Gregory and the Hawk is music I recently became aware of while listening to an episode of Filmspotting.  Gregory and the Hawk has a number of informative websites, and one had a contact for Meredith Godreau, the founder and core of Gregory and the Hawk, and she was quite willing to do an email interview with me. After being signed to FatCat Records, October 2008 saw the release of the band’s Moenie and Kitchi. How Gregory and the Hawk started is a fascinating read in and of itself, as detailed in this FatCat website excerpt: “The name Gregory And The Hawk was conceived in 2003, initially devised to avoid her [Godreau] being perceived or pigeonholed as a female singer-songwriter (though, perhaps ironically, when pressed for a list of influences Meredtih cites Nick Drake, Liz Phair, PJ Harvey). Meredith remained playing alone under that name for a few years, until she met Mike McGuire in New York in 2005. . .” Be sure to go to the website for more details on Gregory and the Hawk’s history. My thanks to Godreau for a delightfully insightful interview. I want to also apologize to Godreau for how wordy my questions were–fortunately her answers were far more direct and informative. I was just so enthused to interview her, I clearly suppressed the editor in myself.

Tim O’Shea: Do you remember when you first realized just how potent and effective your singing voice is? (I only ask this, because the first time I heard your voice, I was in my car in a parking lot, I had gotten to my destination and I did not want to get out of my car. The last time a voice struck me like that was years ago, when I first heard Sam Phillips).

Meredith Godreau: I think Ariel the little mermaid helped many women realize their vocal talents.

Read the rest of this entry »