Author Archives: Jo Hawke

Serendipitous Harmony

Blessed Virgin Mary - Mother of God

When I posted Attie singing my version of “Hail, Mary,” I said I’d post one of myself soon. Yesterday, instead of doing what I really should have been doing, I decided to record myself quickly.

“Oh, it’ll only take a few minutes,’ I convinced myself, not completely aware that (a) I was already deeply in avoidance mode — Hello?! I’d just cleaned the A/C filters and de-mildewed the shower instead of doing what I knew in my heart should be my first priority. — and (b) that I was about to lie to myself once again: “Yeah, I’ll just record it and post it . . . and not worry about it.”

After a few minutes in Audacity, I’d stumbled upon how to record separate tracks. I’d been planning to someday research how to do that for a while now, so it was a jaw-dropping moment when I clicked “record” again and up popped a separate track! Wow!

Obviously, I had to experiment a little bit. Since I’d recorded the melody part already, I recorded the third above that. The sound from playback was creating a lot of noise, so I dug out some headphones and tried it again. Then, I recorded the third below the melody. Definitely not professional quality but really fun to do (and free)!

Here’s the original melody:
[audio:hail-mary-melody.mp3|loop=no]

And here’s the three-part version:
[audio:hail-mary-3parts.mp3|loop=no]

Kitchen Concert: February 5, 2010

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Since we’ve been together, Kevin and I have always ended up playing music somewhere near the food. People ask us if we still play music, and we say, “Yeah, at the kitchen table!” 😛 So, while the table might not always exactly be in the kitchen, it’s “purt near,” as Kevin would say.

This is our first posting of one of these informal musical adventures, and we don’t really remember this show of sorts from February, but from listening to the audio, we can tell that our three-year-old Atticus was running around. (Five-year-old Lucas must not have been here, or we’d surely hear him, as well. 😉 Also, about halfway through, it seems from outtake conversation about canned food dates and foil sounds, that I went to “rustle up some grub.”

Kevin refuses to have set lists for these sessions or for any other shows we do, though we do have a “song list” of the songs we at least sort of know and/or want to learn. He just goes with the flow. And, since I almost always don’t want to decide what song’s next, I just go with his flow. . .

We recorded this with our trusty little Zoom H2 recorder. No mics. Kevin was playing his acoustic. All originals are starred, and we try our best to properly credit the covers. 🙂

You can click on the song title or the little Flash player’s arrow to listen, or you can right-click on the title to download.

So enough introduction. Here goes:

Full show: All songs below, together in one compact file. 🙂 (Let me know if you have trouble with this one. It’s kinda big for this player, and my first test loaded only half the file. It should be about 46 minutes total.
[audio-clammr mp3=”http://everysecondofeveryday.com/audio/jo&kevin-2010-02-05/esoed-2-5-10-full.mp3″]

