On Monday night the Hawks played a city gig in Central Park in Whittier. Whittier, my friends. The birthplace of Richard Nixon and, ironically perhaps, the center of Quaker activity on the west coast. Whittier. It was a great night, the weather was cooler than expected and the community was out for the gig. It was classic American living. A park in the middle of the city, kids on play gear, a gazebo, and the American flag. The show began with the Pledge of Allegiance. Even PL took off his hat, although he muttered “for some” at the end of the Pledge. It was that kind of gig.
It was the Big Hawks Experience. In addition to the four usual Hawks we were joined by Victoria Jacobs on tambourine and lead vocals, Rick Shea on steel, and the original man himself, Brantley Kearns on fiddle. It was great to have them all with us and the aggressive (nay, competent!) sound man made the band sound huge for the Whittier residents and their guests.
We did two sets with a raffle in between. Fresh baked pies were the prize. They were testing blood sugar in a trailer next to the pie raffle. Two for one? The songs were sounding good in the summer evening air. After a respectfully gentle and patriotic first set, we stretched out in the second, sensing the crowd wanted to rock, inverting the set list and opening with Humboldt. Victoria came up and sang lead on her song Open Door. A little later we did Papa Stopped the Wagon reggae-style at Brantley’s request. Bats circled the gazebo along with big jets in the LAX flight path. It was a grand affair!Here’s a little nugget from the past. It’s not reggae but man it’s got a vibe–an MP3 of Papa Stopped the Wagon recorded in the basement of Cole’s back in April of 2005. Enjoy!
Papa Stopped the Wagon MP3 Download file