David Hyams – Knowing the Place

The latest offering from David Hyams is “KNOWING THE PLACE”, 11 instrumental pieces that continue the themes first explored on “MILES TO GO”. From the word go however, the spirited “Flat Out Like A Lizard Drinking…” – a blistering reel which reprises over edgy mariachi style horns, driving bass and didgeridu – lets us know we are embarking on an altogether different journey. “KNOWING THE PLACE” has a more upbeat and compulsive feel than it’s predecessor and the confidence of the ensemble playing, featuring members of the Miles to Go band and others, underlines Hyams’ talent as a composer, arranger and instrumentalist. “Prior to the release of “MILES TO GO”, the pieces had never been played live before, so the launch was essentially the first gig of what became the Miles To Go Band. Since then we’ve performed at festivals and concerts all around the country, so many of these new tunes had the chance to grow and develop well before the recording process began – consequently “KNOWING THE PLACE” has evolved in a more organic fashion and is more of an ensemble piece. Special guests on “KNOWING THE PLACE” include Cathie Travers on piano, Pete Jeavons on electric and acoustic basses, Wency D’souza and Federico Duende on percussion, Stephanie Nicholls and Andrew Muller on fiddles, Nola Formentin on trombones and John Bannister on trumpets. The Hyams production touches are very much in evidence – searing landscapes of slide and rippling waves of fingerstyle guitar converge with a barrage of pipes and strings and a pumping rhythm section to create his signature ‘wall of folk’ effect. While it has its roots deeply planted in Celtic traditions, Hyams’ sound is unmistakably Australian, and his musical narratives are strikingly evocative of the landscapes that inspire them. On “KNOWING THE PLACE”, Hyams leads us from the wild Southern Ocean and the spinifex country of the Pilbara to his favourite Dublin watering-hole, before steering us back to his heartland with the final track “The Back Of Beyond”, an atmospheric dobro-led tribute to the great Australian ‘nothingness’. “A few years ago I met a New Yorker on a train in Ireland. He told me of his visit to Australia and how he had taken a trip to ‘see the outback’ – but after a while had turned around and headed back to Sydney, because there was ‘nothing there’…”.