Huw Evans (born 15 March 1985), also known as H. Hawkline, is a Welsh singer-songwriter and radio and television presenter based in

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

. He also lived and worked in Los Angeles for several years. He performs in both English and Welsh. His stage name is taken from Richard Brautigan's book '' The Hawkline Monster: A Gothic Western''.

Life and career

Evans was born in

and lived in

Prestatyn Prestatyn is a seaside town and community in Denbighshire, Wales. Historically a part of Flintshire, it is located on the Irish Sea coast, to the east of Rhyl. Prestatyn has a population of 19,085, History Prehistory There is evidence that ...

in north-east Wales from the age of 10 until returning to Cardiff at 18. He is the son of TV and radio presenter

Hywel Gwynfryn Hywel Gwynfryn (born 13 July 1942 at Llangefni, Anglesey) is a Welsh TV, and radio personality and lyricist. He started working for the BBC in 1964 and joined Radio Cymru at its inception. Career Gwynfryn joined the BBC as a presenter in 1964 and ...

and his wife Anja (who died in 2018) and has four siblings. He also has two half-siblings from his father's first marriage. Prior to becoming a full-time musician, Evans presented the S4C music show ''

Bandit Banditry is a type of organized crime committed by outlaws typically involving the threat or use of violence. A person who engages in banditry is known as a bandit and primarily commits crimes such as extortion, robbery, and murder, either as an ...

'' with

Huw Stephens Huw Meredydd Stephens (born 25 May 1981) is a Welsh radio and television presenter, currently broadcasting on BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru and BBC Radio 6 Music. Stephens founded the Sŵn music festival with John Rostron and the yearly s ...

up to the show's cancellation at the end of 2011. He also presented a weekly radio show on the C2 evening slot on

BBC Radio Cymru BBC Radio Cymru is a Welsh language radio network owned and operated by BBC Cymru Wales, a division of the BBC. It broadcasts on two stations across Wales on FM, DAB, digital TV and online. The main network broadcasts for hours a day from ...

until summer 2012. In December 2015 he temporarily returned to the station to present a Thursday-night show. H. Hawkline's debut release, the album ''A Cup of Salt'', was put out in 2010 by the then-Cardiff-based label Shape Records. His second album, ''The Strange Uses of Ox Gall'', was released by the same label in 2011. He supported

Gruff Rhys Gruffudd Maredudd Bowen Rhys (; born 18 July 1970) is a Welsh musician, composer, producer, filmmaker and author. He performs solo and with several bands, including Super Furry Animals, which obtained mainstream success in the 1990s. He formed ...

on tour in 2010 in the UK and Ireland. Following UK festival gigs and touring, in 2012 H. Hawkline released a new EP, ''Black Domino Box'', on the Trash Aesthetics label. His ''Ghouls'' EP was released in 2013 by Turnstile Records. The same year his songs ''Cric Yn Y Cymylau'' and ''Llenwi'' appeared on the "Y Record Las" compilation, the second release from the Cardiff label Recordiau Lliwgar. In 2013, H. Hawkline moved to Los Angeles with his then-partner

Cate Le Bon Cate Le Bon (born Cate Timothy on 4 March 1983) is a Welsh musician and record producer. She sings in both English and Welsh. She has released six solo studio albums, three EPs and a number of singles. Le Bon has toured with artists such as St. ...

, and there the two continue to collaborate musically. Stateside, they've also played with White Fence ( Tim Presley). In August 2014, H. Hawkline was signed to

Heavenly Recordings Heavenly Recordings is a London-based independent record label founded by Jeff Barrett in 1990. Heavenly released the first albums from Saint Etienne, Beth Orton and Doves, and early singles by Manic Street Preachers. Current Heavenly artists ...

. The label released a free compilation of some of his previous work titled ''Salt Gall Box Ghouls''. His debut album of new material for the label, ''In the Pink of Condition'', was released in February 2015. It was produced by Le Bon. In September 2015, the album was nominated for the 2014-2015

Welsh Music Prize The Welsh Music Prize is an annual music prize awarded for the best album from Wales, as voted for by members of the music industry. It was founded by music promoter John Rostron and radio presenter Huw Stephens in 2011. It was originally schedul ...

