Dave Hole – Guitarist/Songwriter

"No one on the current scene plays with the incendiary power he does" - ASSOCIATED PRESS.

"..a one-way journey to sonic joy" - LIVING BLUES.

"Exhilaratingly relentless, he produces solo upon blistering solo." - GUITAR WORLD

"From a standpoint of voltage, he reigns supreme. His electric slide is without peer"
"VINTAGE GUITAR", U.S.A.

 

The latest release from Dave is called "ROUGH DIAMOND". It follows on from his very successful live release (“The Live One” 2003) and is his first studio album in 6 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.

After 8 previous releases and numerous 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 16 years ago, Dave Hole's records and live performances have drawn raves from countless international publications, including Billboard, Spin, Guitar World, Downbeat 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."

Hole has headlined festivals in many countries including America, Germany, Denmark, Holland, France, Switzerland and Australia. His two appearances at the prestigious Leverkussen Blues Festival in Germany were televised nationally. Tours have also included performances in Brazil, Sweden, Norway, Russia, Austria, Italy, Spain, Belgium and the U.K.

Considering all the praise Hole has received over the last few years, it's hard to believe that he has been performing for more than three decades. Born in England in 1948, he moved with his family to Perth, Western Australia when he was a child. He fell for the blues early on, when he heard a friend's Muddy Waters record. He yearned to hear more, but due to Perth's remoteness it was difficult to get any blues records on a regular basis. It was even rarer for a blues artist 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 (a trait Dave Hole has in abundance) he got his hands on records by Blind Willie Johnson, Skip James, Blind Lemon Jefferson and many others. Robert Johnson, Elmore James, and Mississippi Fred McDowell were his main "teachers", as he listened to their records over and over again, absorbing all he could from these blues masters.

Then, either by accident or by fate, Hole broke his little finger in a football game. The only way he could continue to play slide guitar without pain was to put the slide on his index finger and hang his hand over the top of the guitar neck. When his finger healed, Hole had got so used to the 'wrong' way of playing (and grown so fond of the tone he was getting), that he never turned back.

DISCOGRAPHY:

1991 "Short Fuse Blues"
1992 "The Plumber"
1993 "Working Overtime"
1995 "Steel On Steel"
1996 "Whole Lotta Blues"
1997 "Ticket To Chicago"
1999 "Under The Spell
2001 "Outside Looking In"
2003 "The Live One"
2007 "Rough Diamond"
 

Courtesy Dave Hole
www.davehole.com