Music Man*: This is one of Kevin’s most popular original songs. He wrote it around 2003, and most people who hear it think it’s autobiographical, but he actually wrote it in honor of his uncle, local musician Roy Norton. Kevin’s singing lead, and I’m singing harmony. (See our other versions of this song.)
[audio-clammr mp3=”http://everysecondofeveryday.com/audio/jo&kevin-2010-02-05/01-music-man-2010-02-05.mp3″]
Georgia on My Mind: Though Ray Charles made this tune famous (and Willie Nelson had a great turn at it, as well), the state song of Georgia was actually written by Hoagy Carmichael and Stuart Gorrell in 1930, according to Wikipedia. I’m singing lead.
[audio-clammr mp3=”http://everysecondofeveryday.com/audio/jo&kevin-2010-02-05/02-georgia-2010-02-05.mp3″]
Sally Goodin’: Kevin’s been playing this classic for years and years but only tonight did he discover that it was written by Woody Guthrie. Instrumental.
[audio-clammr mp3=”http://everysecondofeveryday.com/audio/jo&kevin-2010-02-05/03-sally-goodin-2010-02-05.mp3″]
I Am a Pilgrim: This one was written by early country artist, Merle Travis. Instrumental.
[audio-clammr mp3=”http://everysecondofeveryday.com/audio/jo&kevin-2010-02-05/04-i-am-a-pilgrim-2010-02-05.mp3″]
Jo Song #2 (a.k.a. ‘Cause I Love You)*: This is the second song Kevin wrote for me, “amidst a bunch of other poems and such” also written for me. 🙂 Kevin’s singing lead, and I’m doing something that’s trying to be harmony. 🙁 (See our other versions of this song.)
[audio-clammr mp3=”http://everysecondofeveryday.com/audio/jo&kevin-2010-02-05/05-jo-song-no-2-aka-cause-i-love-you-2010-02-05.mp3″]
All Around the World*: Kevin came up with the music for this one and played it for a while before I just had to come up with some lyrics. I’m singing lead. (See our other versions of this song.)
[audio-clammr mp3=”http://everysecondofeveryday.com/audio/jo&kevin-2010-02-05/06-all-around-the-world-2010-02-05.mp3″]
Long Journey Home (short): This is a traditional bluegrass song. Kevin’s singing lead, and I’m singing along.
[audio-clammr mp3=”http://everysecondofeveryday.com/audio/jo&kevin-2010-02-05/07-long-journey-home-short-2010-02-05.mp3″]
Nine-Pound Hammer: Kevin says this is a song he has always loved, and his favorite version of it is by Tony Rice. It was also written by Merle Travis. Kevin’s singing lead.
[audio-clammr mp3=”http://everysecondofeveryday.com/audio/jo&kevin-2010-02-05/08-nine-pound-hammer-2010-02-05.mp3″]
Salt Creek (short): This traditional fiddle tune was recorded by Bill Monroe and His Bluegrass Boys. Instrumental.
[audio-clammr mp3=”http://everysecondofeveryday.com/audio/jo&kevin-2010-02-05/09-salt-creek-short-2010-02-05.mp3″]
Going Down the Road Feeling Bad: We both knew this song from years and bands past. Kevin heard his dad, banjo player Ryland Hawker, playing what he called “Lonesome Road Blues” for years and later was surprised to hear his uncle, Roy Norton, putting lyrics with it. I heard it first from the Grateful Dead (yep! reformed hippie :P). But we were both surprised to find out tonight that it, too, was written by Woody Guthrie. Kevin’s singing lead, and I’m singing harmony.
[audio-clammr mp3=”http://everysecondofeveryday.com/audio/jo&kevin-2010-02-05/10-going-down-the-road-feeling-bad-2010-02-05.mp3″]
Baby What Do You Want Me to Do: One of my favorite songs to sing harmony with Kevin on, this song was written and originally performed by Blues legend, Jimmy Reed, but Kevin first heard it on Elvis’ ’68 Comeback Special. Kevin’s singing lead.
[audio-clammr mp3=”http://everysecondofeveryday.com/audio/jo&kevin-2010-02-05/11-baby-what-do-you-want-me-to-do-2010-02-05.mp3″]
When My Blue Moon Turns to Gold Again: This is on Elvis’ ’68 Comeback Special, too. (Wouldn’t we all like to see a video of Kevin doing his little Elvis impression all those years ago? 😉 Kevin’s singing lead.
[audio-clammr mp3=”http://everysecondofeveryday.com/audio/jo&kevin-2010-02-05/12-when-my-blue-moon-turns-to-gold-again-2010-02-05.mp3″]
Something About You: A beautiful ballad by Bad Company, during the “Brian Howe era,” it was on the ’88 Dangerous Age album. I was a big fan of the “old” B.C. and never even knew this song until Kevin played it. Kevin’s singing lead.
[audio-clammr mp3=”http://everysecondofeveryday.com/audio/jo&kevin-2010-02-05/13-something-about-you-2010-02-05.mp3″]
Are the Good Times Really Over for Good: Merle Haggard’s nostalgic (pessimistic? realistic?) tune. Kevin’s singing lead, and I’m singing harmony.
[audio-clammr mp3=”http://everysecondofeveryday.com/audio/jo&kevin-2010-02-05/14-are-the-good-times-really-over-2010-02-05.mp3″]
Working Man Blues: Another Merle Haggard song. I love the way Kevin changes the lyrics however he likes (“three kids and a wife” . . . “gotta buy my wife a brand-new pair of shoes” — this one’s the best 😉 Kevin’s singing lead.
[audio-clammr mp3=”http://everysecondofeveryday.com/audio/jo&kevin-2010-02-05/15-working-man-blues-2010-02-05.mp3″]
Monroe’s Hornpipe: A Bill Monroe instrumental.
[audio-clammr mp3=”http://everysecondofeveryday.com/audio/jo&kevin-2010-02-05/16-monroes-hornpipe-2010-02-05.mp3″]
Song for the Life: Written by Rodney Crowell and most famously performed by John Denver, Tony Rice’s version of this song was the one Kevin first heard. Love this one!! Kevin’s singing lead.
[audio-clammr mp3=”http://everysecondofeveryday.com/audio/jo&kevin-2010-02-05/17-song-for-the-life-2010-02-05.mp3″]

