Ragged bits of duct tape secure the small road sign to the stained, threadbare carpet near the front of the stage. "Denver, Colorado" it proclaims, a silent testimonial to the blurred sensibilities induced by life on the road.

It’s another gig for BlackHawk, a trio renowned for soaring harmonies, insightful lyrics, and energetic stage performances. Lead vocalist Henry Paul, whose distinctive voice drives BlackHawk’s sound, is country casual in a long-sleeved white shirt, skin-tight blue jeans (move over Dwight Yoakam!) and black boots. Shoulder-length, wavy black hair softens an often intense face. A stunning silver and blue cross hangs from his neck, framed by the open shirt collar. A silver-studded black belt, silver buckle (with BlackHawk silhouette) and silver and stone bracelet add a touch of western elegance.

To Paul’s left, Dave Robbins, head bobbing up and down with the music, hunches over his instrument. His hands move with lightning quickness,. Robbins has taken the casual look a step further. A blue flannel shirt hangs on his slight frame. The shirt is untucked and open at the collar revealing a white tank top underneath. He also wears jeans, boots, and a silver cross around his neck, though, unlike Paul’s, the cross is barely noticeable. The tails of his trademark bandana peek out from beneath a black cowboy hat.

The two band members are a study in contrast. They both project enormous appeal in different ways. Paul often seems larger than life, with his dominating stage presence and insistent, demanding vocals. Robbins is quieter, more unassuming. His sly playfulness at the keyboards and gentle, soulful singing have a magic all their own.

Paul and Robbins, ably aided by their back-up band (known affectionately by fans as "BackHawk"), have performed throughout 1999 on their "The Sky’s the Limit Tour." A more apt name for this tour however, might be "The Hole in the Heart Tour" (after one of their single releases). The third member of the trio, Van Stephenson, as much a part of the heart and soul of BlackHawk as Robbins and Paul, no longer tours with them after being diagnosed with cancer in February.

"Van’s real sick. He’s in a real tough spot," Paul said. "He is sorely missed creatively, spiritually and personally. He’s in a fight that only he can win. He can get support and help from us but we can’t be there all the time and he can’t be out here. He’s in a serious battle right now. In a way, the most exciting part of his life has finally come and it’s being taken away."

Paul discussed touring without Stephenson, "We started together and we’re not completely together
anymore. That’s difficult. But as far as our resourcefulness in patching up any holes in the boat and rowing on, we’ve certainly managed to do that. We haven’t suffered from it, with regard to our enthusiasm and our spirited sort of presentation, but it’s hard." Fans have been very supportive and caring regarding Stephenson. They send him gifts and letters that raise his spirits. He, in turn, tries to answer fan mail and draw strength from the fans.

BlackHawk Fans

BlackHawk has legions of fans across the country who’ve bought millions of records. The popularity of country music today and the increasingly large numbers of listeners makes Paul wonders if the relationship between fans and artists is changing.

"Twenty-five, 30, 50 years ago, a Conway Twitty fan was a very small part of the musical landscape and could afford to be dedicated to the country singer of his or her choice throughout the artist’s 20- or 25-year career," Paul says. In Nashville today, careers are often much shorter, perhaps only a couple of years. There are many more performers, and many more fans.

"Now, if you’re really a success, you sell two or three million records. How do you personally address each of them (the buyers or fans)?" Paul wonders. "How do you bridge that gap?”

BlackHawk has easily connected with fans appreciative of their abilities. "I love their unique harmony," says Tammela Gerber, who first started following the group when living in Petaluma, California. "I bake chocolate chip cookies for them whenever I go to a show."

Kevin Earle, of Glendale, Colorado adds, "I like their hard country sound. I especially love the mandolin because my grandfather used to play the mandolin."

One aspect of the fan-artist relationship is the difficulty performers have in keeping their private lives separate from their public lives. This is especially problematic with over-the-top fans.

"My private life is nobody’s business and I fight to keep it," Paul says.

"At some point, you have to say ‘I’m off work. I’m with my wife and the kids and we’re doing our thing’," Robbins adds. "There’s a time and a place for everything and it’s not the time and place (for fans) when you’re trying to be with your family. It doesn’t mean you’re rude. You just hope people will understand."

Paul muses, "People will come up to you and say, ‘I don’t want to bother you...’ and then they do for the next twenty minutes. It’s nice to be human and generous and compassionate and really fair to people. On the other hand, it’s also nice to think that people will understand that just because you sing songs on the radio and stand up on a stage, it doesn’t mean they can crawl inside your life."

"I’ve only been a country music singer for the last five or six years," continues Robbins, pondering the group's more fanatical followers. "I’ve always respected people, movie stars, artists, sports people and other professionals, and have never tried to get into anybody’s life. I
have a hard time understanding that. I guess it just depends on the individual."

"Dave was always the most sane guy I’d ever met," laughs Paul. "Not ‘til lately did he start to crack."

On Tour

BlackHawk toured with Tim McGraw (1994-95) in support of their first album and, as a result, were able to expose their music to large audiences. It was on this tour they established their reputation as an exceptional live band.

