ARIA nominees and iTunes Australian Blues & Roots Album of the Year winners, The Backsliders return to Cairns this week to perform at The Tanks Arts Centre on Friday 13th May. Consisting of founding member Dom Turner and percussion legend Rob Hirst (Midnight Oil) the band has recorded their blues sound for the past 27 years and more recently released their 13th album ‘Dark Side’ in 2014. The tightly rehearsed outfit is best known for their trademark Delta and Mississippi Hill blues sound, along with the modern blues anthems audiences across Australia love.
Having toured with US blues greats such as Del Ray and Steve James, The Backsliders have built a reputation as Australia’s best live blues outfit, having played rigorously over the past 3 decades to adoring punters the country over.
Speaking to Slide guitarist and multi stringed instrumentalist Dom Turner, he said:
“The bands being going close to 30 years and we’ve visited Cairns many times. One of the most memorable times was in the 90’s when came up to support Junior Wells, the legendary American harmonica player. That was a great time and we always look forward to coming up to Cairns”.
With drummer Rob Hirst’s commitment to legendary Australian band Midnight Oil and Dom himself in high demand as a slide guitarist, The Backsliders have found a formidable balance over the years to keep the outfit a high priority and admit other ventures have helped with the longevity of the band.
“When I and Rob go away and do other projects, we always come back fresh. The Backsliders has always been the main priority and we always play throughout the year, we don’t take much time off. It also helps with our recording, we always try to do each release as an evolution of the band, so sometimes time away definitely helps”.
With a new record in the works Dom has promised some new material in their set which will be on show at The Tanks Arts Centre on Friday 13th May.
“We’ve been working on some new stuff which is exciting and we’re looking to throw them into our shows, with Cairns being one of the first to hear them”.
Don’t miss their rare opportunity to see these masters of their craft play a show like no other.
The Backsliders perform at The Tanks Arts Centre on Friday 13th May. Doors from 6.30pm, Show starts at 7.30pm. Support from Ino Reeves. Tickets from Ticketlink.
Mitch Sullivan
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