Maya Hawke Brings Intimate Thalia Hall Set to Chicago, Previewing New Folk-Pop Songs and a More Personal Live Identity
CHICAGO, IL — Maya Hawke stepped onto the Thalia Hall stage Sunday night with the kind of built-in crowd that comes with TV fame, but the focus quickly shifted to her music. The Stranger Things actor, known to many fans as Robin Buckley, used the sold-out Chicago show to introduce a different version of herself: singer-songwriter, storyteller and, for the night, mostly acoustic guide.
Instead of a big production, Hawke performed with producer and husband Christian Lee Hutson on guitar and violinist Odessa Jorgensen, seated together and working through songs from her unreleased album Maitreya Corso.
An album preview built for close listening
The evening felt less like a standard tour stop and more like an extended listening session. Hawke has only released two tracks from the record so far, the spry Devil You Know and the wistful Bring Home My Man, and much of the set was devoted to material audiences were hearing for the first time.
Hawke told the crowd she wanted to take them on a journey through the project, describing it as a move from “painful to a positive place.” The lyrics centered on love, loss and the messy business of growing up, which fit the stripped-down format and gave the new songs a confessional edge.
A show that leaned on wit, chemistry and folk lineage
Between songs, Hawke kept the room laughing with references to Malort, Miley Cyrus and sex toys, while also apologizing to the parents in the audience for her cursing. That banter helped reveal the offbeat humor behind her dense, fast-moving writing.
Her voice sat neatly above three-part harmonies with Hutson and Jorgensen, recalling 1970s New York folk more than a glossy pop-club sound. She also nodded to Leonard Cohen and Paul Simon, underscoring the literary and classic-songwriting touchstones shaping her work.
Hawke’s first tour with Christian Lee Hutson points to what comes next
The relationship between Hawke and Hutson was part of the night’s emotional center. She said they fell in love while making the album, and this is the first time they have toured together. It is also Hawke’s first time playing guitar on the road alongside him, which she described as facing down a fear.
With Maitreya Corso due May 1 and only a small portion of it released so far, the Chicago date offered an early look at how Hawke wants to be heard beyond Stranger Things. If this intimate format was a preview, it suggested a music career with its own identity, built on careful phrasing, close harmonies and growing confidence onstage.
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