3…2…1…Launch Night Tickets KAZ HAWKINS
Just over 1 month from now, the fabulous Kaz Hawkins Band will be launching our great wee festival this year on Thursday 9th June, at the Roe Valley Arts & Cultural Centre. We like to kick things off with a big bang and boy-o-boy we’ve hit the jackpot for this our twentieth year…secure your tickets now…they’ll not hang around forever !
Tickets available ONLINE ONLY – All Proceeds to Fund the Festival
Multi award winning Kaz Hawkins is Northern Ireland’s very own blues and soul darling. The Belfast born singer-songwriter is fast becoming a performing icon across UK & Europe with the United States temptingly beckoning her over. Her high energy, original shows with her 1950s style swing-dress-meets-Dr Martens look and ability to closely connect with her public contribute to make Kaz one of today’s most popular blues artists in the UK and Ireland, as she continues to play to full houses.
Kaz has been compared to Etta James & Janis Joplin to name but a few. Mixing through the genres of music for over 20 years, she finally found her niche in roots and blues, bringing a fun, inspiring & hopeful message with her new debut album Get Ready self-released in August 2014, featuring Kaz’s deep, powerful voice, original song-writing and soulful tracks, Get Ready wooed both the public and the critics, winning the Blues Matters Magazine Writers’ Poll Best Studio Album of 2015 in September. In a hat trick feat during the same month, Kaz accepted the prestigious Barry Middleton Award for Emerging Artist at the British Blues Awards (the first ever Northern Ireland recipient) and also received the Pure M Award for 2015 All-Ireland Best Female Act at a ceremony in Dublin.
Kaz’s stellar rise to success will be no surprise to the Northern Ireland’s music fiends and blues fans over the world she has been wooing for years with her deep, powerful voice, original song writing and soulful tracks. No mean feat for the 43 year-old funky grandma, who owes surviving a life of physical and emotional hardship to music and a larger-than-life personality that doesn’t take setbacks lying down!
Kaz has now rebranded full time as KAZ HAWKINS BAND and with the addition of another vocalist, Deanne Jones, the band sound is evolving bigger and better than ever before. Guitarist Nick McConkey has been with Kaz 4 years and has been a crucial part of the bands direction. With the addition in 2015 of brothers Pete & Jan Uhrin on drums and bass KHB as they are now known, release their Feelin’ Good album and UK tour on 28th May at Belfast Empire Music Hall.
Kaz has worked tirelessly for different charities and is Arts Ambassador for EastSide Arts Belfast in which she lectured students at Boston University on how she used music to survive trauma.
Kaz Hawkins – LEAD VOCAL, GUITAR, PERCUSSION, KEYBOARDS
Nick McConkey – GUITAR
Peter Uhrin – DRUMS,PERCUSSION, VOCALS, GUITAR
Janny Uhrin – BASS
Deanne Jones – VOCALS
Website : http://kazhawkins.com/
Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/kazhawkinssongs
Twitter : https://twitter.com/kazhawkins