In their first appearance at Palisades Rocks the Fourth, local band Hutchinson will bring fresh takes on popular rock, R&B, and reggae tunes, plus fun and uplifting original music.
While members of the group had met at The Musicians Institute in Hollywood, Hutchinson bandmates officially first found each other in the “Musicians Wanted” section of Craigslist over a year ago and have been playing, recording and gigging together since. The band plans to record their all-original EP this year and start touring in lead guitarist Arthur Walton’s and bassist Paul Cline’s previous home state of Hawaii in the fall.
From playing drums and guitar as a child, Walton attended Musicians Institute and performed all over LA, including the House of Blues on Sunset. He moved to Hawaii in ‘97 where he recorded several albums and taught adult education for the DOE for ten years. Teaching jazz at Kauai Community College is where he met bass player Paul Cline, a.k.a. Peace Cee. Cline is co-owner of starterkitmedia.com and producer at themusicalconversations.com, besides an accomplished musician and songwriter. His style is an innovative fusion of diverse influences. Many of Hutchinson’s arrangements are familiar covers imbued with his new twists – mashups of hip-hop and new wave, spoken word love songs and tongue-in-cheek indictments of human nature.
After moving back to Los Angeles, both men met Joe Watson (Swagga Joe) at the Musicians Institute and the three collaborated on multiple projects. From the dancehalls of Kingston, Jamaica, Swagga Joe Watson, is poised to invade the L.A music scene with his vast array of musical weapons, including his effortless vocals and soulful R&B original songs which will be featured in the July 4 program.
An Army veteran who served in tours in South Korea and Afghanistan, Watson served as a combat photographer. His unique experience of the deeply spiritual and the violent physical aspects of life have undoubtedly shaped the sound of his music.
Sharing the stage with them is drummer Hector Quintanilla and vocalist/guitarist Talia “Sana” Arnold, a Palisadian since 2017 who is “never looking back!”A lifelong musician, Talia studied jazz and composition at Northwestern University while in high school and went on to get her bachelor’s degree in music performance from UC Berkeley. Now putting down roots in Pacific Palisades with her son attending Marquez in the fall, Talia is excited for the next stage of Hutchinson. She says,“I love this community, I love the Fourth of July traditions every year and am so happy that my son gets to grow up in this town of ours. We’re so grateful to the Festival for having us this year and we’re gonna make sure it’s a blast for everyone!”