Pete Hawkes

Biography

Hawkes was born in 1965 at Lake Macquarie, Australia. He learned to play guitar on an old waterlogged guitar, nicknamed "The Paddle" because his father used it to paddle home one night when he was drunk. He learned guitar by listening to old albums, citing influences as diverse as blues guitarist Robert Johnson, English guitarist Davey Graham, and Bartók.

Hawkes started playing electric slide guitar in Chicago-style blues bands, at clubs and pubs in and around Lake Macquarie and Newcastle when he was seventeen. He was invited to work as a session musician across Australia. In his early 20s, he moved to Tasmania, where he trained as a luthier. After returning, he got a degree in pure mathematics from the University of Newcastle and moved to the Australian Capital Territory the following year.

In the mid-1990s he recorded his debut album, Secrets Vows and Lies, with English folk violinist Dave Swarbrick playing on a few tracks. The album was released by Festival Records and was critically well received.

He toured Australia and supported Steeleye Span and Bert Jansch, but the tour was largely unsuccessful. Afterwards, Hawkes moved to London. Secrets Vows and Lies was released in the UK by Select Records with more success, and he started playing in small clubs and hotels throughout the UK. He briefly reconnected with Dave Swarbrick in Coventry and supported him and Martin Carthy and in Scarborough, North Yorkshire with violinist Sue Aston. He established a following and was featured in Rock 'n' Reel magazine. He then moved to St. Petersburg, Russia, and for several months played jazz with Russian and Romani musicians. He left Russia via the Trans-Siberian Railway. In Beijing he became involved in the underground jazz developments in the city. Performing at venues such as the East-Shore Jazz Club, he encouraged Chinese musicians to play jazz rather than traditional music. But jazz was not acceptable to the Communist Party of China, and Hawkes was asked by the local authorities to return to Australia.

After returning to Australia, he released Unspoken Riddles, Melancholy Cello (inspired by Russian music), and Double Diversity. He then concentrated on composing and arranging. In 2006 he released Witchcraft, an orchestral suite, and The Jazz Chronicles. In 2009 he released The Lost Souls Entwined, a gothic rock album recorded with electric guitarist Phil Emmanuel, the elder brother of Tommy Emmanuel.

Hawkes is known for writing diversity (e.g concerti for viola and cello, Celtic music with flugelhorn, and acid jazz)

Discography