Biography
Guitarist Ernie Hawkins remained a hidden figure in Pittsburgh's blues community until the late 1990s, when he launched back into solo work focused on Piedmont blues. Along with fellow players Stefan Grossman, Roy Book Binder, and Jorma Kaukonen, he took lessons from Reverend Gary Davis during the 1960s and developed a revivalist style encompassing Delta blues, country blues, ragtime, and gospel. His two return acoustic releases, Blues Advice and Bluesified, established him as a striking interpreter of material by Davis, Blind Willie McTell, and Skip James.
Hawkins entered the world in Pittsburgh in 1947 and first took up guitar and banjo while still in his teens, starting with bluegrass and country before shifting attention to pre-war blues by McTell, Mississippi John Hurt, and Blind Blake. He relocated to New York City in 1965 and devoted a full year there to mastering ragtime guitar under Reverend Gary Davis. Over the following ten years he pursued college and graduate studies yet stayed involved with music, crossing paths and performing alongside figures such as Mance Lipscomb, Robert Pete Williams, Fred McDowell, and Robert "Nyles" Jones, also known as Guitar Gabriel. By 1978 he set aside his work in psychology to pursue music full time.
Following the 1980 release of Ragtime Signatures he settled in Austin, Texas, appearing both alone and alongside electric blues and rockabilly groups. Returning to Pittsburgh in the middle of the 1980s, he spent the next decade handling lead guitar duties for the local R&B outfit Gary Belloma and the Blues Bombers. The 1996 album Blues Advice marked his return to ragtime blues and hinted at the traditional gospel paths he would explore on Bluesified, issued in 2000. His standing as a foremost exponent of Gary Davis style brought him an invitation to the Andy Cohen-produced collection Gary Davis Style -- A Tribute to Reverend Gary Davis and a studio collaboration with Maria Muldaur on her acoustic blues project Richland Woman Blues.
Hawkins entered the world in Pittsburgh in 1947 and first took up guitar and banjo while still in his teens, starting with bluegrass and country before shifting attention to pre-war blues by McTell, Mississippi John Hurt, and Blind Blake. He relocated to New York City in 1965 and devoted a full year there to mastering ragtime guitar under Reverend Gary Davis. Over the following ten years he pursued college and graduate studies yet stayed involved with music, crossing paths and performing alongside figures such as Mance Lipscomb, Robert Pete Williams, Fred McDowell, and Robert "Nyles" Jones, also known as Guitar Gabriel. By 1978 he set aside his work in psychology to pursue music full time.
Following the 1980 release of Ragtime Signatures he settled in Austin, Texas, appearing both alone and alongside electric blues and rockabilly groups. Returning to Pittsburgh in the middle of the 1980s, he spent the next decade handling lead guitar duties for the local R&B outfit Gary Belloma and the Blues Bombers. The 1996 album Blues Advice marked his return to ragtime blues and hinted at the traditional gospel paths he would explore on Bluesified, issued in 2000. His standing as a foremost exponent of Gary Davis style brought him an invitation to the Andy Cohen-produced collection Gary Davis Style -- A Tribute to Reverend Gary Davis and a studio collaboration with Maria Muldaur on her acoustic blues project Richland Woman Blues.
Albums
