Hawktail and Vasen

An exciting, international acoustic music double bill is scheduled for October 28th, when supergroups Hawktail and Väsen play Fuller Hall as part of KCP Presents by Catamount Arts. Hawktail features four of the best acoustic musicians in America, and Sweden’s Väsen may well be the best acoustic duo in all of Europe. The St. Johnsbury show is a rare opportunity to see two of the world’s best groups together on one stage.

Call them bluegrass or even newgrass, Hawktail defies all genre descriptors. Virtuosos Brittany Haas (fiddler of Crooked Still, Live from Here, and Dave Rawlings Machine), Paul Kowert (bassist for Punch Brothers), Jordan Tice (guitarist for Tony Trischka, Dave Rawlings, and the Duhks), and Dominick Leslie (mandolinist for Noam Pikelny, the Deadly Gentlemen, and Sam Reider and the Human Hands) are something special.

Not just a super-picker side project, Hawktail plays entirely original music, distinguishing the ensemble as cohesive, unique, and flush with orchestral sweeps and sparse vigils. With strains of the American South and the North Atlantic, Hawktail’s cosmopolitan sounds defies all expectations of an American strings band.

“We simply haven’t seen these instruments played this way and with this exuberance,” writes Kelly McCartney for Folk Alley, “except by Hawktail.”

Swedish acoustic duo Väsen’s signature sound is characterized by a playful, accomplished interplay that seems to defy the laws of physics, an intensity with a great sense of humor, and modernity rooted in tradition. Over almost 40 years of interaction and touring, Väsen has refined its sound and stage presence, and today, they are one of a kind. Creating their own musical language from a foundation firmly rooted in the traditional music of Uppland, they experiment boldly with new musical goals, playing a magical variety of stringed instruments, including kontrabasharpa, oktavharpa, three-rowed nyckelharpa, violoncello da spalla and a blue electric bass-viola.

“With near-telepathic levels of interaction honed by years on the road, Väsen generate a wonderful melding of timbres,” raves a review from Edinburgh’s Pleasance Theater. “They can switch with split-second timing between all-out dance-hall stomp to Baroque intricacy and flamboyance, often within the same tune.”
For tickets to see Hawktail and Väsen, October 28th, at 7pm, at St. Johnsbury Academy’s Fuller Hall, or to learn more about upcoming KCP Presents shows, including how to take advantage of early bird pricing, visit www.catamountarts.org or www.kcppresents.org. Alternatively, call 802-748-2600 or visit the Catamount Arts pop-up box office in the Caplan’s Building on Railroad Street in St. Johnsbury.

The KCP Presents Series is produced by Catamount Arts working in association with Kingdom County Productions and supported by generous local sponsors including Passumpsic Bank, St. Johnsbury Academy, Vermont Broadcast Associates, Vermont Public, Seven Days, The Point, The Autosaver Group, and with grant funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, Vermont Arts Council, and the New England Foundation for the Arts.