I See Hawks in LA featuring Richie Lawrence

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.

Richie Lawrence:

Love and work brought Mr. Lawrence to Sacramento, CA in 1994.  He married the beautiful Katie Thomas and joined the traditional cowboy folk music experience called Horse Sense, with Justin Bishop.  On the rosters of The USIA, The Western States Arts Federation, and The Los Angeles Learning Tree, musical tours were made to El Salvador, Indonesia, Germany, Poland, many of the United States and more schools than one can count.  Collaborating with the likes of cowboy poets, Paul Zarzyski and Wally McRae, and playing The Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko, Nevada, were beyond inspirational.

​2004 brought The Loose Acoustic Trio and partnering with fellow writer and bedpandolin player Ken Cooper and bassist Steve O’Neill.  The LAT’s debut CD, Brand New Mind (2005), inspired the inaugural release and creation of Big Book Records.  With no reviews and no help, The Trio’s first CD was able to reach #27 on the Freeform American Roots (FAR) chart and wander into a few TV productions.  The Trio honed their sound at Farmers Markets and entered the big time with The California State Fair.

​Big Book Records scored a memorable twin release, on May 20, 2008, with the second record by The Loose Acoustic Trio, Sorrow Be Gone, and the fourth CD by Southern California country rockers, the indomitable I See Hawks In LA, founded by Paul Lacques and Rob Waller.  Things come full circle as Richie Lawrence and Paul Lacques once again combine artistic forces.