Spot of Blue
Livin' Life This Way
© 2005 Gary Hankins (783707204901)
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Texas' Best Kept Secret gaining fans from around the world.Not mainstream a flavor of mixed ingredients. A touch of country a dash of blues mix in some jazz & pop and you get a perfect "Spot of Blue"
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EAR CANDY
Music Reviews: FEBRUARY 2006
Gary Hankins Spot of Blue,"Livin’ Life This Way" (Indie Release)
A great mix roadhouse country blues and ballads that don’t swing to the slick pop-trendy country that permeates most country radio airwaves today. There is a twist of rockabilly and Appalachian bluegrass to give this the album a unique sound. "Just a Cowboy" starts out like a country version of the Beatles "Blackbird" giving a very interesting song. At times Gary Hankins has an Elvis Presley voice, especially on the slower songs. A great alternative to today's average country and special kudos to the excellent guitar playing.
spotofblue.com
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Review by Scott H. Platt
KWEEVAK Music Magazine
SPOT OF BLUE – LIVIN' LIFE THIS WAY: Spot of Blue is founder Gary Hankins and a band of diverse, talented players. Gary is a singer/songwriter and rhythm guitar player. Hankins grew up in a musical family and has lived and worked in various parts of the United States. Gary pens poetic, real songs about America, life and travel. His music has a down-home flavor that blends a country base with assorted genres. Livin' Life This Way is Spot of Blue's impressive debut release. It features eleven earthy yet well-arranged songs that are light yet layered and serious. The CD explores a range of moods and "Hankins' vocals can capture the weary cynicism of Johnny Cash or the soft optimism of Jim Croche." 'Acey Deucey' is the playful opening track with cutting guitar chords and breaks flowing over a snappy rhythm. Hankins' vocals on the first song flip from gruff to smooth. The title track has a slow almost jazzy feel as Gary softy sings about the state of people and the planet. A subtle violin and backing vocalists also adds to the rich, reflective nature of the song. 'Amber' is a colorful tune that explores a full spectrum in under four minutes. Gary Hankins is an imaginative artist and Spot of Blue hits the spot!
• Recommended Tracks: (1,6,7) [USA/TX 2005 - web] (2006 Review by Laura Turner Lynch for Kweevak.com)
SMOTHER.NET
Music Reviews of World Music, Adult Contemporary, Reggae, Jazz, Blues, Classical
Dec.2005
The windy plains of Texas is the home of Spot of Blue. The main songwriter for the band is Gary Hankins and his guitar play swaggers between blues rock, countrified rock-n-roll, and roots rock. His unconventional voice reminds one of a smart blend of Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley. Spot of Blue could easily rock a juke joint or any bar east and west of the Mississippi. Good tight songwriting with an emphasis on rockin’.
- J-Sin
ARTIST BIOGRAPHY-SPOT OF BLUE
Gary Hankins got the nickname 'Dige,' (short for digit), from his great
grandfather, a Spanish orphan who was one of the first policemen in San
Diego California. Five generations later, Dige has taken his nickname to
the corners of the country before finally landing in Wichita Falls Texas,
the home base from which he has launched his first album, Spot of Blue, a
collection of songs that, like their creator, are made from the richness
and variety of the world.
Hankins was born in Wichita Falls Texas where his father spent forty years
playing with a country western band. Everyone in Hankins' family was
musical. He remembers sitting with his family while his father, mother,
and uncle would sing country ballads set against the storied Texas
landscape.
Hankins moved to San Diego when he was still a baby and grew up near the
sea, where his grandfather, a Portuguese fisherman, was still working on a
tuna fleet near the bay. Hankins moved back and forth from Texas to
California for the next few decades absorbing on one side, the country
winds of the Texas grass land and on the other, the salt air and ocean
culture of San Diego.
On the coast, Hankins learned to love surfing, the freedom of the rolling
sea and the musical independence of the ocean wind. Surfing his way from
Mexico up the coast, Hankins visited and eventually moved to Hawaii where
he spent several years surfing among the paradise shores. As if carried by
the waves he eventually crossed the ocean again and, (by land) moved
around the west living in Los Angeles, San Diego, and Las Vegas.
