Ron Hawkins, a Toronto-based musician, first earned widespread attention as the lead singer of Lowest of the Low, whose albums Shakespeare My Butt and Hallucigenia together surpassed 100,000 copies sold. Widely regarded as one of Canada’s strongest songwriters, he commands a level of regard from listeners and fellow artists that approaches reverence. He shares no connection with Rompin’ Ronnie Hawkins, despite the persistent confusion between the two. Following the breakup of Lowest of the Low, Hawkins assembled the Leisure Demons and continued writing and recording. A four-song demo by the Leisure Demons contained material that later appeared on recordings by the Rusty Nails. In 1995 Hawkins issued his debut solo album, The Secret of My Excess. That session marked the first time Lawrence Nichols on vocals, Christopher Plock on saxophones, and Michael Kaler (aka Blitz) on bass worked together. The group soon expanded to include Rob Fenton on saxophone and violin and Mark Hansen on drums, at which point it adopted the name the Rusty Nails. Hansen had earlier played in the Toronto band Dig Circus, an act referenced in one Lowest of the Low song. The Rusty Nails spent most of 1996 and 1997 on the road supporting The Secret of My Excess. Their first proper album, Greasing the Star Machine, arrived independently in September 1998. The record documents Hawkins’s continuing development as a writer and performer while foregrounding the skills of the Rusty Nails, whose style ranges from understated passages to forceful, aggressive ones driven by the weight of two baritone saxophones. Fenton exited in 1999 to pursue bartending full-time, and Jason Walters took over baritone saxophone duties. Julie Penner frequently augments the lineup on violin. The band has shared bills with Billy Bragg, the Violent Femmes, Cracker, and Big Sugar. A large body of new songs entered the set in 1999, prompting the group to enter the studio under the direction of producer Ian Blurton, known for his work with Change of Heart and Blurtonia, with plans for a follow-up album in 2000. Hawkins and Hansen also maintain the side project Hummer, which released Electrically Operated Product in 1997.
