Backsliders

Backsliders Biography

There are at least 3 bands called Backsliders. One is from Australia, one is from Finland and a third is an alternative country rock band from Raleigh, North Carolina. Backsliders - Australia “A Backsliders show is like no other.." Far from the Mississippi delta, they took us to the water’s edge, ‘til we felt the riverbed beneath our feet” Rhythms Magazine 2015  “It is no wonder that The Backsliders are regarded as Australia’s greatest blues outfit: they consist of four world-class exponents of their respective instruments.” Glam Adelaide 2015  “If the band was any tighter it would burst.” “This is one tightly rehearsed outfit, which may have something to do with the fact that they have been working together for many years and are masters of their respective crafts.” BWW Reviews  Backsliders are an award-winning Australian band that have a history of over 30 years recording and touring the music festival circuit. Their riff-based sound blends rural American blues with distinctly Australian lyrical and musical themes.  Slide Guitarist, multi-stringed instrumentalist, songwriter and vocalist, Dom Turner, is the founding member of the group. 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 Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) radio programs and presented music workshops at festivals and in universities both nationally and internationally. As well as playing in Backsliders, Dom has toured as a solo artist in the USA with a number of his international music collaborations (The Turner Brown Band, Phil Wiggins & Dom Turner). 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 and songwriter Rob Hirst, an acclaimed name synonymous with the best of Australian music, has been with Backsliders for two decades. As a founding member of the legendary Australian band, Midnight Oil, Rob’s work needs no explanation—he stands as one of the world’s great drummers—now drawing on his early jazz and swamp-rock influences to produce a sound that is integral to the Backsliders 21st century blues grooves. Rob’s achievements in the music industry are many and varied including In publishing his first work of prose on Pan McMillan – ‘Willies Bar & Grill’ telling the story of Midnight Oil’s USA & Canadian tour just after September 11.  Joining Dom and Rob some of Australia’s most innovative and dynamic harmonica players; ARIA award winning Ian Collard (Collard, Greens & Gravy), as well as younger prodigy, Joe Glover, and the legendary Broderick Smith (Dingoes, Carson, Big Combo). The 3 blues-harp dynamos play alternate gigs, each blazing a trail to the raw energy of the Backsliders sound. It’s a furious ride—with Dom Turner and Rob Hirst doing their thing, setting the grooves, and Ian, Broderick or Joe (you never know who you will get) firing-up the amps to fuel the maelstrom.  It’s a lineup that carries serious weight, not just on the Australian blues scene, but across genres and styles the world over.  The achievements, success and reviews over the band’s 30+ years tell it all. The latest release (November 2020) 'Bonecrunch' is the bands most adventurous recording to date. The 12 tracks represent a band with varied musical influences—swamp-blues feels on ‘Dog in the Fight’ and ‘Tea & Sugar Train’, intense blues riffs on ‘No Know-How’ and ‘Bad Recruit’; surf sounds on ‘Tombstoning’; to the eccentric ‘Obake’ [Ghost] where 1960s Japanese soundtrack music meets dub-reggae. ‘Heathen Songbook’ (2016) is an eclectic mix of 21st Century original blues as well as a number of versions of songs by artists as diverse as diverse as Robert Johnson, Dock Boggs and John Fogerty. These guys are renowned for captivating live shows - an eclectic mix of blues styles moving from driving delta blues riffs and jungle-like rhythms to ‘Piedmont’ blues influenced ‘all-acoustic’ unplugged treatments of 1920’s songs by blues heroes such as Mississippi Fred McDowell and Robert Johnson.  The 2011 album, ‘Starvation Box’, their 12th release, was heralded as their finest work to date. The 2007 ‘Left Field Holler’ is an eclectic mix of hard-hitting, frenetic new blues mixed with poignant ballads again taking the band to new limits. 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 regulars at major Australian festivals – Womad New Zealand and Womadelaide, East Coast Blues Festival (14 appearances) Adelaide International Guitar Festival, the Melbourne International Music & Blues Festival (alongside Bob Dylan, Ray Charles & Tony Joe White), Woodford Folk Festival, Bridgetown Blues Festival the Festivals of Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Adelaide to name a few.  Website: Backsliders Backsliders - Finland Finnish biker band Backsliders were Marko Asser Hirsma (vocals & bass), Dan "Danny" Peter Wilhelm Eklund (guitar), Antti Kalervo "Ana" Haglund (drums) and Olli Sakari Hilden (except on the first two albums where they were a trio) (guitar). On the latest album Marko Kainulainen (played with Andy McCoy and Boycott) replaced Antti Haglund who passed away. Olli "Ölli" Hilden is cousin of better known finnish hard rocker Michael Monroe and played bass in his first band (originally Black Magic named after Black Sabbath changed it to Hoople after Mott The Hoople), which also included Michael's brother on drums (year was 1971 and Michael 9 years old). He also plays on some Michaels latter solo stuff. In 1990 most legendary finnish guitarist Albert (aka Pekka Johannes) Järvinen (ex-Hurriganes) joined the band and they recorded one album that consists of Hurriganes covers under name Flashbacksliders. Järvinen died in 1991 for abuse of alcohol etc. In 1993 Ölli joined Pelle Miljoona when short time guitarist Markku "Crazy" Heiskanen went back to his ex-band Havana Black. Ölli plays on Pelle's albums Ok! and Juuret (Roots). Hirsma was shot dead in a parking lot in autumn 2001. Band had very hard reputation early on, here's a quote from finnish Rumba music magazine ('89): "Danny said: I asked a girl for a cigarette and I first thought she was like joking when she said that she don't know if she dares to give, I was like yea yea, but she told that her friends had warned her not to come to the gig she'll get beaten up. I was thinking like whatta hell? How can people think that when we come to some God forgotten place to play to them and hope they would dig it and they sit there piss in their pants scared that some one comes off the stage and beats them up!?" Hard good old rock n roll. Motorcycling a major part of their image. They have a cover or two on every album except the last one, they covered Ted Nugent, AC/DC, Hurriganes, Sex Pistols, John Loudermilk (Tobacco Road, also covered by Zeppelin and David Lee Roth), Alvin Lee, Jerry Williams & Roadwork, Arlo Guthrie and Buddy Holly. That tells something 'bout their sound. Facebook: Backsliders The Backsliders - North Carolina USA A third band called the The Backsliders was an alternative-traditional country-rock band from Raleigh, North Carolina, composed of Chip Robinson, Steve Howell, Danny Kurtz, Jeff Dennis, and Brad Rice. Chip Robinson teamed up with Steve Howell to form The Backsliders, which began as a duo in 1991. The group formed in 1994, and disbanded in 1999. Wikipedia: The Backsliders