And the band included that little jam at the end. They wrapped up the set with “Hope Against Hope,” which seemed perfect, a beautiful ending to a great set of music. The encore was a rousing rendition of “Ride My Soul,” with the audience singing along. The show ended at 10:28 p.m.

Set List

1. Dancing Like A Feather
2. Forever Shine
3. Hitchhiker
4. On Our Way
5. Slash From Guns N’ Roses
6. I See Hawks In L.A.
7. The Wonderful Waltz
8. Carbon Dated Love
9. Skipping Stones
10. California Country
11. Songbird
12. I Fell In Love With The Grateful Dead
13. Salvation
14. Good And Foolish Times
15. Hope Against Hope

Encore

1. Ride My Soul

McCabe’s is located at 3101 Pico Blvd. in Santa Monica, California.

Tune in online at www.wncw.org

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“Raised By Hippies”… “I Fell in Love With the Grateful Dead”… “Humboldt”… You’ve probably heard these songs from this Southern California band on our airwaves; they’ve become ‘NCW classics. Their latest album is another great collection of Cosmic Americana stories, once again invoking classic Byrds and Flying Burrito Brothers, and it’s a rare opportunity to see the Hawks in Carolina! They’ll be at the Albino Skunk Festival on Friday, an outdoor house concert in Charlotte on Saturday, and another outdoor show in Black Mountain on Sunday (details on their website https://www.iseehawks.com/.) We’re pleased to welcome them back on Monday morning before they take flight back home.

Hawks + polka virtuoso accordionist Alex Meiner

by Michael Doherty
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I’ve decided to do my best to avoid giving even another dollar to the greedy music-devouring demon known as Ticketmaster/Live Nation. My focus will be on smaller venues, more intimate music experiences. And what stronger antidote to Live Nation is there than a house concert? And when the band is I See Hawks In L.A., well, things just couldn’t be much better all round. Last night the Hawks gathered in Sierra Madre to deliver two wonderful sets in a back yard that became one of the coolest venues I’ve been to recently. There was a great, inviting and relaxed vibe about the place, sort of how I always imagined my back yard would be if I could ever afford to own a home.

To start the evening, Victoria Jacobs did a short set of mostly new songs. Apparently, she’s not only been writing new material, but recording as well. So I am hopeful there will be a CD release in the near future. If the songs she played last night are an indication of her direction, then it is going to be a powerful and moving and personal album. “Trying to live my life without you/It’s not easy to do,” she sang in her first song of the set. Her set was approximately twenty minutes, ending at 7:20 p.m.

Ten minutes later, the whole band was on stage. There was a short delay as Paul Marshall rearranged a couple of things. While he was doing so, Rob Waller told the story of a show a long while back in Pasadena where the entire band nearly got electrocuted and their amps were fried. He then explained that just now Paul had gotten a little shock from his vocal microphone and so was creating a grounding system. It was the briefest of delays, and within a minute, perhaps two, they were ready to give it a go. Paul joked, “Tell me if my lips light up.” They began the show with “Hope Against Hope,” a perfect choice to open the set, to put things in motion. I was digging Paul’s bass line, and Dan Wistrom delivered a really nice lead on pedal steel. Dan then switched to electric guitar for “White Cross.” It’s interesting to me how sometimes different lines from a song will stand out to you, or hit you in some way. From songs you’ve heard many times, I mean. For example last night from “White Cross,” it was these: “Well, the good times didn’t suit me/I had to taste the pain.” And for a moment I thought of how certain people can’t seem to accept when things are good, when things are actually going their way.

The band then delivered an especially fun rendition of “Poour Me,” Paul Marshall counting the others in. “Coming in on the one,” he reminded them. Dan was back on pedal steel for that one. “Pour me more wine.” And indeed, Paul Marshall had a little more wine after that song. They followed that with “If I Move,” with Rob Waller first saying, “You know, if you live in Los Angeles, and you’ve lived here a while, you can’t really afford to move anymore.” At the end of that song, Dan Wistrom was adjusting his microphone stand, and Rob joked, “We gave Dan the ‘new guy’ stand.” There was then some joking about Paul Marshall’s secret family in Burbank, and the band went into “Highway Down.” Dan had switched to electric guitar for this song. This is still one of my personal favorites, and I saw I wasn’t the only one singing along. Then during “Live And Never Learn,” the song suddenly became funky in the middle there, thanks to Paul’s bass work. It was a delightful surprise. I know I’ve said before that one indication that a concert is something special is if there are several musicians in the audience, and such was the case last night. Rob even mentioned that half of Old Californio was there.

Paul sang lead on his “Truth Is You Lied,” a song that he included on his Weed And Water album, and one that was another highlight of the set. Victoria Jacobs then sang lead on “Kensington Market,” a totally enjoyable song. For some reason, the line about the mods hanging around delighted me. Again, different lines from the songs were striking me last night, and I just felt completely immersed in the music and mood of the evening. It was a beautiful spot, among good folks, and with one of the best bands playing. Dan switched to pedal steel for “Still Want You,” delivering a lead that received applause from the audience. I love hearing this song, in part because of its humor, in part because of its sweet vibe. “Please love me if you can.” The first set then concluded with the always-appreciated “Good And Foolish Times.” The set ended at 8:30 p.m.

