01-18-10: BongofuryStrange story on how he came to be re-discovered.
I used to see Ted play down at the Venice boardwalk busking. Incredible talent. Thanks for rekindling a distant memory.
Hawkins had shifted from performing on the Venice boardwalk to the newer 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica. Where he used to sit on his paint bucket and play just happened to be right below the dual-use commercial/condo units at the south end of the street. it just so happened that recording artists/songwriter/musician Michael Penn(brother of actors Sean & Chris) lived in the unit right above. Listening to it all day, day after day, Penn became a huge fan of Hawkins.
Penn called a good friend of his, Tony Berg, who had just become an A&R rep at Geffen and said "You have to sign this guy". Berg had to really battle to sign a folk/blues/soul artist on a hard rock/alternative label, but eventually won. He got another band of his, The Wild Colonials, to play all the backing string instruments and write the arrangements on "The Next Hundred Years".
After the CD came out, literally scores of famous musicians & songwriters(Red Hot Chili Peppers, Joni Mitchell, Seal) sent word that they had been admiring Hawkins playing for a good decade and were overjoyed he finally got recognition. The was a great turnout for his record release party.
Every once in while, I remember to toss on "Hundred Years" and fall in love with it all over again. It is beautiful in it's simplicity.
