1.Growing Up
Dad had guitars in the house, so it was my destiny to play. He was a huge influence on my musical tastes everything from The Beatles to Led Zeppelin.
2.Inspirations
All blues legends: Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, Gary Clark, Jr., Seasick Steve, Atomic Bitchwax, Earthless. There’s something about the looseness in their live performances that excites and inspires me to write.
3.Your Band
Myself on guitar/vocals; Tim Cramer (bass); Andy Thor (drums/harmonica).
Andy and myself work together and an opportunity came up to do a charity gig for BWSL sensation Ben Wilkinson, so we did it as a duo with one rehearsal playing blues and some original tunes – the energy on the night was amazing and we just clicked so we decided to do an album. Tim joined us and we all just clicked like the universe just brought us together or something crazy like that. Our diverse musical tastes and influences makes writing songs really exciting – we jam on a riff and away we go. We have been writing some ripper tunes for the next album we plan to do later in the year.
4.The Music You Make
We try all styles of blues/rock and also rockabilly; we’ve even been writing some country delta blues lately. Diversity is the key for us. Our music has a flavour that you will know, like Zeppelin, Hendrix, Seasick Steve, Gary Clark, Jr. and ZZ Top, et cetera, but it’s not a blatant rip-off – it’s gonna have those influences for sure but it oozes our original touches as well. The Promised Land was recorded at Damien Gerard Studios and mixed by the legendary Russell Piling. Our live shows are high-energy; if your feet don’t start moving and your hips don’t start swaying, you’re probably dead.
5.Music, Right Here, Right Now
Getting original music noticed is challenging. The return of the local scene is a step in that direction, a direction our management Tony Shepherd of Shepherd Entertainment Group believes in. Playing with bands like the Chico Seeds, The Desert Sea, Zach Odgers and The East Coast Low and Driftwood inspire us to push harder – the bar gets raised a few notches every time we hear each other play. It’s a great for all of us and rids us of complacency. The best venues in Sydney are the ones giving original acts a stage to perform on despite their well-documented obstacles with licensing and lockout laws.
The Promised Land is out now independently, andThe Hollerin Sluggers play at theNarrabeen Sands Hotel,Thursday March 24, then The Record Crate on Friday April 8.