Just after 9 p.m., they kicked off the second set with “Raised By Hippies,” with Dan on pedal steel. The lines that stood out to me last night were those about Reagan being president, and not knowing what to do. We are in some kind of twisted fantasy land these days with regards to the Republican Party, but one of the things that has alarmed me is that the few so-called “normal” Republicans look back to Reagan as being what their party should be striving toward again, forgetting just what a complete and total bastard that guy was, and all the harm he caused. So, yeah, I’m sure adults in the early 1980s looked around, and said, what they hell should we do? But all that played in my head for only a moment, as I was thoroughly enjoying the energy of the song. And they followed that with what was possibly the answer for many folks dealing with those Reagan years, “I Fell In Love With The Grateful Dead.” I myself fell in love with the Dead during the early 1980s. Paul Marshall dedicated the song to a guy named Art who was wearing a Grateful Dead shirt. This was Dan Wistrom’s first time playing the song, at least the first time in concert, and Rob joked about how this one has more chords than all their other songs put together. Well, it was wonderful hearing this song again, and Dan did a great job with it. “He did it!” Rob exclaimed at the end.

They followed that with “Carbon Dated Love” and “California Country.” Dan delivered some really nice work on guitar on “California Country.” And then we were treated to “Ohio,” which is always fun. Whenever I hear it, I think about where home is for me, whether it’s here now in Los Angeles or back in Massachusetts. But the music seems to tell me it doesn’t matter, that it’s all home. Still, that conversation continues for many of us, doesn’t it? Are we going to eventually go back to wherever it is we came from? The set then took a beautiful turn with “Laissez Les Bon Temps Roulet” and “Salvation,” the latter with Paul Marshall on lead vocals, and one I don’t think I’d seen these guys play since April. Glad to have back in the set list. It was then time for Victoria Jacobs to sing another one, and you could feel the excitement among the crowd, for almost everyone there knew which song was next, and folks were eager to hear it. It’s one of my girlfriend’s favorites too, and that is “My Parka Saved Me.” The band delivered an especially delightful rendition last night, with what seemed like an added backing vocal bit. There is so much about this song to love, and I hope all music fans get a chance to see the band perform this one at some point.

Rob mentioned seeing John Cougar Mellencamp, Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson at the Hollywood Bowl recently, and from the reactions of some people in the audience, I’m guessing a good portion of last night’s crowd was at that show too. The band then played Willie Nelson’s “Me And Paul,” a song that has been a part of the Hawks shows lately, done in tribute to Paul Lacques. Last night’s rendition featured lots of great pedal steel work. Rob then told the crowd the band had “one more song for you, then we’ll send you off into the Sierra Madre night.” That song was the high-energy number “Humboldt,” which rocked in all the right ways. But it was not the last song of the show. They ended it at 9:59 p.m., thinking that 10 p.m. was a strict cut-off time. But everyone was having too much fun to adhere to that, and so the band did one more, “Hippie On The Road,” fitting as the band will be hitting the road this week. The show ended at 10:04 p.m.

Set List

Set I

1. Hope Against Hope
2. White Cross
3. Poour Me
4. If I Move
5. Highway Down
6. Live And Never Learn
7. Truth Is You Lied
8. Kensington Market
9. Still Want You
10. Good And Foolish Times

Set II

1. Raised By Hippies
2. I Fell In Love With The Grateful Dead
3. Carbon Dated Love
4. California Country
5. Ohio
6. Laissez Les Bon Temps Roulet
7. Salvation
8. My Parka Saved Me
9. Me And Paul
10. Humboldt

Encore

1. Hippie On The Road

Tickets were $20 (or, rather, that was the encouraged donation amount).

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I See Hawks in L.A., On Your Way. There were the Byrds, then the Flying Burritos and a few other notable music excursions emanating from Los Angeles in the 1960s into the ’70s that really paved the road for those who followed in that Southern California realm, but no other band has found the thread like I See Hawks in L.A. Their sound might be embedded in the Hollywood Freeway, but underneath it’s really torqued by the Mojave Desert. There is something just hallucinatory enough on new songs like “Might’ve Been Me,” “Know Just What to Do” and, really, everything on this ear-opening new album that it feels like a new day of music is rising. Band members Rob Waller and brothers Paul and Anthony Lacques formed the group going on 20 years ago, of course on a desert trek, and haven’t looked back. Now featuring Paul Marshall and Victoria Jacobs as the rhythm section, there is really no one like them, still, as they mix in visions and musical veracity into a style which opens a door full of surprises right below the surface. As each album has become more and more assured, I See Hawks in L.A. has now hit that point where they’ve cut the cord on influences and are spinning out in an orbit all their own. The quartet is all breathing as one, and the clear night sky full of stars is the limit. Listen and hear not only what has come before, but what is also right around the next bend. See the Hawks.

