Rebekah Hawker

Barrie, Ontario’s Rebekah Hawker has just released her newest EP, Careful Women.

Careful Women is a striking piece that showcase’s Rebekah’s powerful lead vocals and talent at songwriting. Featuring drums, acoustic and electric guitar, mandolin, classic and electric piano, organ, and pedal steel guitar, the arrangement of ‘Careful Women’ creates a delicate balance between modern sensibilities while still having an air of nostalgia.

Leading the listener in slowly with only Rebekah’s voice and guitar, the first track “Round of Fools” with the darkly comedic lines “I count 7 days since last Saturday I’ve been keepin’ them like they’re my sobriety chips.” In other words, seven days is how long since the singer lost a heady and intoxicating love she is still sobering up from. The piece then builds with its full complement of sounds to this melancholic mood, adding richness and depth to the feeling of loss. In the following lyrics and arrangement though, there is a feeling of exhausted expectation of this bad outcome, as if the singer was a fool to ever try to love and even the band is teasing her about it. The track contains a careful hope, though, as the band swells and Rebekah admit despite the pain, she’s still willing to “try [her] luck at the next round of fools” – that is, to try to love again, even if it is a foolhardy endeavor.

The tracks following “Round of Fools” keep similar tones of that bittersweet mood – touching on love with its accompanying pains and hopes.

Careful Women as a whole is as much a collection of songs as it is a collection of poetry: a must for any fellow world-weary lover looking to commiserate. - Canadian Beats

Rebekah Hawker is poised as the antithesis to modern pop music. Her art isn’t deemed by internet-era frivolities, but with emotive lyrics that can carry as much might as an incoming tempest betwixt wistful melodies that speak to the heart.

The Americana artist’s latest, ‘Round of Fools’, steers into its infectious hooks with steadied abandon, recalling the wholehearted charm of legacy country artists. Although, modern production fits her well beside contemporaries this side of Kacey Musgraves and Erisy Watt. Unfeigned lyricism meets uplifting musicality, making for a subtle release of catharsis each time its chorus comes swinging back around.

Directed by Adrienne McLaren, the song’s accompanying music video has a wistful sense about it. Featuring several shots of Hawker, she delivers the song like a frank, one-on-one conversation, doubling down on its self-freeing themes. - For Folk's Sake

This is the permission you might have needed to sit in your sadness.


We all experience the raw, uncompromising feeling of heartbreak at least once in our lives. Rebekah Hawker’s new single/music video, “Round of Fools,” is about the unrelenting confession that a broken heart consumes us, marking our timelines and making us feel so many degrees of foolish.


“No matter how much pain we suffer, when the opportunity to love again presents itself – we will always choose to follow it.”
“Round of Fools” tells a tale of self-acceptance; a story of a fragile woman exploring all the nasty facets of human emotion she has while loving herself in tandem. It’s possible to feel all the regret, shame, anger and embarrassment that comes with heartbreak. Let those emotions run their course with the knowledge that love will come again.


“The songs on my debut Careful Women EP are letters that details every emotion I felt incapable of sharing in the moment. They came from necessity – a need to communicate with myself in a time where I couldn’t communicate with others.” - Music Talks

Country-Folk singer songwriter Rebekah Hawker resides in Barrie, Ontario, and draws influences from artists such as Kathleen Edwards, Joni Mitchell and Patsy Cline to name a few. Hot off the press, her debut EP is now ours to share. Entitled “Careful Women”, featuring powerful lyrics and a musical presence like no other, the debut is a strong awakening for the songwriter. Using beautiful melodies that will haunt you for days, the first release is one that will always be a special part in Rebekah’s glowing career that’s to come.

‘Round of Fools’ kicks the EP off with a statement that you must listen. Reaching over 12,000 streams on Spotify since it’s release, the first track is simply a push in the right direction. Americana that holds an infectious melody will always spark a few ears up, but with the modern day arrangement and production, this track features a contemporary face while sticking to it’s old familiar roots.


‘Catch You’ keeps the same mood as the first track. Flowing together to create a warming journey, the subject of the song tells the story of what seems to be about holding onto something that needs setting free. “I’m a free bird in motion, you’re a praying’ man with no devotion” showcases two partners who seem the opposite of one another. Feeling quite sad but with a sense of independence, lyrically this track is an emotional rollercoaster, musically, it’s energy is running low, just like the lyrics. A perfect blend of feelings in a song that will capture your mind.

