Shanna and the Hawk

A little country, a little blues, all original. “Shanna and The Hawk” is a five piece alt-country band. We do things a little differently. The quartet has an Americana feel and a rock attitude. The dark brooding rock singing of Shanna sets the tone, then the lonesome harp of Joe Bloom and the melancholy Dobro of Rob Sylvain combine with Hawk’s no nonsense guitar to form a truly hypnotic American groove. Under it all is Kris Day on stand-up bass.

"Shanna and The Hawk" has been together for about two years. Shanna was rambling around Portland, singing her dreams out, playing miserable guitar and hoping someone else would play it for her. In walks Hawk, one of the more popular musicians in Portland, looking for a new act. One weekend in New York starts a musical love affair with no signs of ending. Within a few months they round up Joe and Rob, fantastic instrumentalists that really add a ton of heart with the dobro and harp. Together the quartet is working on their first album for release in the Spring, with new found band mate Kris Day.

We are based live in Portland, Maine. We play all over the state, in Nashville, New York, and anywhere that will take us averaging about 200 dates a year.

That would be different for everyone in the band. Shanna and Hawk listen to a lot of Alt.country like Dwight Yoakam, Buddy and Julie Miller, Lucinda Williams, Jim Lauderdale, Steve Earle, and anything else with a little twang that is lying around the house. Rob has a definitive acadian influence being a lover of acadian/french music and also playing in his own band "Boreal Tordu". He listens to a huge range of music including traditional, Elvis Costello, and the Be Good Tanyas. Joe is more of a rock guy, and having a 9-year-old son, his tastes are a little more hip than the rest of us. Kris is a rockabilly freak and has been playing with King Memphis for 15 years.