Hi there!
We’re Jo and Kevin Hawke. We’re married and live in southern Virginia. Here are some other things about us:
- We’re BFF!! No, really. ;)
- We’re both Protestant-raised and Catholic-converted.
- We have three boys: Ryan, 17; Lucas, 6; and Atticus, 4.
- Kevin’s favorite color is blue. My favorite color is either dark blue, dark green, or dark magenta (and sometimes orange).
- I’m a high-school English teacher, and Kevin is a correctional officer in a prison. (We’ve found far too many similarities in our jobs…)
- We don’t have any pets. Our last dog, Killer, was a miniature chihuahua whose name was ironic until it wasn’t. :(
- Kevin has a Bad Company tattoo (plus 20-odd others). I have tattoos in my dreams sometimes, mostly fireflies and butterflies.
- I love word games and puzzles, learning, and most things Internet. Kevin loves Catholic Answers, especially Fr. Vincent Serpa.
- My favorite material possessions at the moment are my fabulous DroidX and my laptop; Kevin’s favorite spiritual/material possession is his gorgeous rosary.
Heard Around Hawke House
- Lucas: Hey, Attie, I just cut your head off.
Kevin: Lucas, you really shouldn’t be cutting your brother’s head off.
Atticus: He’s not cutting my head off. He’s not doing it for real.
Kevin: That’s comforting.
Music!
Kevin and I both started playing with bands before we were teenagers. Both were bluegrass bands. And both included the same mandolin player, John Hines. :P
Kevin started playing guitar with his renowned banjo-playing father, Ryland Hawker, when he was about thirteen. Around the same time, he won first place in the Youth Vocalist category at the Virginia Folk Music Festival. He has shared the stage with world-class musicians like Ronnie Bowman and The Lost and Found, the Osborne Brothers, Ralph Stanley, the Virginia Squires, Larry Sparks, the Nashville Bluegrass Band, Dave Evans, David Holt, and the Country Gentlemen with Charlie Waller.
I first sang in church when I was about ten, and then sang with my first band — a local bluegrass group called Westfork — when I was eleven. A few years later, I sang with a contemporary Christian band called Stainless. When I was eighteen, I joined my first rock band, Dreams. Through the years, I’ve been able to “open up” for a number of notable bands, including .38 Special, Steppenwolf, The Guess Who, and The Marshall Tucker Band — all with the Flaming Blue Iguanas. And in 2001, I sang at the New York City Hard Rock Cafe with Fryed Chickin, a band headed by Eddie Cochran which also included Carlos Morales, who performed, wrote, and toured with Julian Lennon in earlier years. We also recorded much of the “Born in a Barn” CD at Flat Five Studio in Salem, Va.
These days, our musical endeavors are fewer and further between.
Since our last official “gig” (New Year’s Eve 2004 at the now-defunct Purple Onion in Danville, Va., with Mike and Kristie Strange, who were also in the Flaming Blue Iguanas), the most we play is around the kitchen table … when we can find the time and energy … Kevin will pull out a guitar while Jo’s “working” on the computer. Some days, we’ll play through our repertoire; others, we’ll work on new songs we want to learn; and still others, we’ll work on new collaborations. Sometimes, we get the kids involved. Other times, we play after they’re in bed.
We’ve played for the squirrels and the homeless in Washington Square Park, Greenwich Village, NYC, one afternoon every late July for the last few years. (And one year, we even made a dollar!!!) We played at a cookout after our Confirmation into the Catholic church last June. And we played at a funeral recently. We’ve recorded other people’s music here and there. And Kevin and his dad play every few months or so. A few times, they’ve put on a show in my parents’ basement.
But mostly we play at home when we play. For now, anyway. ;)
~Jo
