Smokestack Lightnin' Home Page -- The Blues Profile Page
|
The latest release from Dave Hole is called "ROUGH DIAMOND". It follows on from his very successful live release (“The Live One”) and is his first studio album in 5 years. It's released on the Blind Pig label in the USA, Dixie Frog Records in Europe and Black Cat (through Shock Records) in Australia.
As well as the aforementioned "Yours For A Song" and "White Trash Girl" highlights include the hard-driving "Rough Diamond Child", "I’ll Get To You" and "Vintage Wine" which features some scintillating slide guitar work. There’s plenty of rollicking blues with "Can’t Stop Loving You", "King Bee" and Robert Johnson’s "Rambling On My Mind", as well as a heart-stopping slow blues in the form of Elmore James’ "Something Inside Of Me". Perhaps most surprising is a satisfyingly crusty rendition of the standard "Since I Met You Baby". Throughout these performances, Dave gets powerful support from his talented side-men: Roy Daniel on bass, Ric Eastman on drums and Bob Patient on keyboards. After 8 previous releases and innumerable world tours, Dave Hole is now widely regarded as one of the all-time slide guitar greats, with accolades from around the globe and a growing world-wide fan base. With his furious energy and amazing "over-the-top" style of playing, Dave Hole has carved his own place deep in the pantheon of slide guitar greats. His performances are drenched in waves of fret-melting guitar riffs that infuse the spirit of blues and rock slide legends such as Duane Allman, Johnny Winter and Elmore James. "Nothing interferes with Hole's searing guitar when he is in full flight," said Rolling Stone. Guitar World agreed, saying, "Hole produces solo upon blistering solo with slide work that is exhilaratingly relentless." Since his recording debut 18 years ago, Dave Hole's records and live performances have drawn raves from countless international publications, including Billboard, Downbeat, Spin, Guitar World and Guitar Player. Similarly, he's earned rapturous praise from the Associated Press and major US market dailys like the Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times and Washington Post. Billboard wrote; "Slide guitar fanatics will have their brains blown out by this Australian fret-melter ... Remarkably inventive, technically unusual overhand slide work that separates him from the common pack ... prepare to hear your jaw hitting the floor." Considering all the praise lavished on Hole in recent years, it's hard to believe that he’s actually been performing for more than four decades. Born in England in 1948, he moved with his family to Perth, Western Australia when he was a child. As a teenager he fell for the blues upon hearing
a friend's Muddy Waters record. He yearned to hear more but at that time
blues records were difficult to obtain in remote Western Australia. It
was also years before any blues artists began to perform there in
person, so Hole had to teach himself to play. At first, only
Eric Clapton and
Jimi Hendrix albums were easily
available, but with persistence he eventually got his hands on records
by Blind Willie Johnson,
Skip James,
Blind Lemon Jefferson and
many others. The likes of Robert Johnson,
Elmore James and
Mississippi Fred McDowell
became his main "teachers", as he listened to their recordings over and
over again, absorbing all he could from these blues masters. When Alligator Records president Bruce Iglauer signed him, Hole became the only non U.S. based artist in the label's 40-year history. The gamble more than paid off. American critics praised Hole all over the country, and new fans were exposed to him through radio play on more than 1000 stations. Rave reviews appeared in Guitar World, Billboard, Audio, Spin, New York Magazine, The Chicago Tribune, The Denver Post and many other major publications, as well as on The Associated Press newswire. And it's not just the critics who were paying attention. Metallica's Kirk Hammett has named Dave Hole as one of his all-time favorite guitarists, saying "His slide playing kills me”. People everywhere have taken notice. When veteran rock and blues guitarist Gary Moore first heard "SHORT FUSE BLUES", he was so impressed that he invited Dave to join him on two European tours, playing large stadiums and arenas and concluding with two memorable nights at London's Royal Albert Hall. Subsequent albums and tours of the U.S. and Europe have solidified his stature as one of the very best guitarists playing today, taking him from virtual obscurity all the way to international recognition and admiration. His explosive live show has won him critical acclaim wherever he has gone and invariably leaves audiences spellbound in his wake. He constantly fills venues to overflowing and then proceeds to lift the rafters off with blistering performances. He has performed at countless blues festivals around the world and show after show have ended with rapturous applause. Blues Revue noted, "If this guy played with any more feeling, he'd have to go on Prozac. Dave Hole is not only a superb guitarist with a distinctive sound, he performs heart-felt vocals with the depth and credibility of any blues headliner touring today ... hard driving rocking blues ... he is electricity incarnate!" Hole has headlined festivals in many countries including America, Canada, Germany, Denmark, Holland, France, Switzerland, Norway, and Australia. His two appearances at the prestigious Leverkusen Blues Festival in Germany were televised nationally. Tours have also included performances in Brazil, Sweden, Russia, Austria, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Poland, The Czech Republic, and the U.K. Following SHORT FUSE BLUES (BCD 1001) Hole's second album, THE PLUMBER (BCD 1002) was released in 1992. This was followed by WORKING OVERTIME (BCD1003) (1993), STEEL ON STEEL (BCD1004) (1994), TICKET TO CHICAGO (BCD1005) (1996), UNDER