Short Fuse Blues [CD]

"Magnificent, staggering, almost beyond belief. Utterly blues approved." -GUITAR PLAYER
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"It is blues guitar played with mind-numbing virtuosity. A musician who can hold an audience spellbound." -SYDNEY (Australia) MORNING HERALD
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DAVE HOLE is a musician whose time has finally come. In fact, considering the acclaim he's received in the past few months, it's hard to understand why he has remained unknown for so long. The reason is simple-Dave developed his amazingly intense slide guitar sound and strange playing style in almost total obscurity in one of the most isolated cities in the world: Perth, Australia.

After playing professionally for over twenty years, Dave has finally broken out as the "overnight" phenomenon he deserves to be. A rave review of Short Fuse Blues in Guitar Player (which almost never reviews records available only as imports) led to a feature story in the same magazine. Buoyed by both stories, Dave has suddenly emerged into the international spotlight. Not only has he toured the cities of eastern Australia, but he'll be making his European debut later in1992.

Dave is no newcomer to the blues. He began playing when he was 16, inspired by the music of Muddy Waters. He developed his strange, over-the-top-of-the-guitar-neck, slide-on-the-index-finger style many years ago. But except for a couple of years in London in the early '70s, he has stuck to playing the clubs of Western Australia. He did a stint on the road as lead guitarist with Australia's famed Matt Taylor Band about a decade ago, but mostly he's been pouring out high-energy, rocking blues to his loyal Perth fans.

Even in his own country, Dave's been almost unknown. In fact, the Sydney Morning Herald declared, "It is a sad reflection on theAustralian music scene that a guitar player of Dave Hole's virtuosity has existed in our midst for decades and has never been signed by a local record company."

Alligator Records has never before chosen to release a recording by a foreign artist. We believe that Dave Hole's extraordinary musicianship deserves to be heard in the country where the blues come from. After all, you can't keep a good man down under forever!

-- BRUCE IGLAUER

Many thanks to Terry "not a problem" Atterton, Michael Glendinning, Cliff Blackburn, Nic DiFalco, Mark Whitehouse, Daryl Upson, Kent Hughes, T.H.D. Electronics, J.V., db and all our friends and fans. Very special thanks to Jas Obrecht of Guitar Player for first bringing Dave to the attention of Alligator Records. Love and gratitude to Janet.