By Kimberly Baugh
Nashville saved Nuns. Ok, well maybe ‘saved’ isn’t the right word. But it is quite possible that the man behind Nuns, Hank Hanewinkel, may have never started the project after taking an entire year off from songwriting, letting personal creativity come to a halt. Alas, fate led the Oklahoma native to Nashville on a trip to visit friends Jem and Coco from The Ettes in December 2012 where the floodgates were reopened.
At the time of the trip, Hanewinkel was healing wounds from a rough break up and needed to get out of town. The week spent in Nashville and the comfort of good friends (and perhaps strong whiskey) brought the flowing inspiration the brooding musician needed to get back on track.
Hanewinkel, like many multi-instrumentalists, knew early on that music could be found in his DNA. His father being a music producer could possibly have a little something to do with the fact that young Hank was conquering the drums somewhere between the ages of 2 and 10, followed by the guitar. A fews later, Hanewinkel formed a family affair band with his uncle and sister, The Red Alert, which successes gave him the assertion that music was not a fleeting interest as so many hobbies are for young teenagers. The group disbanding in 2011 led to Hanewinkel’s songwriting hiatus.
Fast forward to February 2013 in Hanewinkel’s father’s studio where he began putting together the pieces of the frenzied vision he had for his solo debut. The succinct single off the album, “I Don’t Know Where I Stand,” is a synth psychedelic tune that oohs and ahhs it’s way into being a catchy pop-rock post break-up song. The eruptions of percussions mixed with Hanewinkel’s woeful lyrics, “There’s one thing I can do/Fall out of love with you,” allow you to escape the moment and drift down memory lane into your own painful past. But what could potentially turn a little too emo is pulled back in with heavy reverb and dream-like spin.
The fruition of all this was Opportunities, the 10-track debut album from Tulsa label Passive Recordings which, as of just this past month, has a limited vinyl release in addition to the digital download.
Get to Cannery just a bit early to catch Nuns open up for badass babes The Kills tonight.
Lockeland Springsteen 