![\"Shane](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1786635009_246_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nIn the private home studio left behind by his father, Shane Hawkins is hitting the drums hard. The teenager behind the kit is locked into \u201cDriven to Tears,\u201d the Police\u2019s reggae-charged protest song, channeling its sharp, syncopated beats with controlled fury.<\/p>\n
His long blond hair swings across his face as Hawkins loses himself in the moment, tapping into a brisk echo of \u201980s rock. He then shifts into the thundering blues of Black Sabbath\u2019s \u201cThe Wizard,\u201d driving into the heavier groove while surrounded by the instruments, gear and treasured memorabilia of his late father, Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins, who died in 2022.<\/p>\n
Joining him in this rehearsal are bassist Wiley Hodgden and guitarist Brent Woods, who played hard-rocking cover songs in Taylor\u2019s side project Chevy Metal for more than two decades. After Taylor\u2019s death, the Foo Fighters carried on, but Chevy Metal were certain they could not. Shane changed that.<\/p>\n
\u201cWiley and I were in agreement, like, it\u2019s done,\u201d says Woods. \u201cShane was the one that said, \u2018I want to do Chevy.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
For Taylor\u2019s son, the band was one more thing he didn\u2019t want to let go.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a part of my childhood and it\u2019s like, my dad was gone and these people that I\u2019ve watched my whole childhood, they\u2019re still there,\u201d says Shane, 19. \u201cWhy not keep something going? And it\u2019s just honoring my dad, you know?\u201d<\/p>\n
Most of the music world first saw Shane behind the drums during Foo Fighters\u2019 performance of \u201cMy Hero\u201d at the Taylor Hawkins tribute concert at Wembley Stadium on Sept. 3, 2022. He was 16 and already obsessed with drums, but he says it wasn\u2019t until that moment that he knew he wanted to devote his life making music.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a gnarly time,\u201d Shane recalls. \u201cYou had to pull that off. You can\u2019t really f\u2014 that up.<\/p>\n
\u201cI played for a lot of people, and there\u2019s only one feeling like that \u2014 especially playing the drums. Once you do that, you never want to do anything else.\u201d<\/p>\n
With Chevy Metal, Shane is in a band committed to playing songs mostly created before he was born, with a typical setlist including songs by Van Halen, Led Zeppelin, Queen, the Rolling Stones, Talking Heads, Rush and the Doors. His presence now means leaning more often into classic punk rock. During their live sets, Shane will usually take the mic to growl through the Bad Brains\u2019 speedy \u201cBig Takeover,\u201d pacing the stage and banging his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re playing the Germs now,\u201d says Woods. \u201cWe\u2019re playing Black Flag, which we never did before.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Shane Hawkins plays drums with Chevy Metal at the Viper Room.<\/p>\n
(Steve Appleford)<\/p>\n
Chevy Metal shows routinely feature surprise guests. Dave Grohl and other Foos have frequently appeared. So have Mick Jagger and players from Queen, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Guns \u2018N Roses and more. Even tennis star John McEnroe once joined the band on guitar at a Malibu gig, alongside his wife, singer Patty Smyth.<\/p>\n
One regular guest is Lee Ving, singer for the pioneering L.A. punk band Fear. \u201cLee is like the elder statesman, and then we got Shane, who is so young,\u201d Hodgden says of the age range. \u201cYou never see that unless it\u2019s maybe a church band or something.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another regular is Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian, a family friend whose son Revel also plays music with Shane.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a great dude and he is a monster drummer,\u201d Scott says of Shane. \u201cI sit and I watch him and Revel play together. It\u2019s so great to see, especially in a world where a lot of younger kids don\u2019t pick up instruments anymore. They live, eat, sleep, breathe, bleed, rock music.\u201d<\/p>\n
Until this month, the resurrected Chevy Metal could only perform during Shane\u2019s breaks from his boarding school on the East Coast, but he is newly graduated and ready to play. The trio performs Saturday at Alex\u2019s Bar in Long Beach as part of a series of shows that will take the band to the U.K. Shane is also working with other young players on new material.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s already jamming with kids his own age and friends that he\u2019s had for years, and starting his own project,\u201d says Woods. \u201cBut this is good for him to learn, just to play in different venues and travel around and get his feet wet playing covers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chevy Metal once served a similar purpose for Taylor, a favorite pastime alongside his Foo Fighters work. Hodgden has been part of the Foo Fighters crew for 24 years, both on the road and at their studio 606, starting as Taylor\u2019s drum tech. Before that, he was a bartender newly arrived from Oklahoma that the drummer befriended.<\/p>\n
In 2002, Hodgden and original guitarist Achim \u201cDange\u201d St. Dangerfield started the band as an acoustic duo doing cover songs. Taylor was a regular, Hodgden says, turning to Shane. \u201cThere\u2019d be two drunks at the bar, and then your dad sitting there heckling us,\u201d Hodgden says with a laugh. \u201cWe go into \u2018Hotel California,\u2019 and he\u2019s like, \u2018Oh, great song choice, guys.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
The Foos drummer soon wanted in.<\/p>\n
