Hawk Nelson

Hawk Nelson is a pop punk band hailing from Peterborough, Ontario. The band has become popular on the Christian music scene and was voted "Favorite New Artist" by CCM Magazine in their February 2006 Reader's Choice Awards.

The band played independently in Ontario for a few years before they signed with Tooth & Nail Records, largely on the recommendation of Trevor McNevan, the lead singer of fellow Tooth & Nail band Thousand Foot Krutch. McNevan, also from Peterborough, is credited with discovering the band. In July of 2004, Hawk Nelson released their major label debut Letters to the President. It was produced by Aaron Sprinkle and McNevan, who also co-wrote nine of the album's fourteen songs. They won GMA Canada Covenant Award [1] for Modern Rock/Alternative Album of the Year in 2006.

The band has achieved some success in the mainstream as well. They portrayed The Who on an episode of the NBC drama American Dreams, and they recorded a song named "Bring 'Em Out" for the 2005 motion picture Yours, Mine, and Ours. "Things We Go Through" from Letters to the President was also featured in Yours, Mine, and Ours.

In October of 2005, the band re-released Letters to the President, with new material including their cover of The Who's My Generation, three acoustic versions of some of their hits, and a limited edition cover.

The band released their second studio album, titled Smile, It's The End of the World, on April 4th, 2006. The song "Is Forever Enough", featured the guest voice of Trevor McNevan. The album's first single, "Everything You Ever Wanted", went on to hit #1 for 9 weeks on the R&R Christian CHR chart, and was the fourth most played song of 2006. The band spent the summer of 2006 touring the major Christian music festivals, and also took part in Jeremy Camp's Beyond Measure tour. Hawk Nelson released a 3-track Christmas EP titled Gloria on November 21, 2006, and in winter of that year they toured with tobyMac's Winter Wonder Slam tour along with The Afters, Family Force Five, and Ayiesha Woods.

Current members

• Jason Dunn (vocals, piano)
• Jonathan Steingard (guitar)
• Daniel Biro (bass)
• Aaron "Skwid" Tosti (drums)
• Jacob Dowker (Super Cool Announcer, Kazoo)

Past members

• Davin "Dave" Clark (guitar)
• Matt Paige (drums)

Trivia

• In an interview [2], Dunn, the band's frontman, revealed the meaning of the band's name. He said that when he was about 14 years old, there was a video game he had played called "Too Extreme" on the Sony Playstation. It required the player to create a name for the character. He got the first name from Tony Hawk. "Nelson" he got from a boot repair store in his hometown: Nelson Boot Repair.
• Before/during the early stages of recording Saturday Rock Action (2003), the band's name was Reasonbeing.Template:Fact
• Prior to the formation of Hawk Nelson, Dunn, Clark, and Paige had formed the Peterborough-based group called Swish, while Biro sang lead vocals in a four-piece group called the Cheese Monkeys from Planet Nine from Barrie, Ontario.
• In 2006, Hawk Nelson won Best Artist in Ignite Your Faith Magazine's Golden Ear Awards. Jason Dunn also won best male vocalist, and "Letters to the President" won the #3 spot in the Best Song category. [3]
• The band's free podcasts are available on iTunes.

Awards

GMA Canada Covenant Awards [4]

• Modern Rock/Alternative Album Of The Year Award, 2006.

Discography

• Saturday Rock Action (2003)
• California EP (2004)
• Letters to the President (2004)
• Letters to the President: Expanded Edition (2005)
• Bring 'Em Out (2005) (Digital EP only available on iTunes Store)
• Smile, It's The End of the World (April 2006)
• Gloria EP (November 21, 2006)

External links

• Hawk Nelson's Official Website
• Hawk Nelson's MySpace
• Hawk Nelson's PureVolume
• Hawk Nelson's Podcast on iTunes
• Hawk Nelson Fanzone - Fan Site
• An Interview with Jason Dunn
• "The One Thing I Have Left" artist commentary

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