Bill Bentley

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One of Southern California’s leading alt country bands, I See Hawks in LA return with their tenth album to date, On Our Way, which is also the band’s first post-pandemic album.  Detailing a band’s lockdown practices and procedures is becoming almost obligatory in light of recent events, yet each circumstance is slightly different.  In the case of this band, Rob Waller and Paul Lacques would keep to a strict weekly songwriting schedule, adopting to Facetime one another at 4pm prompt every Friday afternoon, which seems to have done the trick.  With further assistance from band mates Victoria Jacobs and Paul Marshall, On Our Way has been developed under extraordinary circumstances, yet the results are probably better than expected.  Rather than focusing on the current crisis, the band turned to history for inspiration, honing in on such figures as Geronimo and Muhammad Ali, not to mention the odd Kentucky Jesus, who ‘knocked the Devil to the floor’ at one point.  Stylistically the band keep pretty much to their alt country, Americana and folk rock roots, with some occasional driving rhythms, gutsy blues and renegade lyricism to keep their fans happy.  The album also contains a song with a setting a few thousand miles from home, with “Kensington Market” adopting a pop sensibility that wouldn’t be too far out of place on some vintage ‘Swinging Sixties’ radio show.  I See Hawks in LA can be diverse when the mood takes them evidently.  On the subject of the old wireless, “Radio Keeps Me on the Ground (Slight Return)”, is a fine homage to those who have managed to keep us entertained during an unprecedented lockdown period.  Radio shows and online podcasts have certainly kept a good few of us on the ground over the last eighteen months.  The sprawling eight minutes of “How You Gonna Know” completes the album, where the band engage in some funky Doors-like experimental rhythms to keep us on our toes. 

Kensington Market is included in this week’s Vaults radio show.

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There is something special about I See Hawks In LA, and I don’t mean the fact that they’re a rather fine americana band. I wouldn’t be discussing their work here if I didn’t think they were. But the thing is, no matter what record you pick from their seven album discography – or is it eight? – time and again there’s this sense of warmth and conviviality just radiating from it all. Not that they’re a party outfit – on the contrary, their arrangements often require close attention – but even more than many of their colleagues from the folk and americana world, this band always makes you feel like they’ve just popped over to your place for an impromptu jam session. Their latest release On Our Way yet again captures that cosy atmosphere very well.

And that’s quite an accomplishment, because this record was created during the first phase of the corona pandemic, while the band was adhering to all the rules regarding social distancing and self-isolation. What sounds like a band playing live in the studio – almost a pre-requisite within the genre – is in reality a digital collage of parts recorded separately from each other. And that doesn’t just include the band itself, but also a whole platoon of guest musicians. The rather outstanding quality of the songs as such doesn’t hurt either, of course. But whether it’s the relaxed country of the title track, somewhat reminiscent of the late Glen Campbell, and tracks like Kentucky Jesus and If I Move, or slightly more experimental tracks like Mississippi Gas Station Blues and Kensington Market, the quartet has absolutely succeeded in matching the spontaneity of their earlier work, thanks to the miracle of modern technology.

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More than twenty years together, twenty years of sharing, of love for the roots, for those sounds warmed by the Californian sun that represented a breath of fresh air and good vibrations. I See Hawks In L.A. they return with a new album to reiterate how close they still are and how their captivating and fresh mix of country music, folk and American is always as simple as it is effective. The guitars of Rob Waller and Paul Lacques, the bass of Paul Marshall and the percussion of Victoria Jacobs, their songs, their musical visions are a true ode to their land and in many songs they do not disdain deep reflections on the times we are living. , on environmental emergencies and social issues, celebrating again the many miles traveled together and the multiple influences dictated by sharing the stages with people like Chris Hillman, Dave Alvin, Peter Case, Lucinda Williams and Ray Wylie Hubbard, all, in a one way or another, inspiring what their current sound is. An inevitable pinch of psychedelia pervades some of the songs of "On Our Way", as well as solid are the reminiscences related to a rough and dirty roots-rock a la Dave Alvin in the abrasive "Mississippi Gas Station Blues". Often there are 'sixties' inflections as in "Kensington Market" in which vocal space is given to Victoria Jacobs while to embellish the arrangements there are here and there the fiddle of Brantley Kearns, veteran of a thousand sessions, the accordion of Richie Lawrence and the pedal steel by Dave Zirbel, protagonist of the splendid “Geronimo”, immersed in its fascinating western atmosphere. However, there are many moments to be mentioned such as the initial "Might've Been Me" and its acoustic plots, "Kentucky Jesus", intense and poetic, "Stealing" whose melody lazily rests on the Californian sea, "If I Move ”Which refers to the past Westcoastian seasons between country and rock as well as the title track“ On Our Way ”which retraces the paths taken by the Byrds most closely tied to their roots. A record that confirms the goodness of the proposal of a band that undaunted continues a genuine and sincere musical and human journey, a journey between the ocean and the desert that continues to bewitch those who loved the mix of roots and the most contemporary sounds and continue to do so despite everything.
Remo Ricaldone