Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Their audition: Miranda Dawn and Chris Hawkes make up Dawn and Hawkes, a couple and a singer-songwriting duo from Austin, Texas. They performed The Beatles’ “I’ve Just Seen a Face.” Adam Levine and Shakira turned their chairs in a heartbeat. Adam called it his “favorite audition I’ve ever seen on The Voice.” Apparently, it was a favorite for a lot of viewers, too. The song was the best selling on iTunes among all the first-week audition performances. The duo joined Team Adam.

Their background: Chris says they met in an Austin bar in 2010. “I saw a pretty girl across the room and asked her to dance. We started talking, and I found out she was a singer and songwriter too.” He went on tour and invited her to come along. They’d perform together between their sets. And a duo was born. They moved in together a year ago, Chris told The Voice. Miranda says: “He’s the guy I’m going to spend my life with.” They play small and big venues, “wherever they’ll have us,” Miranda says. And they’re hoping The Voice helps take their career to the next level.

On choosing Adam: Said Miranda: “Adam, out of nowhere, had this heartfelt speech that just floored me from the beginning. We’re both huge fans of his.” Said Chris: “And I told Miranda I was going to trust her intuition because she always has such great woman’s intuition.”

What the show didn’t show: Chris said they picked “I’ve Just Seen a Face” because they both grew up on The Beatles and the story in the song sort of matches their own as a couple. The tune also fits nicely into the genre they prefer — indie-folk Americana. If you liked what you heard on the show, you’ll want to check out “Golden Heart,” the six-track EP they released in 2012. It’s available on iTunes, and you can listen to full-length versions of all the songs on their website. I’ve embedded videos of two of the songs below, including the splendid “Holler.” Ah, but there’s more music to check out. Miranda released a solo album of 12 tracks called “Reason to Be Alive” in 2012, produced by … guess who? Chris released an EP in 2007, an album (“Because I Feel that Way Too”) in 2009 and another (“Broken Record”) in 2011.

Quote: Miranda, on their audition song: “It’s so funny, you know? Fifteen years ago when my dad was first teaching me that song on the guitar, if someone could have read a crystal ball and told me that I was going to meet the love of my life in the same way those lyrics were written and then perform that song with him on national television, that would have blown my mind as a young girl.”

On iTunes: The 2012 EP, plus the aforementioned solo albums, plus the audition song.

Update: They defeated Josh Murley in the first battle round; they sang “Stuck in the Middle with You.” But Josh was stolen by Shakira.

Keeping up with Dawn and Hawkes
Twitter:@DawnAndHawkes
Facebook
YouTube
Website

Editor’s Note: For links to profiles of all the Season 6 artists on The Voice, go here.

“Silver Line”

“Ten Leap Years” (from the 2012 EP)

“Holler” (from the 2012 EP)