The Nighthawks December 21, 2012

Doors open at 7:00, show starts at 8:30.

When Mark Stutso, master of the deep groove, joined The Nighthawks at the beginning of 2010, the 21st-century version of the legendary American roots band was complete. With Paul Bell and Johnny Castle in the band for nearly a decade, and founding father Mark Wenner the remaining original, this team outshines all previous incarnations.

The Nighthawks was an idea in Mark Wenner's brain long before he was able to implement it. The musical product of pre-1958 radio in Washington, D.C., he did not know there were rules against mixing blues, R&B, honky-tonk country, doo-wop, gospel and rockabilly into one delicious stew.

The current members bring decades of varied experience to the stage and studio. Paul Bell has played in many influential bands around the Nation’s Capital and is the consummate D.C. guitarist, capable of soul scratching or country picking. Johnny Castle started his D.C. career with Crank, popular early hard-rockers who opened for Jimi Hendrix. Mark Stutso played in a number of big and small-time rock bands, including Ruffryder – a spin-off of Black Oak Arkansas – and Virginia Beach-based Trix. Last Train to Bluesville was released on RipBang Records and won Acoustic Album of the Year at the Blues Foundation’s Blues Music Awards in Memphis in May 2011.

The band's latest album, Damn Good Time, was created with no muss and no fuss. All of The Nighthawks were involved in the production and writing, drawing from close friends a wide range of tunes, augmented by some “Hawk-ified” versions of classics from Jimmy McCracklin, Nat "King" Cole, Elvis Presley, Wilbert Harrison and the Mills Brothers.

After 40 years, The Nighthawks are still having a 'a damn good time." And so will you. Listen up!

Official Website: http://www.thehamiltondc.com/live/calendar#/nighthawks-0