Well, that’s it for this one. Let us know what you think by commenting below. Or send us an email at joandkevinhawke (at) gmail.com. 🙂

Update:

I had to change the file for #11 (“Baby What Do You Want Me to Do”). It was playing “Going Down the Road Feeling Bad.” If you listened before and this file isn’t working for you, clear your browser’s cache. I had to.

Nursing Home ‘Concert’ with My Mom

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Me and my mom 🙂

When I was in high school, I was really active in my church youth group, mainly for the fun activities like beach trips and hay rides. But in order to do the fun stuff, we had to do the service projects like visiting a local nursing home.

I remember feeling good about caroling up the corridors and talking with the residents because, as we were told, many of them had few, if any, visitors. That made up for the odd smells and uneasiness of speaking to the people who didn’t seem to notice. And many of them even seemed to enjoy our being there.

Well, I recently had the opportunity to go back to the very same nursing home after all these years. My mom asked me to sing with her on Friday, June 11, at one of her monthly visits. She and my dad, Danny and Nancye Ricketts, are founding ministers at Victory Family Church, and as part of their outreach, they visit the nursing home regularly to speak, sing, and pray with the residents who are able to join them in the activity area.

It was a good experience for the most part. My dad opened the meeting and introduced me. (“She’s an English teacher,” he said, my mom backing him up: “Yes, she’s an English teacher, but we love her anyway!” :P) Many of the people who were there were singing along with us and saying “Amen” when my mom was reading scriptures and talking.

But it was sad, too. The same odd smells . . . and seeing a lot of them looking asleep or otherwise engaged. One lady made strange noises the whole time. And another woke up after we finished, yelling what sounded like, “Hey! Hey! What in the world are you doing?”

Like my mom reminded me, though, we don’t really know how much they hear by the way they respond. We just have to do the best we can to help and hope that they get something positive from it.

Okay, on to the “concert.”

I set up the H2 recorder over to the side (where I could find an available, albeit dusty and hidden, outlet) and didn’t realize until then that there wasn’t enough space left on it to record the whole thing, so I decided to just record the music.

My mom played her keyboard and we sang through microphones plugged into a amplified lectern. The songs were mostly old gospel hymns that we ran through quickly the night before at their church. You may just recognize a few of them. 😉

