Hawktail (f/k/a Haas Kowert Tice)

Hawktail is a collection of 4 of the most exciting young voices in acoustic music today. Music fans will recognize them from their various other outfits (Punch Brothers, David Rawlings, Crooked Still, Prairie Home Companion) but together they have created a unique instrumental offering music that sparks the imagination and emboldens the spirit.

California-born Brittany Haas is widely regarded as one of the most influential fiddlers of her generation. She grew up honing her craft in fiddle camps nationwide, and came to her unique sound through the old time fiddling of Bruce Molsky and the innovative stylings of Darol Anger. A prodigious youth, she began touring with Darol’s Republic of Strings at the age of 14. She simultaneously studied baboons in the evolutionary biology department of Princeton University and joined seminal chamber-grass band Crooked Still. She has toured with them since, and also performed with Yonder Mountain String Band, Tony Trischka, Alasdair Fraser & Natalie Haas (her cellist sister), Abigail Washburn, and The Waybacks. She played her fiddle on Steve Martin’s Grammy Award-winning CD, “The Crow,” and performed in his band on Letterman and SNL. She released her debut self-titled solo album at 17, produced by Darol Anger and featuring Bruce Molsky, Mike Marshall, Alison Brown and others. Currently. She currently tours with the Dave Rawlings Machine and plays in the Prairie home companion house band.

Paul Kowert grew up in Madison, Wisconsin. Upon graduating from The Curtis Institute of Music in 2009, he joined the band Punch Brothers and moved to Brooklyn, NY. Since then the band has made two albums and toured extensively throughout the US, UK and Europe, contributed music to “The Hunger Games,” “This is Forty,” and “Inside Llewyn Davis,” and appeared on Conan, Leno, Letterman, Jools Holland, A Prairie Home Companion, and Austin City Limits. In addition to playing with Punch Brothers, Paul tours with Mike Marshall’s Big Trio, Dave Rawlings Machine, and The Prairie Home Companion House band. Drawing from his extensive experience in classical music, endless pursuit of adapting traditional fiddle styles to bass, and formidable chops, he is truly one of the most original bassists working today.

Jordan Tice is a singular voice on the American roots music scene. Over the last ten years, he has developed a reputation as a unique and versatile guitarist and prolific composer of some of the most thoughtful and well-crafted tunes of his generation. He has released four solo records of original music to critical acclaim and has worked as a sideman to some of the biggest names in acoustic music such as Dave Rawlings, Tony Trischka, Mark Schatz, the Duhks, and actor/comedian Steve Martin. His current release, Horse County, features his singing and songwriting in addition to his established tune writing and guitar picking skills with a sound that calls to mind the music of Roger Miller, John Hartford, and Norman Blake.

Mandolinist Dominick Leslie has spent every one of his 26 years immersed in bluegrass and acoustic music, and his innovative style and musical curiosity are informed by these deep roots. He has studied with mandolin masters David Grisman, Mike Marshall and Chris Thile, won numerous mandolin championships, and performed abroad with several different musical configurations. He has toured with The Deadly Gentlemen, Missy Raines, The Bee Eaters, The Grant Gordy Quartet, Noam Pikelny and Friends, The Infamous Stringdusters, Tony Trischka and can also be seen performing with The Brotet featuring Sam Grisman, Alex Hargreaves and Nathaniel Smith as well as Phoebe Hunt and the Gatherers.