Dave HOLE

 DAVE HOLE 

(David Robert 'Dave' Hole)

DISCOGRAPHY 1990-2018 (17CD/DVD)

 BIOGRAPHY 

Dave Hole was born in England in 1948. At the age of four he moved with his family to Western Australia, settling in the hills outside of Perth, the place he still calls home. Being fairly isolated, his childhood was somewhat lonely and the young Hole sought solace in music via the family radio.

He listened intently to the likes of Buddy Holly, The Everly Brothers and Cliff Richards and the Shadows, being increasingly drawn to anything that featured a twangy guitar. By the age of eleven he had convinced his parents to buy him his first cheap instrument.  He was immediately smitten - and so began a lifelong passion for music and guitar in particular.

At the age of sixteen a friend’s Muddy Waters record introduced him to the power of the blues and it wasn’t long before the pair resolved to form a band and set about getting their hands on as many blues records as they could find. What ensued was a voyage of discovery through Robert Johnson and Blind Willie Johnson to Elmore James, Otis Rush and BB King.

On leaving school Hole completed a degree in physics at the University Of Western Australia before being increasingly drawn into a life of music and by 1974 he was playing steadily around Perth and the country towns of Western Australia. In 1976 he broke the little finger of his left hand playing Australian Rules football. The mishap lead him to adopt his unusual slide guitar technique, whereby he places the slide on his left hand index finger and plays from over the top of the neck.

Fast forward to the day in 1990 when a chance encounter with recording engineer John Villani resulted in a session during which Hole and his band laid down 16 tracks in a single day.  The aim was to produce a CD to satisfy demand from Hole’s growing number of local fans. On a whim Dave sent a copy to US “Guitar Player” magazine and was astounded to receive a call in the middle of the night from the then editor Jas Obrecht.

Hole describes the conversation: “I literally fell out of bed when I realized it wasn’t a hoax. Jas was raving about my playing and promised “to give it the best review I’ve given anything in years.” The ensuing review commenced “Magnificent, staggering, almost beyond belief...” and concluded with “…what more could you ask?” “Guitar Player” then followed up with a July 1991 Dave Hole feature story ..... (DaveHole.com)