Victory in Jesus: [audio:pineyforesthealthcare-2010-06-11/01-victory-in-jesus.mp3|loop=no]
Amazing Grace: [audio:pineyforesthealthcare-2010-06-11/02-amazing-grace.mp3|loop=no]
Love Lifted Me: [audio:pineyforesthealthcare-2010-06-11/03-love-lifted-me.mp3|loop=no]
I’ve Got a River of Life: [audio:pineyforesthealthcare-2010-06-11/04-ive-got-a-river-of-life.mp3|loop=no]
‘Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus: [audio:pineyforesthealthcare-2010-06-11/05-tis-so-sweet-to-trust-in-jesus.mp3|loop=no]
In the Name of the Lord: [audio:pineyforesthealthcare-2010-06-11/06-in-the-name-of-the-lord.mp3|loop=no]
I Must Tell Jesus: [audio:pineyforesthealthcare-2010-06-11/07-i-must-tell-jesus.mp3|loop=no]
Just a Closer Walk with Thee: [audio:pineyforesthealthcare-2010-06-11/08-just-a-closer-walk-with-thee.mp3|loop=no]
Something About That Name: [audio:pineyforesthealthcare-2010-06-11/09-something-about-that-name.mp3|loop=no]

Atticus sings ‘Hail, Mary’

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SIMONE MARTINI Maestà (1315, Palazzo Pubblico, Siena)

Months and months ago, a tune for the Catholic prayer called “Hail, Mary” came to me, so I’ve been singing it a lot around the house (and in the car and everywhere else ;). It didn’t take long for the kids to pick it up, especially 3-year-old Atticus, who seems to prefer singing it to saying it. (If you listen to his version above, you can definitely tell he LOVES to sing it. 🙂

When we started down the path toward Confirmation almost two years ago, I was confused by what I saw as the Church’s preoccupation with Mary (among other things that are posts for other days). Our kids, however, haven’t been confused at all about Mary. In fact, 5-year-old Lucas told Kevin the other day that he has two mothers, not one as he answered, because Mary is his mother, too. What a deep kid that Lukie is. 🙂

After a lot of study and prayer, I too came to realize that it all makes perfect sense. In the beginning of the gospel of Luke, Mary says her soul magnifies the Lord. And what does a magnifying glass do but enable us to see more clearly what was a blur through our eyes alone. Through Mary, we can know her Son, Jesus, so much better because we can see Him so much clearer. Likewise, all honor, love and respect we give to Mary is funneled right through to her Son, Jesus.

So, here’s Attie:
[audio-clammr mp3=”hail-mary-atticus-june2010.mp3″]

And now, for those of you who aren’t Catholic, here are the words to the “Hail, Mary”:

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.
Amen.

~~Maybe one day I’ll post my version of this song. I’ve recorded it several times, my mouse always on the delete button. . .~~ Here’s my version of this song. 🙂

My husband, the hero :)

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Letter from lady about Kevin fixing her tire

The Piedmont Shopper letter from the lady whose tire Kevin changed. 🙂

About a month or so ago, Kevin dropped me off at school like he normally does on the mornings he doesn’t work (so we can spend just a few more minutes together…aww…), and before he got down Central Blvd. a bit, he’d passed a minivan with a Sacred Heart School (our church’s school) sticker on it and a lady sitting by herself inside it.

He couldn’t just let that lady sit there, he said, and no one else was stopping. So he made his way around a few cloverleafs and pulled in behind her. The tire was busted, so he offered to change it and wouldn’t accept any money for doing so. His good deed for the day…

Well, he hadn’t gone a fraction of a mile before he noticed another vehicle stopped on the other side of the street, its tire blown, as well. An older lady was in this one, and nobody was stopping. Well, what do you think he did? Yep, he pulled around again and changed her tire too!

He told me later (when he called to let me know what had happened, so I wouldn’t worry in case anyone told me they’d seen our van on the side of the road…aww…) that he thought he might have to get mean with this lady because she didn’t want to take “no” for an answer in the giving-him-money-for-his-time-and-all department. But she finally did. And, on a side note that proves the title of this post even further, Kevin asked me not to tell anyone about this when he called. He said he didn’t do it for the fame. I, of course, told him I couldn’t agree to that. 😉

Okay, so flash forward a few weeks. Donna, a science teacher at my school posted on my Facebook wall, wanting to know if my husband was the one the lady had written the letter about. I had no idea what this was about, so Donna posted a link to the local Piedmont Shopper and told me what page to look on. There it was: A Kind Deed. 🙂

Here’s the text, in case for some reason you can’t read the image:

A Kind Deed

Recently, as I was returning home, a tire blew out just as I was leaving Riverside Drive and entering 86 S. I sat there for 10-15 minutes attempting to reach someone (by phone) to assist me. Many cars just zoomed past me.

