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| Click Thumbs for larger view... All Photos from Hawks CD photo shoot with freelance photojournal- activist Geoff Oliver Bugbee Hawk Songs... Lyrics, Creation Stories Biographies This CD would not have been possible without the talents and creativity of the musicians, the computer geeks, the recording engineers, the graphic artists, and the photographers. My gratitude to them is immense. Engineer Calvin Turnbull believes that recording is part of the songwriting process and that turned out to be the case here. It is my name on the CD cover, but so many people put a bit of their soul into it. I am pleased to say this creation has extended itself beyond the parameters of my own imagination. It reflects a wonderful community dedicated to art, spirit, political action, and creativity of which I am proud to be a part. Perhaps you might like to meet some of them.
Christopher Skyhawk was born by the name Christopher Louis Lettau on 9-16-62 in Rochester, New York. The oldest of three children, he was profoundly influenced by the environmental, economic, and social conditions in which he was raised. The lifelong illness of one of his siblings was a severe financial stress to his working class family, and the struggle to provide adequate health care marked him with a sense of social justice at a young age. As a child he witnessed the effects of treating Lake Ontario as an industrial sewer, and as a teen he saw many lakes in the Adirondack Mountains be killed by acid rain. Growing up with the nuclear threat of the Cold War era was yet another factor that left him with a deep need to understand himself and the human family. After graduating from S.U.N.Y. at Geneseo in 1984 with a Bachelors Degree in Psychology he spent a period of time hitchhiking around the United States, eventually settling in Northern California in 1985. He began working with emotionally traumatized children in group home settings, and started learning guitar in 1987. After a couple of years singing other peoples songs he got tired of playing cover tunes and his musicianship went dormant. In 1989, in recognition of his deepening connection with the earth he changed his last name. He continued traveling around the western U.S. as often as possible, learning all that he could about the heart of the land and its people. Throughout this time he became increasingly politically involved, joining movements that voiced opposition to U. S. military intervention in Central America and later Iraq. When he moved to Albion, CA, in 1993, he found himself at ground zero of the timber wars in the redwood region. Working with Earth First!, labor groups, Native Americans, and ad hoc community groups, he became deeply involved in the struggle to stop corporate timber giants from exploiting the ecology and economy of the North Coast. His musicianship began to re-emerge, this time as a songwriter. He began to understand that Folk Music was a way that people expressed their triumphs, their defeats, their pain, and their humor. It is a telling of the people’s story, and it tells a history that the textbooks often omit. Joining this great tradition, he began writing about what he saw, and he found an outlet for the pain that he felt as well as an expression for his love of the human family. During this period folk matriarch Rose Garden dubbed him "a young Phil Ochs". Hawk began playing at the courthouses, benefits, and campfires of the redwood region, often solo but sometimes with other grassroots musicians. He founded a band called Acoustic Nation, and for a time they traveled about Northern California playing one of the most eclectic folk blends ever heard- guitar, banjo, accordion, marimba, and various percussion instruments and voices. His personal introspection deepened as he aged and his songwriting began traveling into more personal realms, exploring relationships and themes of common humanity. His work culminated in 2002 with the release of his debut CD "You Were Right”. This work features the talents and creativity of numerous grassroots community musicians and was engineered and co-produced by Calvin Turnbull. In addition to being a musician Chris is also a massage therapist, sports official, general handyman, seaweed harvester, and youth counselor. He is active with his community public radio station as a public affairs programmer, and is the proud father of a teenage son. Antonia
Lamb has been a luminary on the folk scene for many years. Her travels have
brought her to the national and international stage, and she has collaborated
with many legendary musicians such as Roger McGuinn, Bob Gibson, Judy Mayhan,
and Gene Parsons. Her unique and powerful songwriting talents are displayed on
her two cd’s, “Easy To Love Her” and “Amazing Tracks”, and she is
currently working on a third. She works as a psychic astrologer. She can be
found in this and many other realms, but she always checks her email,
antonia@mcn.org.
