About

BOOKING/PRESS USA:

LaurelCanonLA @ gmail.com,

PRESS/RADIO UK: gpromo @ btinternet.com

With an affinity for classic Laurel Canyon songwriting as well as a forward looking perspective, close harmony duo GREAT WILLOW’S debut album “Find Yourself In Los Angeles” was called “an incredible addition to any Americana library” by alt-country bible NO DEPRESSION.“The perfectly combined voices of James Combs and Erin Hawkins is the stuff legends are made of …”

Prolific songwriters with a poetic flair, you can often find them sharing bills with the cream of the southern CA Americana scene. James and Erin have also shared bigger stages with Jackson Browne, Tenacious D, Sara Bareilles, Van Dyke Parks… and were the only current LA band asked asked to play the main stage at 2019’s Love Street Festival in Laurel Canyon - along with surviving members of 60s legends The Doors, The Monkees, The Mamas and The Papas, and Love. 

The band has released a steady stream of singles including a collaboration with California psychedelic country legends I See Hawks In LA called “Radio Keeps Me On The Ground” that MOJO journalist Michael Simmons called “a powerful dose of communal hippie optimism.” You might have heard their songs on The SOCAL Sound or featured as a “Today’s Top Tune” on KCRW or in TV shows like True Blood and Shameless.

Great Willow has two EP’s slated for 2025 release - a live-in-studio electric set made with Grammy winning producer and guitarist John Would (Fiona Apple) and a second, six-song collection of audience faves.

In their other lives, James is a board member for the Folk Alliance’s FAR-West conference and Erin is a fine artist and home interiors restorationist.

“The perfectly combined voices of James Combs and Erin Hawkins is the stuff legends are made of … an incredible addition to any Americana library.”

NO DEPRESSION

“I LOVE THIS SONG - it’s called 'Together Again' and it is exactly what it sounds like. It’s about people getting together, hanging out, and getting ready for our lives post-pandemic.”

88.5FM DJ NIC HARCOURT on The Nine O'Clock News

“Perfect harmony. Excellent… the new sound of the West Coast.”

AMERICANA UK

(Great Willow’s collaborative single with I See Hawks In LA) “Radio Keeps Me On The Ground” is soothing nerve tonic for those unsettled by the viral plague currently re-writing human reality. With an irresistable melody and close harmonies, the song is a powerful dose of communal hippie optimism that couldn’t be more welcome during one fuck of a hellish bummer.

MICHAEL SIMMONS,  MOJO, LA Weekly

"Love James Combs. He's one of those singer/songwriter/musicians who should have spent his entire career at the top of the charts."

PENELOPE SPHEERIS, DIRECTOR, “THE DECLINE OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION” “WAYNE’S WORLD”

"timeless, finely crafted, tuneful songs. James Combs is a musical force of nature who injects every song with genuine joy. Erin Hawkins paints these poignant melodies with luminous harmonies, creating a sound of hope that's good for the soul. When they sing “Love will finally find you, by and by,” you believe it, because it’s real. Long live Great Willow, song champions."

PAUL ZOLLO, Author, Songwriters On Songwriting

“James Combs… the missing link between Low and John Lennon, but these are no stripped-down, bare-bones confessionals rendered on a dusty acoustic. Imagine the moody melodies and sepulchral atmospheres of the former and the plain-speaking lyrics of the latter. Oh, and a voice that quivers like the world's biggest nerve ending. And you should hear him sing.”

PAUL LESTER, The Guardian