The Hawks are a Tampa Bay area blues band. They play Texas Blues with touches of Chicago and West Coast style too. They are lead by Kim Harpo on Mississippi Saxophone (harmonica) and vocals. Harpo, as his friends call him, is one of the best harp players in the Tampa area. He’s got the tone and the style of a Kim Wilson or a Rod Piazza down pat and you won’t find someone who understands this style better.
On guitar is wunderkind Kid Royal. Somewhere in his 20’s, Kid plays way beyond his years. He’s got the chops and the style of the songs down and if you’re looking for authentic Texas style guitar with a hint of Hollywood Fats, you gotta hear the Kid in action. He sings great too. Keep an eye on this guy.
Sitting in that night was Matt Swenson on guitar. Matt is a Tampa Bay fixture and plays in several other bands notably The Backbreakers and others. Matt is one of the finest guitar players in town and you can see by his tasty licks and rhythm section accompaniment he knows how fit into the groove and make any band better. He certainly did that on this night as you can see from the videos.
The solid rhythm section of Dave Gill on drums and Don Cox on bass rounds out a very solid band that is worth going out of your way to see when you get a chance.
They will be playing September 1st at Three Birds Tavern in North St. Pete starting at 8:00 PM if you want to catch this great band that only plays the area occasionally. Catch them while you can.
I always enjoy Harpo!
Thanks for you comment George. Always good to hear your opinions. Let me know if you’d like a byline or something.