Ron Hawkins, acclaimed singer-songwriter, founding member of Canadian band Lowest of the Low and all-around iconic rocker kinda guy, is back in the band business with the debut album Rome from The Do Good Assassins.
Hawkins, a Toronto native who lives in the west end of downtown Toronto, has enjoyed a lengthy solo recording career that has seen the talented musician release a slew of well-received but ultimately minor-league albums over the past 20-odd years. And, to be honest, it kinda pissed off a few people that he was so easily ignored by all but his sizable clan of loyal fans who follow his every move (obviously, myself included). But, with this new outfit, The Do Good Assassins, and their new album, Rome, well, this changes everything.
This album is good. The band shines. And Hawkins sounds more self-assured and optimistic than he’s sounded in a long time. Could he finally have come out from under the shadow of Lowest of the Low’s brief but oh-so-memorable life? The answer is a resounding yes.
“Yeah, you know, like you say, I consider myself very successful to last almost 30 years as an artist,” Hawkins explains. “But at the same time, I’ve been kind of under the radar nationally, without a super huge profile, and I’d love to break out onto a bigger stage. I think the album deserves it, and I think this band deserves it, you know.”
The Lowest of the Low turned out two stellar albums in the early ’90s — Shakespeare My Butt being the first and by far most revered, followed by Hallucigenia and, shortly after that, by the band’s legendary flame out.
Hawkins understands the legacy. The Low’s two reunion tours in 2000 and 2011 packed houses and generated the kind of energy he has been unable to tap into ever since. And, quite understandably, it kinda stings.
“I totally respect the work we did with the Low,” says Hawkins. “But it does frustrate me that I got to have that profile with that band, but it eluded me with the next band, The Rusty Nails, which I thought was also a great band, as well as on the solo level. Who knows, maybe this will do it.”
Rome, out Nov. 1, is a double album with one disc devoted to folk and country tunes and the other to rock.
The Do Good Assassins — Derrick Brady, Jesse Capon, Alex McMaster and Steve Singh — were originally pegged as the backing band for Hawkins when he toured his last solo album, Straightjacket Love. But, according to Hawkins, the band showed such serious chops that he, ahem, changed his tune.
“They were so good and so flexible, whatever I threw at them they had no problem handling and adding a lot of spice to whatever style,” says Hawkins. “And I thought, ‘Wait a second, maybe I’ve actually started a real band.’ ”
The Do Good Assassins, Horseshoe Tavern, 370 Queen St. W., 416-598-4753. Nov. 1.
