User:Schneau/Hawk Nelson

Hawk Nelson is a pop punk band hailing from Peterborough, Ontario. The band has become popular in the Christian music scene and was voted "Favorite New Artist" by CCM Magazine in their February 2006 Reader's Choice Awards.

History
The band played independently in Ontario for a few years before they signed with Tooth & Nail Records, largely on the recommendation of Trevor McNevan, the lead singer of fellow Tooth & Nail band Thousand Foot Krutch. McNevan, also from Peterborough, is credited with discovering the band. In July of 2004, Hawk Nelson released their major label debut Letters to the President. It was produced by Aaron Sprinkle and McNevan, who also co-wrote nine of the album's fourteen songs. He has also appeared on some of the band's songs, as well as in their video for the song "California". They won GMA Canada Covenant Award for Modern Rock/Alternative Album of the Year in 2006.

The band has achieved some success in the mainstream as well. They portrayed The Who on an episode of the NBC drama American Dreams, and they recorded a song named "Bring 'Em Out" for the 2005 motion picture Yours, Mine, and Ours. This song was also on a Sunday Night Football comercial. "Things We Go Through" from Letters to the President was also featured in Yours, Mine, and Ours.

In October of 2005, the band re-released Letters to the President, with new material including their cover of The Who's My Generation, three acoustic versions of some of their hits, and a limited edition cover.

The band released their second studio album, titled Smile, It's The End of the World, on April 4, 2006. The album's first single, "Everything You Ever Wanted", went on to hit #1 for 9 weeks on the R&R Christian CHR chart, and was the fourth most played song of 2006. The band spent the summer of 2006 touring the major Christian music festivals, and also took part in Jeremy Camp's Beyond Measure tour. Hawk Nelson released a 3-track Christmas EP titled Gloria on November 21, 2006, and in winter of that year they toured with tobyMac's Winter Wonder Slam tour along with The Afters, Family Force Five, and Ayiesha Woods.

Bulletproof Records and Producer Ralph Sall have assembled the compilation Charlotte's Web: Music Inspired By The Motion Picture featuring music by Christian artists including Hawk Nelson, Amy Grant, and Billy Ray Cyrus, which was released December 12, 2006. In addition, Bob Carlisle, Leigh Nash (Sixpence None The Richer) and The Send have all contributed exclusive tracks.

Hawk Nelson performed in 2006 on the Fringe Stage at Creation Festival Northwest. They will perform sometime between July 25-July 28 2007(The final schedule has not yet been released), at Creation Festival Northwest on the Main Stage, and they'll play again on the Fringe Stage at Creation Festival Northeast sometime between June 27-June 30 2007. In 2007, Hawk Nelson performed at Winter Jam with a wide variety of other Christian bands, which were Newsong, Jeremy Camp, Steven Curtis Chapman, Sanctus Real, and Britt Nicole. Also, Hawk Nelson is on tour with MxPx, Run Kid Run, Project 86, The Fold, and The Classic Crime.

Current members

 * Jason Kevin Dunn - lead vocals, piano (2003-present)
 * Jason and former band member Davin ("Dave") Clark helped form the band. He was born in Peterborough, Ontario, which is northeast of Toronto. He is currently living in Canada.


 * Daniel Biro - bass, backing vocals (2003-present)
 * His musical influences are Thousand Foot Krutch, Coldplay, and U2. He comes from Canada.


 * Jonathan Steingard - guitar, backing vocals (2004-present)
 * He is married. Jonathan released a solo album called Fox Run.


 * Justin Benner - drums (2008-present)

Past members

 * Davin "Dave" Clark - guitar (2003-2004)
 * Matt Paige - drums (2003-2005)

Albums
Letters to the President(2004) Smile, It's The End of the World(2006) Hawk Nelson Is My Friend(2008) Live Life Loud(2009) Crazy Love(2011)

EPs

 * Saturday Rock Action (2003)
 * California EP (2004)
 * Bring 'Em Out (2005) (Digital EP only available on iTunes Store)
 * Gloria EP (November 21, 2006)

Misc.

 * Letters to the President: Expanded Edition (2005)

Videos

 * California (Letters to the President, 2004)
 * Every Little Thing (Letters to the President, 2004)
 * From Underneath (Letters to the President, 2004)
 * Letters to the President (Letters to the President, 2005)
 * Bring 'Em Out (live, featuring Drake Bell) (Soundtrack: Yours, Mine and Ours, 2005)
 * The One Thing I Have Left (Smile, It's the End of the World, 2006)
 * Zero (Smile, It's the End of the World, 2007)

Trivia

 * In an interview, Jason Dunn, the band's frontman, revealed the meaning of the band's name. He said that when he was about 14 years old, he played the video game 2 Xtreme on the Sony PlayStation. It required the player to create a name for the character. He got the first name from Tony Hawk. "Nelson" he got from a boot repair store in his hometown: Nelson Boot Repair.
 * Before/during the early stages of recording Saturday Rock Action (2003)
 * Prior to the formation of Hawk Nelson, Dunn, Clark, and Paige had formed the Peterborough-based group called Swish, while Biro sang lead vocals in a four-piece group called the Cheese Monkeys from Planet Nine from Barrie, Ontario.
 * In 2006, Hawk Nelson won Best Artist in Ignite Your Faith Magazine's Golden Ear Awards. Jason Dunn also won best male vocalist, and "Letters to the President" won the #3 spot in the Best Song category.
 * The band's free podcasts are available on iTunes.
 * Jason is a die-hard Calgary Flames fan - he has a collection of Flames jerseys and a black tattoo of the Flames logo on his right shoulder.
 * Hawk Nelson plays the party band for the film Yours, Mine and Ours (2005).
 * Little known facts: Jason has diabetes and is left-handed.

Awards
GMA Canada Covenant Awards
 * Modern Rock/Alternative Album Of The Year Award, 2006.