Roots artist Chris Hawley performs at the Cinema Bar this week, so Hawley told the News about what he has in store for Culver City…
When did you start playing and performing? When did the band form?
I started playing when I was 12 years old, and my first performance was a recital about six months after I began studying classical guitar. Although I was more interested in rock ‘n’ roll, I stuck with classical for three years, and I’m grateful to have learned about music and finger-style technique in that context. I jammed with friends, started writing songs, and realized the unlimited creative potential of the guitar right away, especially for composing and songwriting.
The Christopher Hawley Rollers formed soon after I moved to L.A. from Colorado in 2001. I performed in an acoustic duo with my girlfriend at the time, and we played all over SoCal and beyond, touring in a VW Vanagon. It was easy to connect with other musicians through Craigslist, performing solo and as a freelance guitar player with other projects, and just living in Venice, which seemed to attract like-minded artists. As I wrote more songs, I began to branch out from the duo, and a collective of musicians formed around the songs, and it continues to grow to this day.
Describe your sound…
Our sound has evolved, especially over the last few albums, but is essentially roots music, based in blues, although different songs add different elements of roots music, for example Johnny Appleseed is a New Orleans grooved folktale about the time Johnny Appleseed met George Washington, which, chances are, never happened. I’ve been inspired to compose Americana, funk, folk, and to incorporate Latin and Haitian rhythms. Every album has had at least one or two reggae songs. The last release, which is a live album of our show at the Mint LA on my birthday last year, has four reggae songs, and I’ve got a mixed and mastered full reggae album in the pipeline, with Santa Davis, who played with Bob and plays with Ziggy Marley, on drums. I’m trying to find a label or other partner to help release it.
What are your career highlights so far?
I can’t think of one highlight, but I’m grateful to have been touring for six months out of the year for the last 18 years or so, including some fun residencies on Main Street in Santa Monica, performances at the troubadour, the Greek Theatre, and shows in Japan, Bali, Brazil, Taiwan, Mexico, and consistent tours in the ski towns of the Rockies and the surf towns of the West Coast of Costa Rica. The Rollers and two of my songs were featured in a national commercial a while back, and that one day of work, Has play a huge role in making it possible for me to continue to make music. I also produce a festival at a hot springs in Paso Robles. Since 2016, the Folk-n-Soak Music/Hot Springs/Yoga/Camping Reunion Coz taking place at least twice a year, except for during the Pandy, and tickets are on sale now at the link in my Instagram page, @christopherhawleyrollers and at @folknsoak, for the next Fall Soak October 3-5 at Franklin Hot Springs.
What recorded music is available — particularly the most recent?
I’ve been putting out records since before streaming and Spotify, so much of the catalogue is on Bandcamp, available by donation. The more recent releases are streaming in all the usual places, and you can watch videos, most of which are shot in locations around the Westside, at the YouTube page, http://www.youtube.com/christopherhawley. Most of the videos were kindly produced by friends who work in the industry who volunteered top-of-the-line equipment and a video concept for their favorite song of mine, and I offered to find the location and feed everybody in the crew.
The most recent studio album is Stories, cowritten with Randy Wooten, and featuring a full band sound on some mostly California Roots Pop originals. The last album I’ve put out is called Midwinter Melodies at the Mint LA, 2.26.24, a live set from a trio of Rollers with John Reese on bass and Dan Reed on drums. I’m on nylon string acoustic guitar, and it’s a much more sparse arrangement, ringing in my 50th birthday.
Have you performed at Cinema Bar before?
I love the Cinema Bar! As I me title to someone the other day, it’s an institution, one of the last remaining music venues on the Westside, so real and intimate, with a great staff. I’ve held a couple of residencies there over the years, the last one was every Thursday in January 2023, about a month before I became a dad. Many years before that, I remember playing a show there on a chilly evening in the first few weeks of the year, and I had made promotional lighters with the name of the band on them for our shows at the Sundance Film Festival. At one point during the show, in the middle of a song, the power went out, and I signaled to the drummer to take a drum solo. He kept going while I passed out lighters to everyone in the bar, and somehow, because the bar door had been left open, a possum crawled in from the cold and circled the back of the stage before it ran out into the night.
What can we expect from the set this time?
This time around, we’re sharing the night with a couple of other awesome Westside singer songwriters, Leo Von and Adrienne Ackerman, and another band that our drummer Dan plays with called Los Angelenos. For our set, Desmond Bowe will be on bass, and I’ll play the nylon string acoustic. We’ve been having fun with some stripped down blues arrangements and reggae vibes that we hope to share. It doesn’t take much to fill that space, and we love to play with dynamics in the songs. I look forward to sharing some new songs, including one called The Spark That Lit the Flame that I finished on January 6 of this year, the night before the Palisades Fire. I held off playing it right away, but it’s become a staple in our set lists lately. I’ll have copies of the latest album as well as some from years past, available by donation.
What else do you have coming up?
We’re excited to once again be part of the Santa Monica July 4 Parade, performing on a flatbed truck going down Main Street. Other than that, I’ve reduced my schedule so that I can be with my family, including our almost 2 1/2 year-old, as much as possible. I’ll be performing in Laguna Beach at the Marine Room August 18, and of course, playing each day of the Fall Folk-n-Soak, October 3-5 at Franklin Hot Springs in Paso Robles, CA, including the all inclusive non-denominational Sunday gospel set, which culminates in the traditional Bathrobe Parade.
Tickets are on sale now! I’d love to release the reggae album on a label before the end of the year, and if not, then definitely independently in 2026. I’m grateful for all the support over the years from music lovers both local and around the world, and will continue to share the love at the Cinema Bar July 15th and beyond!
Chris Hawley performs at 9 p.m. on Tuesday, July 15 at the Cinema Bar. Go to thecinemabar.com for more information about the venue.
Elsewhere this week
The Culver Hotel will be hosting the likes of Sylvia & the Rhythm Boys and and Scotty Bramer. Go to culverhotel.com for more info.
The next concert at Boulevard Music is on July 19, with Janet Klein & Her Parlor Boys. Go to boulevardmusic.com for more info.