\u201cTaylor was trying to come up with names and he\u2019s like, \u2018How about Chevy Metal?\u2019 And I said, \u2018Well, you can\u2019t really name the band. You\u2019re not in it,\u2019\u201d Hodgden adds. \u201cBut we jammed all the time up at his house, and then one day we\u2019re playing and it sounded good. And Taylor stood up and said, \u2018I\u2019m gonna be your drummer and we\u2019re gonna call it Chevy Metal.\u2019 And I was like, that\u2019s a rad name.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe got to be the boss in this band and steer the ship and do whatever he wanted,\u201d says Hodgden. \u201cBut also it was low pressure and it was all about fun.\u201d<\/p>\n
Taylor filled much of his downtime making more music. Aside from Chevy Metal, he recorded new songs with the Coattail Riders (which included Woods) and, earlier, the Birds of Satan (including Hodgden).<\/p>\n
\u201cHe never stopped,\u201d Woods recalls. \u201cHe would call me at 7 a.m. and go, \u2018What are you doin? Get up here!\u2019 He\u2019d go to bed probably at midnight, one o\u2019clock, and he\u2019s up taking the kids to school, he\u2019s mountain biking, and he\u2019s ready to roll. I was still sleeping, but he would be up every day wanting to create and work.\u201d<\/p>\n
Woods saw Chevy Metal\u2019s first show with Taylor at Abuelitas in Topanga Canyon in 2002. After Dange moved up north to work as a teacher, Woods eventually became Chevy Metal\u2019s new guitarist. Woods grew up in Burbank and took guitar lessons from Randy Rhoads, best known for his work on Ozzy Osbourne\u2019s early solo albums.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was such a great lead player, but he was adamant that if you can\u2019t play rhythm, it doesn\u2019t matter how great of a lead player you are,\u201d Woods says of Rhoads, who emphasized \u201crhythm and feel.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI wouldn\u2019t be sitting here right now if it wasn\u2019t for Randy teaching me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Growing up initially in Topanga Canyon, the first beat Shane learned to play was the thunderous drum fill from Phil Collins\u2019 \u201cIn the Air Tonight.\u201d Then came Deep Purple\u2019s \u201cSmoke on the Water\u201d and the Rolling Stones\u2019 \u201cMiss You.\u201d By 13, he was spending hours each day practicing alone in the basement at his boarding school.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were no other kids that really played at the school, so I\u2019d just sit down and play,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Shane grew up watching both Foo Fighters and Chevy Metal shows. \u201cI\u2019d sit behind my dad and watch him play and watch people just go crazy,\u201d says Shane. \u201cAnd as a kid, you think that\u2019s the coolest thing in the world, because it is. It\u2019s the best feeling.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1786635010_489_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
The band Chevy Metal \u2014 bassist Wiley Hodgden, left, drummer Shane Hawkins and guitarist Brent Woods \u2014 gestures downstairs at the Viper Room on the Sunset Strip. <\/p>\n
(Steve Appleford)<\/p>\n
Taylor\u2019s home studio was built in a guest house behind his family\u2019s home in Hidden Hills, a gated community on the northern edge of the San Fernando Valley. Inside, the walls are still covered with his guitars, posters, photographs and other relics from his favorite artists: Aerosmith, Rush, Bowie, Jane\u2019s Addiction and Soundgarden.<\/p>\n
The reborn Chevy Metal still rehearses in what Woods describes as Taylor\u2019s \u201cman cave.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe put a lot of work into making this room what it is right now,\u201d says Shane. \u201cI remember him precisely making sure every picture was hung up in the exact place. And every banner was hung perfectly and every speaker was placed perfectly for your ear.\u201d<\/p>\n
The band recorded a lot of songs here with Taylor, and they hope to release some of that material from the vault. They plan on more recording with his son.<\/p>\n
Before Shane graduated high school, the last time Chevy Metal played a hometown show was at the Viper Room on New Year\u2019s Eve. It was also a gathering of rock \u2019n\u2019 roll families, as second-generation musicians took turns onstage with Chevy Metal, representing the offspring of Guns \u2018N Roses, Jane\u2019s Addiction and Anthrax.<\/p>\n
During the sound check, the band ran through songs by U2 and Foreigner, and Shane hammered the drums at full volume. Afterward, he was chatting with Scott Ian, who advised him: \u201cYou never want to be great at dress rehearsal. You want to be good at dress rehearsal, and then be great at the show.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shane nodded, but for now, he says he can only play at one level: loud.<\/p>\n
As Shane sat in the dressing room before Chevy Metal\u2019s set, Jane\u2019s Addiction drummer Stephen Perkins walked in, asking, \u201cWhere\u2019s the drummer?\u201d Then he spotted Shane, smiled, grabbed his hand and said, \u201cThere he is!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In the private home studio left behind by his father, Shane Hawkins is hitting the drums hard. The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":431837,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[11416,171562,171560,171559,28302,68967,24905,54353,171561,26803,3410,131,133,132,1741,171558,10390,36465],"class_list":["post-431836","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-long-beach","tag-band","tag-boarding-school","tag-brent-woods","tag-chevy-metal","tag-drum","tag-drummer","tag-foo-fighters","tag-guitar","tag-hodgden","tag-jane","tag-kid","tag-long-beach","tag-long-beach-headlines","tag-long-beach-news","tag-lot","tag-shane-hawkins","tag-song","tag-taylor"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/431836","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=431836"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/431836\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/431837"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=431836"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=431836"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=431836"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}