Hole slides into the groove

Veteran WA bluesman Dave Hole is playing The River later this month.

The ARIA award-winning guitarist sets up shop at the venue on Saturday April 17.

Since he burst on to the scene in 1991 with his first album Short Fuse Blues, which was picked up by America’s prestigious blues label, Chicago-based Alligator Records, the UK-born performer has entertained crowds across the far reaches of the nation as well as numerous overseas tours.

Renowned for his slide guitar wizardry, Hole would slot right into The River which continues to bring the best of live music to the region despite the clamours of COVID-19.

The tour will see Hole promoting his new album Goin’ Back Down, which he said was a long time coming.

“It’s taken three years of my life,” the 69-year-old said. “But it’s been worth it. This is the one I’ve wanted to make for what seems like forever – an album where I could have the luxury of writing and developing the songs at a leisurely pace without the pressure of a fixed release date.”

Deciding to self-produce and engineer, Hole said he had a lot to learn, but found the process exhilarating.

Three tracks featured accompanying musicians including Bob Patient, Rick Eastman, and Roy Martinez, while the remaining eight cuts had Hole playing everything himself.

The artist said the result was a quite different and more varied collection of songs than he normally produced.

The ballad Tears For No Reason features nylon-stringed classical guitar, while Arrows In The Dark reveals a Merseyside influence, he said.

“I’ve always been a huge BB King fan and Used To Be seemed to demand that bluesy call-and-response thing that BB did so well and where the guitar just takes up the singing during the solos,” he said.

“So I abandoned the slide for that one and picked up my standard-tuned Gibson 345 and allowed myself to fantasise that I was the ‘King of the Blues’ for six minutes.”

Visit davehole.com or oztix.com for bookings.