The Team

Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Hawk’s Nest Music is Atlanta-native Whit Hawkins III. Hawkins has spent 17 years in the music industry and worked over a decade handling production with two of the biggest-named artists in the electronic genre, Bassnectar and Pretty Lights.

After a few years of freelance work, he was a founder of Music Matters Productions out of Atlanta in 2003, which focused on production, music lessons, and summer camps for kids. Finishing over three years with Music Matters, he decided to pick up his life and move to the newly-defined music hub of Colorado.

Hawkins then spent 5 years building and establishing Bassnectar from a grassroots movement to the juggernaut it is today. His contributions were integral to both the studio and live production and included the design of custom MIDI controllers, audio software templates, audio to video integration systems, and audio mixing and editing, to name a few.

In 2013, he began another five-year journey with Grammy-nominated artist Pretty Lights. Hawkins was the key design man for ground-breaking on stage communication systems that integrated electronic music production and live instrument improvisation. He also assisted in running the Pretty Lights Music record label and personally designed and built the Pretty Lights HQ studio in New Orleans.

Having made lasting connections and gained endless experience, Hawkins started up his own fresh company, Hawk’s Nest Music.

As part of his Hawk’s Nest duties, Hawkins is the current Production Manager for STS9 and a lead production team member for festivals including Buku, Day for Night, Panic En la Playa, Deja Voom, and Full Moon Fest.

Hawkins, his wife, and his son live in Fort Collins, where the company is headquartered. He is a champion of developmental operations and production models, with highly desired skills and connections in the industry that make him and Hawk’s Nest Music your number one partner to grow with.

The true backbone of Hawk’s Nest Music is the effervescent Araya Jackson from Macon, Georgia. This once general admission festival-goer has picked her side of the barricade and is now head of marketing and day-to-day management for the Hawk’s Nest clientele.

While earning her B.S. in Multimedia Journalism at Georgia Southern University, Araya covered the local music scene for the school’s newspaper and magazine, acquiring a taste for the music business. She also worked closely with Airbound Entertainment of Statesboro, GA to assist in planning and executing Greek life concerts and events. After graduating, she picked up everything and moved over a thousand miles away to Colorado to connect with Hawkins and officially kick start Hawk’s Nest Music.

Providing a fresh youthful counterpoint to Whit’s industry vet outlook, Araya brings just the right spark of energy and on trend thinking your brand needs. When not behind her desk scouring the latest hype, you can find her at the hottest shows networking, growing the brand, and headbanging to some tasty bass frequencies.