Maria Vilaboy grew up singing. Her Cuban-American father exposed her to Latin music and dance, which she realized, after she had grown up, was cool. She came to California in 1986 as part of the Great Peace March, and has lived there since. She has a long list of venues on her performing resume, among them the Wild Iris and San Francisco Folk Festivals. Her singing and songwriting talents came together with the 2000 release of her own cd, “ Shadow”, which features Spearhead musicians Dave Shul and Robert Quintano, and harmonica player Catfish Jack. Contact www.boonvillerecords.org, or email mariavilaboy@hotmail.com
Catfish Jack, a.k.a. Jack Chauvin, has been performing with his virtuoso harp throughout northern California for many years. He has played with many blues greats including Tommy Castro and J.J. Malone, and recently performed with Los Lobos. He resides in Anderson Valley where he is active in his community and with public radio. He is a guitar player, singer, and songwriter. In 1998 he released his own cd, “A Cool Place To Go”, a rockin’, bluesy, folky offering that displays the many musical talents of both himself and his friends. Email catfishj@hotmail.com www.boonvillerecords.com
Jesse Modic is sometimes called the Fiddle Goddess of the North Coast. She is a songwriter and storyteller, and has recorded and played in a variety of settings. She has used her music to advance social and environmental causes including Fiddlers For Headwaters Forest and Fiddle Down The F.B.I. Whatever the venue, within moments after she puts the bow to the strings people will find themselves doing a jig, even if they did not know that they knew how to do one. She can be reached through this website, email hawkwork@mcn.org Lily Parsons, having been deeply influenced by her father Gene, has been playing music all her life. She has a wide range of musical experience in both the studio and live venues. She primarily plays bass and sings, and also plays pennywhistle, flute, and classical piano. She works for herself doing vintage beaded purse restorations, and resides in Caspar, Ca. Her concern for animal rights is made manifest in the many companion animals that share her land. Email lparsons@mcn.org
Mike Ehlers is a talented guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is at home in numerous musical realms. Whether he is playing folk, rock and roll, gospel, reggae, bhajans, or improvising by the campfire, his elegant musical phrasing and passionate singing are sure to raise a song to another level. He is a north coast native and works as a Youth Counselor. He can be contacted through this website, hawkwork@mcn.org
The musical roots of Roger Fritz run wide and deep. He made his first guitar when he was 13 and later started a company with Roy Buchanan where he made guitars for such luminaries as George Harrison and Aerosmith. In 1994 he went to work with Gibson where he worked in the repairs, bluegrass, and manufacturing divisions. In 1997 he started playing and writing songs with Shelby Lynne, and would work with famed producer Bill Bottrell on the Grammy Award winning album “I Am Shelby Lynne”. He plays mandolin, guitar, keyboards, bass, zither, and sings. He is a new father, and is breaking ground on a new guitar making studio in Albion. Email rfritz@mcn.org
Heather Grace Leigh started singing before she started talking and would still rather sing that talk. In spite of her studies in jazz and Afro-Cuban folkloric styles, she selectively enjoys all genres of music. Yes, even polka and rap. She has sung, written, played, and danced in many of these voices of the human soul since early childhood, occasionally coming out of the closet to perform or record. Thanks to her son starting college, she has now graduated from Motherhood 101 and is giving more of her time to her great love of music. Email loudsue@hotmail.com Nathan Anderson came upon a drum circle as a young man and was hooked. He has studied, performed, and led workshops in West African, Congolese, and Afro-Cuban styles. He believes that drumming allows people to communicate in realms beyond words, and for him rhythms are a spiritual pursuit. He is a carpenter, mechanic, and general handyman, and is actively cultivating an increasingly sustainable for himself and his family. Phone# 707-937-3466. Eli Donahue launched his musical career at age 7 when he started learning banjo. Over the years he has had a wide variety of musical experiences. His current passion is flamenco guitar. He is also a bass player in the shack rock band Gardener. If you are feeling pastry-deprived, Eli is also a baker in Anderson Valley. He can be contacted through this website, hawkwork@mcn.org
TECHIES:
Geoff Oliver Bugbee is a freelance photojournal-activist. In addition to teaching photography at the College of the Redwoods on the Mendocino coast, he has focused his efforts (and cameras) on many environmental and social documentary projects here in the U.S. and abroad. For nearly ten years, Geoff has been shooting a photo essay on curable blindness conditions prevalent in the countries of India, Nepal, and Tibet. In these places, along with most of the developing countries on the planet, cataract and glaucoma has become epidemic. For more context of this multi-media presentation, view a website of his current and past work: www.geoffbugbee.com or email: geoff@geoffbugbee.com
Philip Dunn is a musician, drummer, home studio recording technician, and graphic artist specializing in music CD’s. He has played with many musicians on the Mendocino coast, and plays with bassist Lily Parsons in Spiral Fire. Email babaloo@mcn.org
Tomaso DiFiore is an occasional musician (5-string fretless bass, percussion), webmaster, countryman and a baker of artisan breads in a wood fired brick oven in the town of Mendocino. He can be reached at eversmiletomas@netscape.net
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