Red Tail Hawk

"Trees" is Red Tail Hawk's 2018 single, released March 2, 2018: a five-minute song in 6/8 with a soaring melody, lush harmonies and a heady groove, born of an unbounded love for nature. Ben Zanfagna wrote it in Ledreborg, Denmark, in the old-growth forest there, and the band tracked this version at Pilot Recording Studios, the converted church studio in Housatonic, Massachusetts, where they also made the EP Magnetic Malaise.

"Trees" was the band's only release between the 2016 album Night Soup and the 2019 remix of "Bilderberg." The cover art, a tree with its roots exposed, sets up the nature-and-man imagery the band carried into the 2020 album Strokes.

Credits. Benjamin Zanfagna (vocals, guitar, baritone saxophone), Mike Gruen (bass), Phil McGowan (drums), Alexander Sandman (guitar, backing vocals) and Tim Phillips (keys, mixing, mastering).

Stream or buy "Trees" on Bandcamp, or listen below. More releases are on the Music page.

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"Bilderberg" is one of Red Tail Hawk's epics: a 4/4 groove built on a seriously nasty bass line. The song first appeared on the band's debut, the Red Tail Hawk EP, released March 15, 2011, and this incendiary remix and remaster came out in July 2019. At 5:40 it gives the groove room to stretch.

The band tracked the 2019 version at Pilot Recording Studios, the converted church studio in Housatonic, Massachusetts, where they also made the EP Magnetic Malaise.

On the original recording: Benjamin Zanfagna (vocals, guitar, tenor and soprano saxophone), Mike Gruen (bass), Phil McGowan (drums) and Alexander Sandman (guitar, keys).

Listen below, and hear more releases on the Music page. Remix and licensing inquiries are welcome through the Contact page.

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Night Soup is Red Tail Hawk's full-length album, released June 20, 2016: eight songs of soulful groove rock that open with "Swimming" and run through "All Love," "Big Wind," "Fruitbasket," "You And I," "Telephone," "Busted" and "River," 35 minutes that move from funk grooves to slow-burn soul. The album turns 10 in 2026.

Pitch Perfect scored it 3.9 out of 5, calling the record "structurally sound" with "a little something for everyone" and singling out "All Love" as an "irresistibly dance-y club hit." Seacoast Online interviewed Ben Zanfagna about the album ahead of the release show at The Stone Church on June 17, 2016.

How it was made. All songs were written by Benjamin Zanfagna and produced by Ben Zanfagna and Tim Phillips. Most of the album was recorded and mixed by Tim Phillips at Phillips Sound in Rowley, Massachusetts, with live tracks cut by Christopher Magruder at Thundering Sky Studios in South Berwick, Maine. Chris Bauer mastered it at Audio Mastering Service in Passau, Germany.

Who plays. Ben Zanfagna (vocals, saxophone, acoustic and electric guitar), Mike Gruen (bass), Pete Whitehead (drums, percussion), Eric Turner (bass, electric guitar) and Russ McHenry (piano, organ, Wurlitzer, Rhodes), with Tim Phillips (guitars, vocals) and Dan Searl (electric guitar).

Stream or buy Night Soup on Bandcamp, or listen to the full album below. More releases are on the Music page.

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"Blot" is a single from Red Tail Hawk, released December 11, 2015, two days after its companion single "Zoo." Written and produced by Ben Zanfagna, it is the longer of the pair at 4:28, and together the two singles bridge the band's 2014 EP Magnetic Malaise and the 2016 full-length album Night Soup.

How it was made. The drums were tracked at Pilot Recording Studios in Housatonic, Massachusetts, the converted church studio where the band also cut Magnetic Malaise, engineered by Will Schillinger and assisted by Brett Long. Everything else was recorded by Tim Phillips at Phillips Sound in Rowley, Massachusetts, and Morgan Dorr mixed and mastered the song in Los Angeles. Art by Kevin McHugh.

Who plays. Red Tail Hawk: Ben Zanfagna (vocals, acoustic guitar, slide guitar, saxophone), Russ McHenry (piano, organ, Wurlitzer, Rhodes), Pete Whitehead (drums, backing vocals), Eric Turner (electric guitar, bass) and Mike Gruen (bass), with Phil McGowan (drums), Oen Kennedy (electric guitar) and Kevin O'Connell (Wurlitzer) on "Blot."

Stream or buy "Blot" on Bandcamp, or listen below. Its companion single is "Zoo," and more releases are on the Music page.

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"Zoo" is a single from Red Tail Hawk, released December 9, 2015, two days before its companion single "Blot." Written and produced by Ben Zanfagna, it packs soulful groove rock into 3:49, and together the two singles bridge the band's 2014 EP Magnetic Malaise and the 2016 full-length album Night Soup.

How it was made. The drums and bass were tracked at Pilot Recording Studios in Housatonic, Massachusetts, the converted church studio where the band also cut Magnetic Malaise, engineered by Will Schillinger and assisted by Brett Long. Everything else was recorded by Tim Phillips at Phillips Sound in Rowley, Massachusetts, and Morgan Dorr mixed and mastered the song in Los Angeles. Art by Kevin McHugh.

Who plays. Red Tail Hawk: Ben Zanfagna (vocals, acoustic guitar, saxophone), Russ McHenry (piano, organ, Wurlitzer, Rhodes), Pete Whitehead (drums, backing vocals), Eric Turner (electric guitar) and Mike Gruen (bass), with Phil McGowan (drums), Alex Sandman (bass) and Dan Searl (electric guitar) on "Zoo."

Stream or buy "Zoo" on Bandcamp, or listen below. Its companion single is "Blot," and more releases are on the Music page.

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Magnetic Malaise is Red Tail Hawk's second EP, released October 18, 2014: five songs that stretch the band's groove-rock sound, from the opener "Dark" through "That's What She Said," "The Quickening" and the six-minute "Free Me" to "Ambivalent."

How it was made. The band tracked the EP in December 2012 at Pilot Recording Studios, Will Schillinger's studio in a converted 1920s church in Housatonic, Massachusetts. It went to tape on a Studer 2-inch machine through the SSL console that came from Tony Bennett's studio in Englewood, New Jersey, with more recording at Phillips Sound in Rowley, Massachusetts. Alex Sandman and Ben Zanfagna produced and arranged it, and Tim Phillips mixed and mastered it.

Who plays. Ben Zanfagna (vocals, tenor saxophone, acoustic guitar), Alex Sandman (electric and acoustic guitar, bass, vocals), Phil McGowan (drums), Mike Gruen (bass on "Ambivalent"), Chris Plante (piano, Fender Rhodes, melodica), Ben Alleman (Hammond B3 organ) and Doc Zig (mandolin, National resonator guitar).

Stream or buy Magnetic Malaise on Bandcamp or Spotify, or listen below. More releases are on the Music page.

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Red Tail Hawk's self-titled debut EP, released in 2011 in Newburyport, Massachusetts: three songs, "Trees," "Bilderberg" and "I Do," where the band's story begins. "Bilderberg" came back in 2019 as a fully remixed and remastered single.

Credits. Ben Zanfagna, Mike Gruen, Brett Bashaw (drums) and Alexander Sandman (guitar, keys). Jon Thurston plays keys and organ on "I Do." Produced by Alexander Sandman and Ben Zanfagna. Engineered by Alexander Sandman.

Stream the Red Tail Hawk EP on Spotify or Bandcamp.

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