I wrote pieces of this song from the mid- to late-1990s. Kevin and I recorded it at Stryker Studios in Danville, Virginia, in 2005, but we never made it past this stage. (Totally my fault!)

The music sounds good, but the mix is rough—no backing vocals and little to no vocal mixing. Still, it brings back so many memories and makes me wish I could go back and handle things a lot differently.

Vocals: Jo Hawke

Guitar: Kevin Hawke

Keyboards: Kirk (Glenwood) Smith

Bass: Mark Earp

Drums: Jere Stryker

We enjoyed hanging out with Kevin’s Averett University family: Bruce & Tammi Devlin, Peggy & Don Aungst, Christy & Chris Mayes… We saw so many people we hadn’t seen in so long: Dolly Jennings, Liz Hoskins, Carole Hylton, Kathy & Fred Shanks, Deana Barbour Lacks, Chuck Adams, Glenwood Smith & Donna, Walter Ygoh, Jason Crowder, Michael Crowder… (Sorry if I left anyone out!!!)

Although we didn’t go with the intention of playing any music ourselves, *someone* is just extremely persuasive and we ended up playing a couple of songs. Thanks to Tammi Devlin for the videos!!!!

1- Are the Good Times Really Over for Good

2- Moondance

Paul McCartney’s new Album, McCartney III, was on the main page of Apple Music, so I decided to listen. Lucas said he’d already listened to it when it was released last week and really liked a couple of songs (“Deep Deep Feeling” and “Slidin'”).

The first song (“Long Tailed Winter Bird”) got my attention really fast. It’s got an interesting kind-of-tribal beat with a lot of repetition (but in a good way) and cool guitar riffs.

Although the drive-thru was slam-packed, as usual, I still haven’t listened to the whole album yet. My favorite song so far, though, is “Deep Deep Feeling.” Sweet harmonies and cool piano chords.

Paul McCartney tweeted yesterday that he was going for an “empty spacey mood,” so, yeah, that probably explains why I love it.

Deep Deep Feeling was from a kind of jam that I had done, I’d wanted to get in a particular mood, a very sort of empty spacey mood, so I just made up stuff so it was just a combination of ideas that became an 8 minute song #TimsTwitterListeningParty #McCartneyIII

— Paul McCartney (@PaulMcCartney) December 21, 2020

Here’s the video:

Kevin’s 2002 recordings at his cousin Shawn Hopkins’ Danville basement studio.

The first track is 200 Days, which Kevin (lead vocals & rhythm guitar) wrote with Shawn (drums & keyboard) and Jody Rising (lead guitar & backup vocals). The second track is Johnny L.V., which features only Kevin on vocals & guitar.

I wish there were pictures of the recording or at least a picture of the three of them together… back in the pre-cell days.

Prayer is the oxygen of the soul. -Padre Pio

A photo posted by Jo Hawke (@jo_hawke) on May 30, 2016 at 5:41am PDT

I got the app on sale a while back but really haven’t used it much. However, it really does make creating nice-looking images easy. They have a lot of cool backgrounds, and you can type in your quotation and alter the color scheme.

Warning: If you’re used to Photoshop, it will probably get frustrating for you not to have much control over sizing and spacing of individual words.

P.S. If you don’t know much about Padre Pio, google him. He is an amazing Saint with all kinds of miraculous specials! <3

Here’s an audio version of it from one of our “kitchen concerts” in 2010:

And here are the lyrics:

There's No Way
by Kevin Hawke

You've never lost the sparkle I see in your eyes.
As the months have slipped away, I've come to realize
I can't predict the future, but there's one thing that I know:
There's no way in my heart I'll ever let you go.

I've never cared for anyone the way I do for you.
I could not forget you if I wanted to.
I'll never care for anyone like I do for you, I know.
There's no way in my heart I'll ever let you go.

Giving up is not my practice.
I hope you can understand
That being without you
Will never be in my plan.
If it takes until the end of time,
I must be sure that you know:
There's no way in my heart I'll ever let you go.

Sometimes it feels like a dream that we ever met.
To God for this I'll always be in His debt.
If it's what you want, I'll leave, but I want you to know:
There's no way in my heart I'll ever let you go.

Giving up is not my practice.
I hope you can understand
That being without you
Will never be in my plan.
If it takes until the end of time,
I must be sure that you know:
There's no way in my heart I'll ever let you go.

Copyright © Kevin Hawke –  
Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 

Fine acting by all, including Maggie Smith, Hugh Bonneville, Penelope Wilton and Elizabeth McGovern. Intriguing story lines, gorgeous buildings and landscapes. And don’t forget witty dialogue…

Take this exchange from episode 4:

Lady Grantham: Good heavens, what am I sitting on?
Matthew Crawley: A swivel-chair.
Lady Grantham: Another modern brainwave?
Matthew Crawley: Hardly–they were invented by Thomas Jefferson.
Lady Grantham: Why does every day involve a fight with an American?

Probably not the best example, but the latest that made me laugh out loud.

When Father Tony alluded to an episode of the second season in last Sunday’s homily, I had to fight the urge to tune it out to avoid … spoilers… But since I can’t recall the specific reason for the reference at this point, I don’t suppose it warranted my faint trepidation after all.