Shawn Hawkins & The Offenders
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Shawn Hawkins & The Offenders

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"KBOO 90.7FM"

“With Shawn Hawkins & The Offenders, the phantom of the Bakersfield sound is
alive and well. This band will have you on your feet cheering and
dancing all night long.” - Fredric Schroeder, D.J.


"Brian Murphy, Northwest music promoter"

“Shawn Hawkins is laying down some downright serious honky
tonk, country and good 'ol Rock n Roll. I'm plum hooked!” - Rock-it Entertainment


"4 stars"

You don't even have to crack the cellophane—when one of the songs is titled Waylon Come Save Us, you already have a pretty good idea what to expect. Portland (Oregon) based Hawkins, who says, "I was born into a country song" (grew up in a trailer, stepfather a logger, mother a truck dispatcher, father a drifter), made some musical detours before finding his true calling, Outlaw Country, which, of course, was long out of fashion by 1998. Fronting a loose whoever's-available group, playing five hours of covers, Hawkins burned out a few years ago, "it stopped being fun for any of us," but reunited The Offenders ("half my band had been in prison, or should have been") to open for some local Dale Watson dates. Then they won a Battle of the Country Bands and were back in business, with a reenergized Hawkins cranking out new material. Backed by Marilee Hord, who seems to be Portland's hot fiddle go-to girl, Chad Lanning bass, James Mason acoustic, electric and 12-string guitars, Ben Yates harmonica (doing the Mickey Raphael fills) and Nick Zorich drums, Hawkins does the original Outlaws proud, both with his very fine vocals and his songwriting. The Jennings influence is very strong, and you can easily pick out echoes of other outlaws in both Hawkins' singing and songwriting, along with, as he says "blues, Indie, Rockabilly and even at times Heavy Metal" (maybe it's a Portland thing, The Derailers started out there as a Ted Nugent hair to the waist cover band—you won't find that in the bio). Perhaps because it's now so unusual, Outlaw Country sounds more than usually retro, but when you tune back into 1976, Hawkins excels at it. JC - 3rd Coast Music, Austin TX


"CD Review: Times Will Change"

If you are looking for a unique new country music sound, get a remarkable new CD, Times Will Change by a local group, Shawn Hawkins & the Offenders.

I’ve been playing Times Will Change continually since I got it. The first time you hear it you’ll say: “I’ve heard him before”. From the first cut to the last you’ll say: “That’s my favorite” on almost every song! It’s great!

Shawn’s deep rich baritone is reminiscent of Merle Haggard or Waylon Jennings. He handles ballads and up tempo numbers with such ease. It’s all so familiar, comfortable and professional, they should have won a Country Music Award or a Grammy!

Most of the songs were totally written by Shawn. One had music by him and the Offenders. One had music by the Offenders, One was totally written Chad Lanning, the bass player and one was by Adrian Wulff.

These are extraordinary musicians: Shawn Hawkins: vocals, acoustic and electric rhythm guitar; Marilee Hord: Fiddle and vocals; Chad Lanning: bass guitar and vocals; James Mason; (lead electric guitar) acoustic and 12 string guitar; Ben Yates: harmonica; Nick Zorich: drums. “guest stars” on a few tracks: Alan Ames: dobro; Jesse Stowell: mandolin; Juniana Lanning percussion and vocals. They created an inspiring tapestry of music and performed most of the production as well.

The CD is traditional country with modern arrangements or up to date on an old foundation. Either way it’s surprising and delightful. They just sound so good! Shawn is a creative and clever lyricist. Each word fits melody, rhythm and sentiment.

I can’t decide if it’s the musicians, mix. melody, lyrics, or Shawn’s singing that makes this so great. I guess it’s all of the above. You’ll love it too!
- Bona Fide Country


Discography

Times Will Change - 2008

Photos

Bio

“I grew up in a trailer. My step dad was a logger, my mom was a truck dispatcher, my dad was a drifter, I was born into a country song”. As a young boy, Shawn Hawkins was weaned on Mere Haggard and Waylon Jennings but with the dawning of the 80’s, rock and roll caught Shawn’s attention. “I tried it and loved it all, I was a head banger, a goth, even a hippie – if there was such a thing still - But I’d written Country music off altogether, maybe it was too close to the truth for me.”
Years passed, Shawn escaped the small town by enlisting in the Marine Corps. While stationed overseas he encountered the old familiar refrains of a David Allen Coe song, Shawn’s trailer park raising came rushing back to him. He began to re-familiarize himself with the music of his youth, Waylon, Willie, Cash and Coe but most of all Waylon. “Man, Waylon is the real deal, the coolest man there’d ever been, I’d always played music, even wrote some embarrassingly awful metal in my teens but now I found that these old country songs just poured out of me. I tapped into something that moved me to my core”. Country music was enjoying resurgence in the early nineties but that music was different. The country he remembered was tougher and dealt with subject matter that now seemed taboo. “It was all drinking, druggin’, cheating, loving and losing back then. The new stuff just…well it lacked balls”.
Shawn finally made his way to Portland in 1998 and tried to start an outlaw country band. When that didn’t pan out, he hooked up with some Rockabilly players and started a band called the Speedway Playboy’s. With that roots connection taking hold he started piecing together his first outlaw country band “Phantom 309” named after the Red Sovine trucker song. Time went by, the sound evolved, ever changing line ups finally prompted Shawn to go solo with a revolving door of pickers comprising his backing band, which by now had been renamed “The Offenders”. I didn’t come up with that name” Shawn Recalls, “My guitar picker at the time chose it. I think half my band had been to prison…or should have been and the name seemed to fit”. In 2004 Shawn hung up his cowboy hat. “We’d just become a bar band doing five hour nights at truck stops and doing very little original material. I was tired and it stopped being fun for any of us”.
In 2005 Dale Watson, Whom Shawn had worked with years earlier asked him to play some NW dates. “We reunited just for the Dale shows” Shawn recalls “but we soon realized what we’d been missing” on a lark the band participated in the NW Battle of the Country Band’s…they won. The winning was rewarding but moreover it reminded them that maybe they did have something left to give. Shawn was inspired to start writing new material that played to the band’s many influences including Outlaw Country but also Blues, Indie, Rockabilly and even at times Heavy Metal. The result, nearly ten years or perhaps even a lifetime in the making resulted in the debut release…Times Will Change…a belief Shawn still holds true for what he calls “real country music”.