Ron Pope & The Nighthawks’s release their self-titled debut album. Following Pope's fifth solo studio album in 2014 and extensive worldwide touring, the Nashville based singer began recording new music written on the road with his favourite Brooklyn-based musicians who later took the name The Nighthawks.

As a solo artist, Pope has sold over two million singles to date and averages 15 million spins a month on Pandora. His songs have been streamed over 126 million times via Spotify, with over 100 million YouTube views and over 14 million plays on Soundcloud. His music has been featured on NBC’s The Voice, CW’s Vampire Diaries and 90210 and multiple seasons of FOX’s So You Think You Can Dance, which sent two of his albums into the top 100 on iTunes simultaneously. Pope also guest stared on Nashville as himself last season.

To say that Pope has had a distinguished career as a solo artists is an understatement and I was very much looking forward to what he'd deliver with The Nighthawks. The end result is incredibly pleasing. The album contains 11 songs (40 min, 09 sec) which dips its toes into rock, country and a little soul.

While I enjoyed the entire album, on the first play through 'White River Junction' probably left the biggest impression on me. But subsequent plays will see you appreciate the album as a whole. Personal highlights include 'Hell Or High Water'; 'Take Me Home'; and the stripped back 'Lies And Cigarettes', which allows you to appreciate the mellow side of Pope's vocals. In addition, the opening beats of 'One Shot of Whiskey' reminded me of Billy Joel's 'She's Always a Woman'.

This is an impressive album which Pope's fans will get a huge kick out of.

9

Nick Smithson