Sample Song
Backsliders
Biography
Backsliders - (Dom Turner, Jim Conway & Rob Hirst) are leaders and virtual pioneers in their own genre ’delta-blues wall of sound’. The achievements, success and reviews over the band’s 15 years tell it all.
The sound of Backsliders, although very much Australian, has its roots firmly in blues. Guitarist/ vocalist and key songwriter for the band, Dom Turner specialises in "bottle neck" slide guitar using resonator guitars as well as 6 & 12 string acoustics. 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 ABC (Australian Broadcasting Commission) radio programs and presented music workshops at festivals and in universities (both nationally and internationally). Dom’s session guitar work can be heard on a variety of Australia albums as well as part of his own project, Dom Turner and Supro. 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.
Harmonica player, Jim Conway is an Australian music legend earning a Gold Record in the 1970’s as part of The Captain Matchbox Whoopee Band. Jim has performed nationally and internationally for over 30 years, and played with innumerable Australian and international stars, including a national tour with blues giant, Brownie McGhee. Jim is a sought after and versatile session musician, whose harmonica playing has contributed to a multitude of albums and film scores throughout his career. A one-hour documentary film ‘The Jim Conway Blues’ celebrating Jim’s contribution to Australian music was screened nationally on SBS Television in June 2000. More recently Jim has been working, touring and recording with his own side project, Jim Conway’s Big Wheel.
Most recent addition to Backsliders has been the drum and percussion virtuosity of Rob Hirst (Midnight Oil, Ghostwriters), an acclaimed name synonymous with the best of Australian music. Midnight Oil’s notoriety needs no explanation, and Rob’s talents have melded perfectly into the band. Rob & Dom first teamed up when Dom guested on the Ghostwriters’ - Second Skin’ album in the late nineties. The two began working as a song-writing team in 2000, the fruits of which can be heard on the ‘Hanoi’ CD album. In 2004 Rob released his first book, ‘Willie’s Bar and Grill’ to critical acclaim.
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, as well as a co-write by Jim Conway and Sydney-based guitarist, Tim Gaze.
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 regular headliners at major Australian festivals - most recently the Melbourne International Music & Blues Festival (alongside Bob Dylan, Ray Charles & Tony Joe White). The band has headlined at various festivals over the years, having played the Festivals of Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Adelaide and are regular favourites at the East Coast Blues and Roots Festival (at which the band has featured 13 years).
The band has played with international touring acts such as 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 Ray and toured nationally with John Hammond. In 1999, the band travelled to New Zealand as part of the Womad Festival. 2005 sees the band back at the Festival of Sydney Jazz in the Domain and Jazz in Parramatta Park concerts as well as the Melbourne International Blues and Music Festival.
DVD’s
2003 - Live at the Basement
Albums
2002 - Hanoi
1999 - Poverty Deluxe
1998 - Downtime (A Ten Year Collection of Backsliders Music)
1995 - Wide Open
1993 - Live at the Royal
1991 - Hellhound
1989 - Sitting on a Million
1988 - Preaching Blues
Awards to date
Australia Music Industry Awards Finalist 2002
‘Rhythms’ Magazine Readers Poll Blues Album of the Year 2002
Australia Music Industry Awards Finalist 1999
"Blues Album of the Year" - Rhythms Magazine 1998
"Best Harmonica Player 1995" - (Jim Conway) - Australian Blues Music Awards
"Best Live Australian Blues Act" - Blues on Air Magazine, 1995
"Band of the Year" - Rolling Stone/Australian Blues Music Awards, 1994
"Album of the Year" - Blues on Air Magazine, 1994
"Blues Album of the Year" - Rhythm’s Magazine, 1994
Reviews
‘this is the best acoustic blues band in the country’
- Doug Mulray, 2003
‘move over Jon Spencer, Dom Turner’s blues explosion has come of age’
- Drum Media 2002
‘taking the sounds and smells of the delta blues and giving it an Australian taste’ ... ‘contemporary roots music at its best’
- Drum Media 2002
‘Australia’s top blues act’
- Rhythms Magazine
‘acoustic blues with punch ... refreshingly energetic’
- Rhythms Magazine
‘without a dispute the best blues band in Australia. Their material is impeccable and their musicianship is a wonder to behold...’
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘the Backsliders are the rarest of blues bands’
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘...so steeped in rural blues they can write their own variations.’
- Sydney Morning Herald
More Info
The Backsliders
P.O. Box K472, Haymarket, N.S.W. 2000, Australia
Tel: 0413 274 905
Email: backsliders@ozemail.com.au
www.backsliders.com.au
