Dave Hole’s “Short Fuse Blues” (Podcast)
The Backstory of a Staggering Slide Blues LP From Down Under
Being an editor for Guitar Player magazine in the pre-internet days brought endless opportunities to listen to reader-submitted cassette tapes and CDs. The vast majority of ’em featured generic playing, albeit often expertly performed. Once in a great while, though, something quite extraordinary—thrilling, even—showed up in the mail. Among the more memorable of these gems were early demo and self-released tapes by Eric Johnson, Yngwie Malmsteen, Joe Satriani, James Blackthorn, and young Brian Carroll, who’d later become Buckethead.
Another unforgettable package showed up one morning in early 1991, postmarked from Perth, Australia. Inside was a self-produced CD and homemade videotape. The artist’s name was Dave Hole; the album was called Short Fuse Blues. The songs listed on the back of the CD included blues-approved originals alongside compositions by Robert Johnson, Elmore James, Willie Dixon, Blind Willie Johnson, and Jimi Hendrix. I popped it in and was floored by Dave’s white-hot sliding. Then I watched the videotape and was astounded: This guy wore his slide on his index finger and played with his sliding hand coming over the top of the fretboard rather than beneath it in the usual way.
We had a rule at Guitar Player that we could only cover artists who had releases available in the U.S. With no distribution deal, Dave was selling his Short Fuse Blues CDs at club gigs in western Australia. I was so sold on Dave’s playing, though, I successfully lobbied to do a feature article on him in the July 1991 “Special Big Boss Blues” issue featuring my cover story interview with B.B. King and Billy Gibbons and a lengthy feature on one of Dave’s heroes, Blind Lemon Jefferson.
I began my Dave Hole writeup, “Anyone who espouses the view that the only true blues musicians were born black in the hardscrabble South should listen carefully to Dave Hole’s Short Fuse Blues. His magnificent slide work is as ferocious as Elmore James’s and as tender as Blind Willie Johnson’s, with many innovative passages in between. His standard playing invokes favorable comparisons to Albert King and Stevie Ray Vaughan. While Dave’s original songs mine deep urban blues veins, he’s no mere mimic, and he has no trouble bringing imaginative new dimensions to difficult covers, such as a shredding ‘Purple Haze’ on slide and a tender reading of Peter Green’s ‘Albatross.’” At the article’s end, I listed a mailing address in Perth, where readers could send away for the record.
As the article was going to press, I called Bruce Iglauer, owner of Alligator Records, and encouraged him to check out Dave’s music. Bruce liked it as much as I did. Despite Dave’s not living in the U.S., Bruce offered him a contract and an opportunity to tour the U.S. This, in turn, led to more U.S. tours and ten additional albums.
Earlier this month, I was contacted by Shaun Bindley of Brisbane, Australia. The longtime host of the Blues With a Feeling podcast, Shaun explained that he was preparing a podcast focused on Dave’s Short Fuse Blues album and asked if I’d be willing to participate. I’ve long considered Dave a friend, so I agreed. Here’s a link to the podcast, which also features the voices of Bruce Iglauer and Dave Hole, and most of the Short Fuse Blues album:
Shaun Bindley’s Blues With a Feeling
Our section begins at the 19:47 mark and lasts about an hour and a half.
Thanks to Dave for sending me that package all those years ago, to Bruce Iglauer for his willingness to give Dave a chance, and to Shaun Bindley for making this podcast happen.
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