THE SPELL (BCD1006) (1998) OUTSIDE LOOKING IN (BCD1007) (2001), THE LIVE ONE (BCD 1008) (2003) and now ROUGH DIAMOND (BCD1009). WORKING OVERTIME won a prestigious American NAIRD Award and all the albums have received airplay on thousands of radio stations across America, Europe and elsewhere. Playboy, Esquire, Billboard, Musician, New York Magazine, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Daily News and all the guitar publications have run features and reviews on these albums. "While many bottleneck players base their styles on a few patented patterns, Dave Hole sprays a steely fire all over the strings, navigating stratospheric leaps with the greatest of ease," wrote Guitar Player. "Hole has a molten tone that will harden into a hopeless tangle, then bust loose for some old-fashioned catharsis", said New York magazine, "He's a modernist mining a classic blues vein". "UNDER THE SPELL" won an Australian ARIA Award and "THE LIVE ONE", capturing as it does the full-blooded power of his live performances, has proven extremely popular with Dave's legions of fans world-wide. Audiences around the globe have thrilled to Hole's astounding guitar virtuosity and heartfelt vocals and this release demonstrates why. For those who are already familiar with Dave Hole's work, his new album "ROUGH DIAMOND" represents an exciting new milestone in his recording career. For others there can be no better introduction to the blues and rock artistry of this unique talent. Dave has again been touring internationally in 2009 as well as devoting much of his time to writing in preparation for his next recording. His current touring band consists of Ace Follington on drums and Roy Daniel on bass. DISCOGRAPHY: 1991 "Short Fuse Blues" COMPILATIONS: 1995 "Huh - Blues Issue Special" (1 track) "...harrowing slide-guitar solos and rampaging vocals, wickedly seductive. playfully inventive." - DOWN BEAT, USA "Magnificent, staggering, almost beyond belief. Utterly blues approved." - GUITAR PLAYER,USA "Australian Dave Hole is a guitar-hero-in-waiting of the first magnitude, it's just a matter of exposure. This guy's a monster." - JAZZ AND BLUES, U.S.A. "Slide guitar fanatics will have their brains blown out by the second astonishing album by this ..Australian fret-melter. ......just take in the eight brilliantly sustained minutes of 'Up All Night Thinking' and prepare to hear your jaw hitting the floor." - BILLBOARD MAGAZINE, U.S.A. "Exhilaratingly relentless ... he produces solo upon blistering solo." - GUITAR WORLD, USA "....the man and his guitar were all-encompassing. This was exciting, not just for the Australian Blues-rocker but for the entire audience at 'Legends'. Hole burned down Buddy Guy's place Friday for two amazing sets. His lightening delivery and screaming slide, which sounded almost like a falsetto vocal at times, were works of art." - CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, U.S.A. - Live Review. "Fast, flashy, steel-cylinder-on-steel-string slide work ... clearly stresses the instrumental pyrotechnics of such guitar heroes as Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jeff Healey. Hole's distinguishing trademark is his ability to play melodic slide phrases with lots of embellishments over galloping rhythms." - WASHINGTON POST , USA "Your jaw drops in amazement as you listen to the sizzling complexity of his playing. He sings with the same plaintive, sandpapery gruffness we associate with Eric Clapton or Robin Trower. As for his playing, Hole is just a natural blues-guitar star." - DENVER POST, USA "Years from now, Blues aficionados may still be talking about the time in November, 1993 when slide guitarist Dave Hole first came to town. An extraordinary musician and nascent star, Hole is often compared to the late Stevie Ray Vaughan, but he plays with depth of feeling that owes more to early bottleneck men like Blind Willie Johnson." - NEW YORK MAGAZINE, U.S.A. - Live review. "Dave Hole is one of the best slide guitar players ever. His relentless slide strafes and searing single-line solos come at you like a runaway truck down a mountain grade." - DETROIT FREE PRESS, USA "Yes, Dave Hole is that good. If this guy played with any more feeling, he'd have to go on Prozac. He is not only a superb guitarist with a distinctive sound, he performs heart-felt vocals with the depth and credibility of any blues headliner touring today ... hard driving rocking blues ... he is electricity incarnate!" --BLUES REVIEW, USA "Another sizzling side of modern blues-rock ... original, reverent solo and acoustic tributes to the rural and urban styles that inspired him. Hole sings with passion, but it's his ever -- fiery, Duane Allman-style slide that's the source of listener whiplash here." - GUITAR FOR THE PRACTICING MUSICIAN,USA "Not your garden-variety guitar hellraiser, Hole control his awesome
vituosity just enough to escape charges of grand-standing. The Aussie
finds resolution for the tension he generates so readily with his slider
on strings." - DOWNBEAT MAGAZINE, U.S.A. Publicity & Bookings within Australia Les Hinton, LESLIE HINTON ENTERTAINMENT
|
Featuring
11 powerful new recordings, "ROUGH DIAMOND" presents a satisfying blend
of fresh Hole originals with arrangements of songs from other composers
that Dave has long aspired to record. In each case his inimitable
soaring slide guitar style is well to the fore but the authoritative
treatments here reveal a fresh artistic maturity and confidence. From
the slow burning "Yours For A Song" to the white hot intensity of "White
Trash Girl", Hole’s guitar is as astounding as ever and yet at no stage
does it threaten to overwhelm – always serving to enhance the song
itself. Not to say that there aren’t some guitar pyrotechnics here.
There are times when that is exactly what is called for and Dave steps
up to deliver the intensity and excitement for which he is justly
renowned.