Backsliders are a three piece Australian blues band; self described as playing "delta blues wall of sound." Their current line up consists of guitarist/vocalist Dom Turner and drummer/percussionist Rob Hirst joined on alternating nights by either Brod Smith, Ian Collard or Joe Glover on harmonica.
Biography
2011 ARIA Best Blues and Roots Album nominees and iTunes Australian Blues and Roots album of the year winners, Backsliders, have been playing, touring the festival circuit and recording since late 1986. One of their latest releases, ‘Dark Side’, their 13th to date, was described by the Sydney Morning Herald as "an enviable history of redefining, refining and diversifying the blues genre, during which Turner has taken the 12-bar format to its boundaries and beyond." The previous release, ‘Starvation Box’ has been described as sounding like "hungry youths from the Deep South". Tracks from 'Starvation Box' featured on the 2013 series of Underbelly. 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 speaker on blues and roots music and has guested on ABCradio programs and presented music workshops at festivals and in universities. As well as playing in the Backsliders, Dom has toured as a solo artist in the USA, playing Augusta Blues week in West Virginia in 1996 and 1998, and in early 2006, he toured Mexico with US blues greats, Del Ray and Steve James. 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 has been with Backsliders for 16 years. Joining Dom and Rob are harmonica players Brod Smith, Ian Collard nd Joe Glover. The three blues-harpists play alternate gigs. The band's live shows mix blues styles from Delta blues and jungle-like rhythms to ‘Piedmont’ blues influenced ‘all-acoustic’ unplugged treatments of 1920’s songs by Mississippi Fred McDowell and Robert Johnson. The 2005 ‘Live’ album is a from performances at the Basement in Sydney and 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’. ‘Hanoi’ was voted ‘Rhythms’ Magazine Readers Poll Blues Album of the Year for 2002 and was a 2002 finalist at the Australian Record Industry Awards. ‘Hanoi’ is a studio album mainly consisting of original songs by Dom Turner and Rob Hirst. The band’s previous album, ‘Poverty Deluxe’, was a 1999 ARIA Finalist. Backsliders songs have featured in t in particular ‘Down by the Riverbed’ from the Backsliders’ ‘Wide Open’ alb Backsliders have made numerous television appearances in Australia and are regulars at regional Australian towns and cities, as well as major Australian festivals, including Byron Bay Bluesfest, Great Southern Blues Festival, Blues on Broadbeach, Girrakool Blues Festival & BBQ, Womad, Woodford Folk Festival, Wingham Akoostik Festival and Blues at Bridgetown. The band has played with international acts such as Old Gray Mule, Phil Wiggins, Peter Green, Junior Wells, Little Charlie and the Nightcats, John Mooney, Rory Block, Roy Bookbinder, Guy Clarke, Cephas and Wiggins, Leo Kottke, Charlie Musselwhite, Christina Olsen, John Prine, Del Rey, Steve James and toured nationally with John Hammond.
