If he’s not relentlessly playing in every venue he can find, he’s organising shows for others or performing with his brother as Son Of David and much more besides. Added to this the fact that he is one of the most approachable and likeable characters on the circuit means I just had to have word with him:
Who is Jamie Hawkins? Give us a little of the life story…
I was born, some stuff happened and now I write songs about most of it. I spent most of my youth in Devon where I mostly drank cider, woke up on roundabouts hugging traffic cones and working in warehouses to fund my coco pops addiction.
I got married, had a couple of kids and did the corporate thing for a while but went slowly insane and decided one day to become a musician instead because money isn’t everything, right? Besides, song writing is a kind of therapy for me and has in many ways, kept me this side of the dirt.
How did you get into music?
My Dad used to play us songs on his guitar when we were little - he taught me my first chords. I’ve always loved music but my brothers both got into playing live way before I did. I focused more on the writing side of things - I’ve always had a love of literature and wordplay. We formed a band in the 90’s and toured the UK for a couple of years. When that ended, I started writing songs on my own with the intention of getting other artists to perform them but getting people to even listen to my songs was virtually impossible. Then I won the UK Song-writing Contest in 2011 with ‘Bloody Good Xmas’ and that’s when I decided to go out and try performing them myself. I’ve never looked back since.
What’s your proudest musical achievement to date?
I’m really proud of all the songs I’ve written and my second EP, ‘Capacity To Change’, was a pretty big deal for me but, touring Switzerland and landing a record deal with an independent label out there is probably the achievement I’m proudest of to date.
What are you looking forward to most in 2017?
2017 is going to be awesome! I’ve got two more tours lined up in Switzerland, a single (Planets’) set for chart release out there and an album in the works. I’m also working on an EP for UK release.
Plus, I’ve just released a charity single, ‘Those We Leave Behind’, in memory of my nephew Darryl and in aid of CALM - I’m hoping that by the end of January I’ll have raised my target of £1000 through donations and downloads (links can be found on my website - www.JamieRHawkins.com - or on my facebook page, Twitter, etc).
Name your favourite brand of cereal and why?
My favourite brand of cereal, as already mentioned, is Coco Pops because, in the words of the anthropomorphic primate himself, ‘they’re so chocolatey, they even turn the milk brown’...
www.JamieRHawkins.com