b. Sophie Ballantine Hawkins, 1 November 1966, Manhattan, New York, USA. Born of liberal, wealthy East Manhattan parents (her father a lawyer, her mother British writer Joan Winthrop), Hawkins’ family background also boasted an aunt, Linda, who had been masseuse to Paul Simon. By the time she moved with Aunt Linda to the arty environs of West Greenwich, she had already began to develop her musical talent, taking drum lessons at an East Harlem jazz school from the age of nine. Her teens were spent studying New York percussionist Gordy Ryan (she also shared a room with him at the age of 14). By her late teens Hawkins and Ryan also shared a stage together, touring a show around New York State. In the meantime she had started to write her own material, and by the age of 20 had enough to approach prospective record companies. Between bar-tending stints she spent two months rehearsing with Bryan Ferry (who eventually sacked her before taking her on tour), then met Marc Cohn while she was waitressing. Through him she earned jingle contracts for advertisements including ones for Nestlé’s Sweet Dreams, working in producer Ralph Shuckett’s studio, and using his contacts to arrange meetings with record companies. Columbia Records were quick to bite following interest from both Sire Records and Arista Records, seeing in her a marketable songwriting ability which secured her a multi-album deal. She introduced herself with the smouldering worldwide summer 1992 success of ‘Damn, I Wish I Was Your Lover’. The accompanying debut album, Tongues And Tails, invoked a similar sense of wilfulness and sexuality. Among the supporting cast were percussionist Omar Hakim (ex-Weather Report), though all the other arrangements were conducted by Hawkins.
Hawkins’ debut album signposted the singer as a ‘star in the making’ in many critical polls. However, further singles success did not follow, and Hawkins concentrated instead on crafting a clutch of 20 songs in her home studio. These demos were then fleshed out with Steve Lipson in London and, whittled down, formed the foundation for Whaler. The title was inspired by a youth spent in the whaling town of Sagg Harbour. It produced a US Top 10 hit single in ‘As I Lay Me Down’ and a UK Top 20 hit with ‘Right Beside You’, which came as no small comfort to an artist who had been expecting to be dropped in the run up to her second album (label executives were reportedly annoyed at nude pictures of Hawkins which appeared in Interview magazine, mainly, though, because she was not wearing make-up and did not look ‘glamorous enough’).
After an extended hiatus, Hawkins returned in 1999 with Timbre, an assured and mature collection of adult contemporary pop. The album was reissued in 2001 on Hawkins own Trumpet Swan label. Her first independently recorded and released album, Wilderness, followed in 2004.