Hankins' employment history has been as varied as his address: he designed
web pages in Hawaii, worked at the family store in Texas, and in
California he became an actor being featured in dozens of commercials and
bit parts. Acting, chance, and romance carried him across the ocean again
to the Czech Republic where he acted in a cult film and toured Europe,
falling in love with the landscape of Prague and Paris.
In Las Vegas, Hankins encountered the underside of humanity, working for a
mortgage company he saw men drive into town in Bentleys and leave by bus.
Eventually, while still living in California, a series of events would
irreversibly change the direction of Hankins' life. It started with the
tragic death of an old friend and the news that his father was growing
ill. The musical blood in Hankins' veins was already stirring when he
moved back to Texas to be near his father.
Back in Wichita Falls, Hankins found himself inspired. Everywhere he
looked, musical ideas filled his mind. A pasture of grazing cows, the wind
flowing through the windows in his father's house. Although Hankins had
always played and sang music, something in his life had snapped, and he
knew that there was something inside him that needed to come out.
Over the next year, Hankins began to write prolifically. The events,
scenery, loves, and tragedies of his life were cohering into a new
persona, a musical voice that Hankins begun to nurture.
Hankins located a studio in the area and began recording his music. At
first he was recording solo pieces and multitracking his instruments until
he met Tommy Nash, a brilliant guitarist who heard and loved Hankins'
unique compositions. Working together, Hankins and Nash began to rework
the music, adding complexity and flavor to the milieu. One thing led to
another and the two moved to a new studio where they befriended other
musicians and piece by piece Spot of Blue came together.
With a growing list of talented musicians, Hankins' music has reached new
levels. His own varied history blended with the inspired performances of
his band mates creates an inspired sound, something that mixes a palette
of the American landscape and harnesses it into a beautiful and unique
composition.
Spot of Blue contains the freedom of the sea, the open air of Texas, the
delicate colors of Hawaii, and the music is unlike anything else.
Sometimes the music is haunting, other times forceful and laden with the
triumphs and failures of a rich life. Hankins' vocals can capture the
weary cynicism of Johnny Cash or the soft optimist of Jim Croce.
Spot of Blue's debut "Livin' Life This Way," is sure to capture fans from
across the musical spectrum. With his first album recorded, Hankins
believes he has found a calling worth the time. He already has another
album planned for the beginning of next year and new songs continue to
emerge in his consciousness, waiting to receive life from his band.
"It's all about visualization," he says. "I want people to hear the music
and create their own visualization, their own ideas about it." Hankins'
music is full of imagination and it is not hard to imagine that while
listening, we might be drawn into the curving spray of the California
coast or thrust into the shadows of a lonely foothill. Spot of Blue has
the power and honesty to inspire, but the rest is up to you.
DEBUT ALBUM FROM SPOT OF BLUE: LIVIN' LIFE THIS WAY
Spot of Blue may have originated in the windy plains of Texas, but the
sound is more difficult to place. Gary Hankins,' the songwriter and guitar
player for Spot of Blue, takes his inspiration from a life spent traveling
the world and sampling the rich diversity of American culture. His music
defies conventional labels being derived from, but not indicative of, a
wide variety of styles. Spot of Blue must be experienced to be understood.
"Livin' Life This Way" is the debut album for Hankins and Spot of Blue.
Hankins' lyrics are thoughtful meditations, delivered with all the
attitude of Elvis and the poignant emotion of Jim Croce. His guitar rolls
like a Texas tumbleweed across his stories, portraying the artist as a
part of his surroundings.
Accompanying Hankins for Spot of Blue is the brilliant Tommy Nash on lead
guitar. Nash makes his guitar howl like a coyote on "Just a Cowboy," and
sways with the sounds of the surf in "Amber." Rolling bass lines are
provided by Aden Bubeck, a veteran of electric and stand-up bass who
understands the subtleties of his work and hums perfectly with Nash's
guitar and Hankins' lyrics. Two drummers, Jordan Richardson and Joey
Carter, lent their talents to Hankins' songs, providing rhythm for his
countryesque ballads and ambience for his more emotional torch songs.
