David Hyams with the Miles To Go Band -
'Knowing The Place'
CD from Australia - WA $A28.30 (plus packing & postage)
David Hyams is one of Western Australia's most accomplished composers, producers and multi instrumentalists, known for the progressive folk of his popular acts Devils on Horseback, The Press Gang and Reel to Reel and for his work with local singer songwriters Bernard Carney and Lynn Hazelton and international artists Lowry Olafson (Canada)and Sean Keane (Ireland).
In 2000 David emerged as a composer and artist in his own right with the release of his critically acclaimed debut "MILES TO GO". The album attracted considerable radio airplay and a string of great reviews at home and abroad and the band's live performances were quick to gain similar recognition.
"Dave Hyams' Miles To Go Band has become a fixture at many Australian festivals over the last few years. Its not hard to see why with this line up of instrumental talent. But it is really the skill and artistry of his compositions and their power to evoke place - from Ireland to the Fitzroy River - that tantalizes."
"KNOWING THE PLACE" is both geographically and musically anchored in my home of Western Australia, but there's still a strong thread of travel and connection to faraway places. This is probably because I do feel most alive when moving - and travelling for me is also bound up with musical interaction - whether it's touring, playing pub sessions in Ireland, or picking with guitar players in remote Aboriginal communities. I usually set out to find the musical heart of a place I'm in and I suppose that's how I have come to play in so many different settings, with so many different people."
The Miles To Go Band brings together a diverse group of WA's classiest homegrown talent in surprising and innovative combinations; Caryn Sullivan on percussion, alongside `Waifs' touring bassist Ben Franz, classical cellist Jennifer Tingley, multi-instrumentalist Andy Copeman on vocals, cittern, guitar, bodhran and didgeridu, Nola Formentin on trombone, and Dougal Adams and Ormonde Waters on a staggering range of exotic wind instruments from concertina and tin whistle to highland bagpipes.
"The band includes some of the finest players of traditional Celtic music in the country and is a refreshing combination of imaginative new material with deep respect for source traditions...there is nothing else quite like them in Australia."
Special Guest Liz Frencham