Hogzilla: Press

"BROOKLYN — For years, it seemed the only culture this city didn’t celebrate was country, for obvious definitional reasons. But that’s not altogether true anymore as the Fourth Annual Brooklyn Country Music Festival, beginning tonight, can attest...“It’s less traditional, a little more eclectic. Everyone is open to different styles, different instruments — just like New York City, a melting pot,” said Hilary Hawke, singer in the bluegrass band Hogzilla, of the country style developing here in Brooklyn.
“I was so surprised at the country music scene here,” said Hawke, who moved here from upstate NY three years ago and now lives in Williamsburg. “That’s how I met all my friends.”...Hawke’s five-member band, which includes a banjo, a standup bass and a mandolin, has written songs about the city such as “Gentrification of DUMBO” and “Long Island City.”

"Before you start letting Kellie Pickler and Carrie Underwood be your blondes of country music, you may want to check out Hilary Hawke and Mimi LaValley, the women of Hogzilla, a banjo-backed country act that plays finger-picking good rhythmic tunes you can tap your boots (or sneakers) to. The music blends the pop sense of the Dixie Chicks with the rough indie spirit that comes with being a struggling music act from Brooklyn"