In addition to the main body, Hankins is also fortunate to have the
assistance Douglas Edwards who plays haunting strings on "It Calls Your
Name," and adds subtle string accompaniment to several other songs. For
his empathic plea, "Spot of Blue," Hankins' breathy voice is joined by the
nearly spiritual tones of his backup singers; Ace Crayton, Katelyn
Patterson, and Julie Temple.
Each song on Livin' Life This Way is taken from a moment of personal
resonance within Hankins' life. "When They Arrange the Flowers," talks
about the floral arranger, designing bouquets for Valentines Day or for a
funeral, detached from the hopes of the person who gets the flowers. "It
Calls Your Name," is an ode to the sound of the wind as it flows through
the windows of his father's house. "I might see cows out in the field,"
Says Hankins, "and I would write a song about it, but relate it to
people's lives."
Hankins' life with his many unusual experiences gives him the foundation
for his songs but the final sound is the combination of Hankins'
inspiration and the personal, emotional contribution of his band.
"Everyone in the band puts a part of themselves into the songs." He says.
Spot of Blue has a sound that seems to follow the mind of its creator:
some songs bounce with a joyful rhythm while others tug at the emotions of
the listener drawing them into a lonely embrace or the melancholy shine of
a tear drop. Hankins talks about love, death, and life with a wisdom and
empathy that comes from his experience.
"It just comes from within." He says. "I will hear something or see
something and I create the story in my mind." Hankins is a storyteller
and with Spot of Blue, people are finally beginning to hear his story.
As "Livin' Life This Way" is released, Hankins and his band will attract
those who relate to his lonely lyrics and those who hear the drama of cult
cinema in the band's more haunting compositions and the optimism of the
California sun in their more flamboyant songs.
Throughout, Hankins' lyrics seem to carry an upbeat message about love and
togetherness that gives the entire album, even the darker tunes, a vaguely
comforting resonance. Hankins' message is consistently one of love, as he
says in Spot of Blue: "Cant we all just live together. take this world. and
make it better."
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THROUGH YOU EYES
author: YVONNE PRIESTERHEY SPOT OF BLUE, OLD SALLYGIRLANGEL VERY BEAUTIFUL AND MEANINGFUL. VERY ENCOURAGING TO ME
progressive country with smooth vocals
author: srmI'll begin by saying that I don't ordinarily listen to C&W (as we call it here). That said, Spot of Blue - Livin' Life This Way is a refreshing departure. Gary Hankins has a voice that is reminiscent of Jim Reeves or Don Williams. Couple that with country song stylings and guitar noodlings that verge on jazzy; violin passages that owe more to Bob Ezrin than the usual C&W style, and Spot of Blue emerges as a unique take on the ordinary. My personal faves are "Amber" and the signature tune "Spot of Blue". Kudos to GHankins (et al) for making a traditional song style rise above the common and holding the interest of a jaded old geez with solid, soothing songs that are at once traditional and progressive in musicality and sentiment.
Impressive !
author: Laura T Lynch of Kweevak.comLivin' Life This Way is Spot of Blue's impressive debut release. It features eleven earthy yet well-arranged songs that are light yet layered and serious. The CD explores a range of moods and "Hankins' vocals can capture the weary cynicism of Johnny Cash or the soft optimism of Jim Croche." 'Acey Deucey' is the playful opening track with cutting guitar chords and breaks flowing over a snappy rhythm. Hankins' vocals on the first song flip from gruff to smooth. The title track has a slow almost jazzy feel as Gary softy sings about the state of people and the planet. A subtle violin and backing vocalists also adds to the rich, reflective nature of the song. 'Amber' is a colorful tune that explores a full spectrum in under four minutes. Gary Hankins is an imaginative artist and Spot of Blue hits the spot!
Already one of my favorite CDs!
author: mrl7777Can't wait for the next CD to be finished!