Then a nice young man stopped and asked if he could help me. He changed the tire and absolutely refused to accept any money stating that he would not be a Christian if he had passed me by knowing that he could help.

Thank you, Kevin Hawke [sp fix], for your kind deed. There should be more like you.

Bobbi Renn

Thank you, Mrs. Renn, for taking the time to share this story with everyone who reads it. I pray that it will inspire others to spread kindness wherever and whenever they can. 🙂

Atticus’ first song

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Atticus, right, with his big brother, Lucas.

Off and on through the day Sunday, Attie would pull out the plastic push-button guitar and pretend to strum it, singing something I couldn’t place and claiming it was “Daddy’s song.” Once Kevin got home from work and pulled out the acoustic, Attie brought his to the table, singing that same little tune.

His first songwriting experience!! Of course, Mom had to record it. 😉 I’m not exactly sure what he’s singing, but it sounds like, “You gotta think about where you gonna lay.” We don’t know where he came up with it or why he says it’s Kevin’s song. Maybe something Kevin does sounds like that to him?

Anyway, Kevin’s reaction to it? “Not bad for a 3-year-old.” And a big old smile! 🙂

[audio:think-about-where-you-gonna-lay-atticus-june2010.mp3|loop=yes]

Our Confirmation

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: Kevin & me with Fr Charles

: Lucas and Atticus

: Our family 😀

What a glorious day was June 5, 2010! After such a long journey home, we finally made it: Confirmation! No longer turning Catholic, we have now become. 🙂

Thank you to everyone who was there to celebrate this day with us, especially our priest, Father Charles Breindel; my parents, Danny and Nancye Ricketts; and our sponsors, Tom and Beverly Laptos. Thanks also to Tom and Bev for taking and sharing these pictures with us and for hosting a wonderful (surprise!) cookout party afterward. It was awesome!

Kevin & Josephine’s first meeting ;)

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Kevin & Josephine’s First Meeting 😉, originally uploaded by mrshawke.

This was taken in the back room of Rudy’s Music, in Times Square, NYC, on 48th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues, in July 2009. Kevin played a number of guitars that day, but this one was the keeper.

He named her Josephine because it was closest to my name. (It seemed too weird to me to name her Jo, though he wanted to. 😉 Plus, the only woman he’s every known named Josephine used to play music with his dad, and she was really sweet. She’s an Epiphone Les Paul Standard Plain Top Vintage Sunburst. 🙂

In a New York State of Mind

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I went through some of my New York City bookmarks from the last four or five years to send some links to a friend who was visiting the city for the first time over Spring Break. Since we’re headed back next month, I was sifting through them once again and decided to post them here. 🙂

General information & tours
The New York Times’ Suggested Walking Tours
The New York Times’ NYC Travel Coverage
Journeywoman Insider Guide to Cheap Shopping in NYC
How to Visit New York
New York in the Movies
Manhattan City Guide – Citysearch

Transportation
MTA Trip Planner: for planning out specific routes
MTA: subway, bus, railroad, bridge and tunnel maps

Touristy Musts
Statue of Liberty
Statue Cruises: tickets for the ferry to Liberty and Ellis islands
The Empire State Building
Central Park

Museums
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Museum of Modern Art (MOMA)
American Museum of Natural History

Restaurants/Food
Shanghai Asian Cuisine
Shanghai Cafe
Sugar Sweet Sunshine Bakery
The Village Voice’s New York All Restaurants Guide

Cathedrals & Architecture
St. Patrick’s Cathedral
The Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine
St. Bart’s
New York Architecture Walking Tours

Music & Theater
Carnegie Hall
Joe’s Pub
Village Vanguard
Jazz Standard
Shakespeare in the Park
The Public Theater
Broadway.com

Other Fun/Interesting Places:
Library Way
Coney Island
Greenflea