"Every night we got this sort of overwhelming approval rating from the audience," Paul says. "We do real well in that giant festival venue," he continues. "The Hodag Festival (Rhinelander, Wis.), two summers ago, was the best show I ever did. I’d had a few cocktails and we were really loose. Over the top. Those people were ready to be spanked and boy, I tell you, they came to the right band for that."

"Performing is a strange medium. Sometimes you’ll base your performance on how loud the audience claps, sometimes you base it on other things. We’re going to a club tonight that is usually pretty rowdy. We’re going to do an acoustic set. Will they get it, or not?"

"We want to just bring it down a little during the show," adds Robbins. "It’s fun to get up there and rock but it’s good to get back to where you started. We first came together as writers and, acoustically, we can bring people back to where and how we started."

"It’s your responsibility as a performer to take them (the audience) where you want to go, not play up to the lowest common denominator ? which is to bang them on the head with a hammer," Paul says. "There’s a finesse part of this that’s really worthwhile."

Marketing, Promotion and the Business of Music

Marketing and promotion can override the inherent value or lack of value in the music. The right marketing plan can make or break a career. If BlackHawk’s records are going to reach an audience, they have to be marketed. Paul feels it’s best if singers and songwriters stick to what they do best and let the promotions people do what they do best.

"Arista’s got a significant investment in the group. They want to sell some records and we want them to," Paul says. "At the risk of sounding a little bit business-like, we’re trying to make a living. When the band stumbles onto something really special musically, we want to make everyone aware that we’ve done something right. It takes a lot of effort to do that because the competition in the marketplace is so keen."

"You can see Chris Gaines on every TV screen in every Circuit City TV ad," Paul continues. "How sick are you of that face? Imagine the marketing plan that went into that.”

The Role of Country Radio

Country radio is where the rubber hits the road. Other media, such as the Internet, hold promise as alternate means to reach audiences, yet traditional radio air play is how most singers reach a large numbers of listeners. Although Paul still gets excited about music from artists like Vince Gill, Alan Jackson, and The Dixie Chicks, most songs on country music stations are bland and boring, utterly failing to engage listeners on anything other than the most surface level. Country radio stations try to maximize profit by minimizing risk. This type of thinking, unfortunately, seldom promotes great artistic vision. Nor does it reward those who push the boundaries.

"We sell tickets and records. Radio sells air time," Paul says. "It’s a narrow little passage. Country radio has just worn everyone out with their mediocre, repetitive bullshit. Their safe little system has reduced the format of the whole medium to just a singular sort of androgynous gob of crap."

"In some traditional songs, try and figure out who’s singing it. Is it Trace? Is it Tracy? Is it Tracy Trace, or is it Matraca? Who is it? Right now we have interchangeable musical personalities, anonymous characters. It’s a safer sort of play. Shania Twain has records that you really can’t get too much involved in, yet she has little drop phrases like ‘PMS’ that are supposed to get the job done, right?"

"For us, it’s more difficult to get through on the radio format. When someone like bonehead BlackHawk releases a record, it’s different. Everybody has to try and get comfy with it and it’s not easy. ‘That’s Just About Right’ was an exciting record but often those who come down the road with something different are penalized. Sarah Mclachlan is writing and recording records that really matter and you’re not going to hear them on country radio so you might as well go wherever it is she’s singing if you want real substance in your musical format."

"You have to be true to yourself as an artist, singer, and songwriter" Robbins adds. "It’s not fun anymore when you feel you have to go out and find some piece of schlock to get played on the radio."

Looking Forward

The Sky’s the Limit is BlackHawk’s fourth album and most recent release. "There’s things about that record that we could have done better and there’s things about it that are really good," Paul says. "There’s things the label could have done that they obviously weren’t interested in doing. Safe to say, it’s a good record. It didn’t get as much of a chance as it deserved but it’s not the first record to have that happen to it."

Next up for the group will be a greatest hits package which will include two or three new or unreleased songs. One of the latter is “Always Have, Always Will,” a beautiful song, written and sung by Dave Robbins. Paul believes the hits compilation will get BlackHawk back into the retail marketplace and on the radio.

"It’s exciting to try and use the mediocrity of the format as a challenge to try and upgrade it," Paul says. "Early country music had an acoustic, earthy, Appalachian or English folk music character," he continued. BlackHawk draws on those early musical roots to provide the instrumentation and lyrical depth that is the backbone of their sound today. "‘That’s Just About Right’ is a classic BlackHawk song,” Paul says. "The lyrics and music make it so. It’s not so much relationships. It’s metaphysical. The irony of life. It’s not about, ‘your girlfriend left you’. It’s a little bigger. I love the instrumentation, the mandolin, fiddle, acoustic guitar, squeeze box and piano."

BlackHawk has a distinctive, uncompromising sound that, because it is not easily categorized, can make for an occasionally bumpy ride. However, Paul and Robbins remain optimistic about the future. As Paul says, "If we stick to what we absolutely love and believe in, we will succeed."

BlackHawk Photo Album

Mountain West Music 2002