Red Tail Hawk - STROKES

Red Tail Hawk

STROKES
​self-released; 2020

4.0 out of 5

By Matt Jensen

Ben Zanfagna (vocals/guitar/sax), Mike Gruen (bass), Eric Turner (guitar), Reed Dieffenbach (drums) and Pete Whitehead (drums/vocals) are Red Tail Hawk. We at Divide & Conquer reviewed their previous release Night Soup and they are back with STROKES. 

The band has made a name for themselves by opening for bands like G-Love, The Brew and Chris Duarte and being consistent with releases. STROKES is a testament to their talent. There is no doubt about that. I thoroughly enjoyed this release because of the melding of genres and the sheer talent of each musician.

The band got going with “Primal” and a couple bands came to mind when listening to their sound. I felt their sound was somewhere between Rusted Root, Santana and Paul Simon, and that combo created their own unique signature sound. The vibe is smooth but dark. There is a good amount of instrumentation. The sax solo in particular got my attention and I loved the distortion they got on the guitar.

The next song “Rocksteady” has a great groove and is quite catchy but it was “Run Run” that grabbed my attention. I loved the tropical Bossa Nova rhythm here which is smooth and seductive. The sax work again was perfectly placed. I can’t omit the amazing bass solo which transitions into a smooth guitar solo.

The track “Strokes” was another highlight to my ear. The drum beat caught my attention.on this song but it goes well beyond. This is an atmospheric song and the beat sort of holds everything from floating away. The vocal performance was also gold.

​This is just a fantastic release in many different ways. Everything I heard felt like it was coming from top tier talent. The songs felt cohesive and by the end of the release I felt like I had a good impression of their signature sound. Take a listen.

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