WOMAD

The Backsliders

From Australia

Backsliders - are leaders and virtual pioneers in their own genre - ‘delta-blues wall of sound’. As a three piece, they can lift the roof off any venue – moving from straight ahead, in your face, ‘amped up’ original blues - ‘Blues ’not ‘Roots’ that is – to ‘all-acoustic’ unplugged ‘way down south’ delta blues. Multi-media celebrity, Doug Mulray describes them as ‘the best acoustic blues band in the country’.Guitarist/ vocalist, founding member and key songwriter for the band, Dom Turner specialises in "bottle-neck" slide guitar using resonator, as well as 6 & 12 string guitars. Dom’s influences are many and varied – a blend of delta blues, piedmont blues, rock, dub and sounds of Asia. He is a highly regarded speaker on blues and roots music and has guested on ABC (Australian Broadcasting Commission) radio programs and presented music workshops at festivals and in universities (both nationally and internationally). As well as playing in the Backsliders, Dom has toured as a solo artist in the USA, playing Augusta Blues week in West Virginia in 1996 and 1998, and in early 2006, he toured Mexico with US blues greats, Del Ray and Steve James. In 2004 Dom was voted Songwriter of the Year’ at the Australian Blues Awards in Goulburn, NSW and has a sculpture in recognition of this honour at the Goulburn Visitors Centre. Drum and percussion virtuoso Rob Hirst (Midnight Oil, Ghostwriters, Hirst & Greene, Angry Tradesmen), an acclaimed name synonymous with the best of Australian music. Midnight Oil’s notoriety needs no explanation, and Rob’s talents have melded perfectly into the band. Rob Hirst is a founding member of Midnight Oil. He was the drummer, songwriter, and backing singer for 25 years. In 2003 he published his first work of prose on Pan McMillan – ‘Willies Bar & Grill’ which is the story of Midnight Oil’s USA & Canadian tour just after September 11.Rob & Dom first teamed up when Dom guested on the Ghostwriters’ “Second Skin’ album in the late nineties. The two began working as a song-writing team in 2000, the fruits of which can be heard on both the 2005 ‘Live’ album and the 2003 ‘Hanoi” CD album.From June 2006, joining Dom and Rob will be two of Australia’s most innovative and dynamic players. The legendary Brod Smith (Dingoes, Brod Smith’s Big Combo) will add his explosive harp and vocal mastery to the Backslider’s fury. Award-winning harmonica genius Ian Collard (Collard, Greens & Gravy) is warming up his valve amp to blow a hot desert storm on the Backslider’s upcoming tour of the Kimberley region of Western Australia. From then on, the 2 blues-harp dynamos will play alternate gigs, each blazing his own trail to the raw energy of the Backsliders sound. All in all it promises to be a furious ride – with Dom Turner and Rob Hirst doing their thing, setting the grooves and taking no prisoners, and Ian and Brod (you never know who you will get) firing-up the amps to fuel the maelstrom.The achievements, success and reviews over the band’s 20 years tell it all.The 2005 ‘Live’ album is a collection of live performances from the Basement in Sydney, as well as the Melbourne blues festival.The 2003 DVD, ‘Live at the Basement’ features live footage from one of Backsliders many gigs at The Basement in Sydney. The concert featured tracks from Backsliders’ 8th and latest album, ‘Hanoi’. Described as a new direction for a band that welcomes evolution and seems to expand their audience with every new release, ‘Hanoi’ was voted ‘Rhythms’ Magazine Readers Poll Blues Album of the Year for 2002 and was a 2002 finalist at the prestigious Australian Record Industry Awards (ARIA). ‘Hanoi’ is a studio album of mostly original songs by Dom Turner and Rob Hirst.The band’s previous album, ‘Poverty Deluxe’ (1999), was a 1999 ARIA Finalist. A variety of tunes from the Backsliders’ back-catalogue of recordings has featured in the ABC TV programme 'Seachange’, as well as the soundtrack to the latest read by Tim Winton, ‘Dirt Music’ in particular ‘Down by the Riverbed’ from the Backsliders’ ‘Wide Open’ (1995) album. Backsliders have also appeared on a number of compilation albums featuring renowned international and Australian artists including the Byron Bay International Blues and Roots Festival and Live at the Basement Sydney, compilation albums. Backsliders have made numerous television appearances in Australia and are regular headliners at major Australian festivals – most recently the Melbourne International Music & Blues Festival (alongside Bob Dylan, Ray Charles & Tony Joe White). The band has headlined at various festivals over the years, having played the Festivals of Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Adelaide and are regular favourites at the East Coast Blues and Roots Festival (at which the band has featured 13 years).The band has played with international touring acts such as Peter Green, Junior Wells, Little Charlie and the Nightcats, John Mooney, Rory Block, Roy Bookbinder, Guy Clarke, Cephas and Wiggins, Leo Kottke, Charlie Musselwhite, Christina Olsen, John Prine, Del Ray, Steve James and toured nationally with blues legend, John Hammond. In 1999, the band travelled to New Zealand as part of the Womad Festival.2005 sees the band back at the Festival of Sydney Jazz in the Domain and Jazz in Parramatta Park concerts as well as the Melbourne International Blues and Music Festival DVDs 2003 - Live at the Basement Albums 2005 – Live 2003 - Live at the Basement (DVD) 2002 – Hanoi 1999 – Poverty Deluxe 1998 - Downtime (A Ten Year Collection of Backsliders Music) 1995 - Wide Open 1993 - Live at the Royal 1991 - Hellhound 1989 - Sitting on a Million 1988 - Preaching Blues Awards to date Australia Music Industry Awards Finalist 2002 ‘Rhythms’ Magazine Readers Poll Blues Album of the Year 2002 Australia Music Industry Awards Finalist 1999 "Blues Album of the Year" – Rhythms Magazine 1998 "Best Harmonica Player 1995"-(Jim Conway)-Australian Blues Music Awards "Best Live Australian Blues Act" - Blues on Air Magazine, 1995 "Band of the Year" - Rolling Stone/Australian Blues Music Awards, 1994 "Album of the Year" - Blues on Air Magazine, 1994 "Blues Album of the Year" - Rhythm's Magazine, 1994 Reviews ‘this is the best acoustic blues band in the country’ - Doug Mulray, 2003 ‘move over Jon Spencer, Dom Turner’s blues explosion has come of age’ - Drum Media 2002 ‘taking the sounds and smells of the delta blues and giving it an Australian taste’ ..‘contemporary roots music at its best’ - Drum Media 2002 ‘…Australia’s top blues act….” - Rhythms Magazine ‘…acoustic blues with punch…refreshingly energetic’ - Rhythms Magazine. ‘without a dispute the best blues band in Australia. Their material is impeccable and their musicianship is a wonder to behold’ - Sydney Morning Herald ‘the Backsliders are the rarest of blues bands’ - Sydney Morning Herald ‘..so steeped in rural blues they can write their own variations.’ - Sydney Morning Herald