. Evans regularly plays guitar or bass guitar in Cate Le Bon and Sweet Baboo's live bands and records. His own live band has also featured

Guto Pryce Guto Dafydd Pryce ( Welsh pronunciation: ; born 4 September 1972) is a Welsh musician best known as bass guitar player and songwriter in the band Super Furry Animals. With them he has recorded nine UK Albums Chart Top 25 studio albums, plus num ...

on bass and Andy Fung on drums. Hawkline also played bass on

Kevin Morby Kevin Robert Morby (born April 2, 1988) is an American musician, singer, and songwriter. A former member of Woods and the Babies, Morby has released seven solo studio albums: ''Harlem River'' (2013), '' Still Life'' (2014), ''Singing Saw'' (20 ...

's albums ''Harlem River'' and ''Still Life''. As a solo artist, he supported

Foxygen Foxygen is an American indie rock duo from Westlake Village, California, formed in 2005. The band consists of multi-instrumentalist Jonathan Rado and vocalist Sam France. They have released six albums and a number of self-released EPs. History R ...

on their 2015 European tour. In 2017, H. Hawkline supported Devendra Banhart on tour in the US and Europe/UK, followed by a European support slot with Aldous Harding, whom he also played with during her headline set. His next album ''I Romanticize'' was released in June 2017 on Heavenly. It was recorded in LA and in Narberth in west Wales. Evans also continues to perform as part of ex-partner Aldous Harding's band, and appeared on her 2019 album ''

Designer A designer is a person who plans the form or structure of something before it is made, by preparing drawings or plans. In practice, anyone who creates tangible or intangible objects, products, processes, laws, games, graphics, services, or exp ...

'' playing bass, guitar and keys. In November 2022, Evans announced his fifth studio album, ''Milk for Flowers'' (Heavenly Recordings), with the title track released as the first single from it. The album is set to come out in March 2023. It was produced by Cate Le Bon and mixed by Patrik Berger, and features Tim Presley and

John Parish John Parish (born 11 April 1959) is an English musician, songwriter, composer and record producer. Parish is best known for his work with singer-songwriter PJ Harvey. He has also worked with such artists as Eels, Aldous Harding, Tracy Chapm ...

alongside some of Evans's longtime contributors. Evans is also a graphic designer. In addition to designing all his own albums, he has designed releases by Cate Le Bon (''Me Oh My'', ''Cyrk'', ''Cyrk II'', ''Mug Museum'', ''Crab Day'' and ''Reward''),

(reverse sleeve for ''Harlem River''), Aldous Harding, Teenage Fanclub and Bitw. He also created designs for Gruff Rhys's Ara Deg festival.

Discography

Solo albums

*''A Cup of Salt'' (December 2010, Shape Records) *''The Strange Uses of Ox Gall'' (September 2011, Shape Records) *'' In the Pink of Condition'' (February 2015,

) *''I Romanticize'' (June 2017, Heavenly Recordings) *''Milk For Flowers'' (March 2023, Heavenly Recordings - forthcoming)

EPs

*''You Say You Love Me'' (split 7-inch with My Sad Captains, 2011, Trash Aesthetics) *''Black Domino Box'' (August 2012, Trash Aesthetics) *''Ghouls'' (June 2013, Turnstile) *''Last Thing On Your Mind'' (June 2017, Heavenly Recordings)

Compilations

*''Y Record Las'' (two songs, April 2013, Recordiau Lliwgar) *''Salt Gall Box Ghouls'' (best-of, August 2014, Heavenly Recordings)

References

External links

Official Bandcamp

Artist page at Heavenly Recordings

Huw Evans's graphic design website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hawkline, H. 1985 births Heavenly Recordings artists Living people 21st-century Welsh male singers Welsh folk singers Welsh guitarists Welsh-speaking musicians 21st-century British guitarists Singers from Cardiff Welsh people of Dutch descent