Based towards more of the country avenue then Americana, ‘Don’t Be a Stranger” is fragile in the way that’s it’s purely vulnerable and craving a positive outcome of the yearning. Short and sweet, the track longs for attention from the ‘stranger’ and it feels like an old age poem. With a different structure, the track doesn’t feature a chorus, leaving the audience slightly clueless but wanting more. A sudden end to finish the track, when do we get to hear Don’t Be a Stranger part 2, Rebekah?

‘Kempenfelt Bay’ sparkles the atmosphere with a glorious amount of harmonies. As the last song on the EP, it’s a gentle farewell but hopefully not for long. Gentle but holding onto a slightly more positive outlook, the summery number sticks to the mid-beat tempo that the EP holds. Looking forward to hearing where Rebekah’s songwriting may lead too, she has one hell of a vocal range as I’m sure we can all agree.

Score: 8/10 - Mogg Blog

NEW LEASE MUSIC has caught up with REBEKAH HAWKER, whose single ‘Kempenfelt Bay’ was named Song of the Month by the blog back in August.

Stick around to find out what’s she has been up since the release of the single (taken from her EP, ‘Careful Women’) plus her general views of the music industry of today.


NLM: Hey, thank you for taking part in an interview with NEW LEASE MUSIC.
So what have you been up to in the music circuit?

RH: I feel so honoured you would ask me, it means a lot to be able to share with you so thank you! I’ve mostly been focused lately on touring, specifically in Ontario to support the release of my EP ‘Careful Women’. I have some songwriter showcases coming up in November and more shows planned for the new year as well. I’m excited to showcase these songs in front of people who might connect with them.

NLM: Back in August, you released your single, ‘Kempenfelt Bay’. What was the public reception of the single so far?

RH: So far listeners have been so generous and kind with their responses to ‘Kempenfelt Bay’. I feel really grateful to those who have reached out to me to share how the song has impacted them. So many people I know have moved away from their hometowns and share the same nostalgic feeling I’ve written about in the song.


NLM: What’s your inspiration behind the single?

RH: I wrote Kempenfelt Bay when I moved away from home for the first time and was renting a single room in a boarding house in downtown Toronto. It was the most isolated and lonely I had ever felt up to that point in my life. I was terrified at the overwhelming weight of the future, and having to move forward into it. All I could do in that moment was look back and remember my home, and an old relationship that made me feel so comfortable and safe, it had me longing for home.

NLM: You also released your four-track EP, ‘Careful Woman’, back in August. What’s your proudest single on the project and why?

RH: What a tough question! That’s the musical equivalent of asking a mother to choose her favourite child. It’s really hard to choose one, although I will say ‘Round of Fools’ will always hold a special place in my heart because it was the first single I released from the EP. I felt a lot of pressure riding on that first song and its reception. I was really joyed to learn after its release how much it was resonating with people , it carried itself so much further than I could’ve anticipated.


NLM: So how would you describe your sound to potential fans?

RH: I would say it’s this country folk hybrid that focuses on storytelling, both through the lyrics and the melodies I write. There are also some traditional, more vintage country sounds woven in.

NLM: If you had to collaborate with ONE mainstream artist, who would it be?

RH: Maybe this is super expected but it would be so fun to collaborate with Kacey Musgraves. She’s an incredible writer, so honest and such a powerhouse. I feel like I could write the most badass songs with her.


NLM: If you had three wishes to change the music industry today, what would they be?

RH: 1. I think I’d try to make mentorship more accessible to artists (especially female) of varying success levels. To create a community where we can share more freely across levels and can better instil knowledge of both the business and creative side of music for artists in the beginning stages of learning and playing.
2. I would take over the country radio stations and change the old model of the boys club, more women on the country charts!!
3. I would change the vibe of ‘there can only be one’ that plagues so many artists. That mentality, especially for women (even more so for women of colour) who see there are only so many females allowed in that space is so damaging and leads to this insane competition that pits women against each other in a very unhealthy way. Collaboration and community always wins.

NLM: So what are your plans for this year?

I’ll be continuing my touring, hoping to make some new friends across the way and collect some new experiences. I’m applying to some festivals domestically (in Canada) so hopefully most of next summer I’ll be on the road. I also have a few music videos planned in the next couple months so that is something to be looking forward to…

NLM: How can potential fans make contact with you?

RH: You can find me most active on instagram and facebook! @rebekahhawker as well as through my website http://www.rebekahhawker.com. I’m very friendly so they can reach me on those platforms and I’d love to chat with them - New Lease