Sean Mcmahon - Vocals and Guitars***
Michael Hubbard - Vocals and Guitars***
Sam Fiddian - Bass***Brendan McMahon-Keys***
Josh Duiker - Drums
..
Influences
Bob Dylan, The Band, Tom Petty, Rolling Stones, Grateful Dead, The Groundhogs, Tom Waits, Neil Young, Louvin Brothers, Allman Brothers, George Jones, Free, Faces/Rod Stewart, Neko Case, Spinal Tap, Thin Lizzy, The Beatles, T.rex, Aerosmith, Guided By Voices, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Gillian Welch, Jeff Beck, Lucinda Williams, Hank Williams, Ry Cooder, Little Feat, Big Star, Smog, AC/DC, The Kinks, Stephen Malkmus/Pavement, Will Oldham, Dungen, Nick Drake, Robert Johnson, Leadbelly, The Byrds, Muddy Waters, Elmore James, Bruce Springsteen, Dwight Twilley Band, Arthur Russell, Skooshny, Personal and the Pizzas, Paul Westerberg, the Shaggs
“Exiled on main street, lost in big pink and enthroned in the gilded palace of sin.” While Melbourne
5 piece Downhills Home may have a solid grasp on 60's and 70's psychedelic country rock and a
love for the classic folk songsmiths of the era, there’s an undeniable authenticity in their music, an
authenticity matched by very few bands in the country today.
Their debut album “Minor Birds’(independent, MGM) was released to critical acclaim and was voted in the best Aussie releases for 2007 in Rhythms magazine's readers and writers poll. The Australian gave it 4/5 stars, Inpress gave them ‘single of the week’ for ‘To Make Light Of Our Load’, and Beat magazine described it as ‘an album of utterly compelling beauty” (Patrick Emery).
The end of 2008 saw Downhills Home hectically navigating between two national tours, one with American rock stars The Dandy Warhols, having been hand picked by the band themselves. On return the band headed to the studio to complete their follow up album, 'the Wolves In The Woods'.
Recorded over a week at Guruland Studios, 'Wolves In The Woods' was tracked mostly live to tape with additional guitar and keyboard overdubs providing the songs with rich and varied textures. This is highlighted from the very start with the opening track ‘Travelling Light’. Building from a basic introduction of guitar, bass, keyboards and drums, the song moves into a long descending chorus line orchestrated with violin, viola and mellotron which opens up the vast sonic field in which the rest of the songs on the album are brought to life. In addition to more ambitious orchestration and arrangements, the album still retains the raw and earthy quality that characterised the band’s first album ‘Minor Birds’. Tracks such as Only of the Flesh, At least My Luck and When you think that
I’m Wrong use minimal overdubs and capture the band in an essentially live setting. The album also features some very special guests, Laura Jean (vocals on 'Over And Out'), Mia Dyson (vocals on 'When You Think I'm Wrong') and Jen Anderson (fiddle on 'Wandering Eyes' & 'Travelling Light').
Stylistically 'Wolves in the Woods' is a progression towards a tighter and more focused sound, with songwriters Sean McMahon & Michael Hubbard leaning slightly away from the twangy tones and more traditional song structures that featured on 'Minor Birds'. You can hear this progression in the song ‘Pluto’s Blues’, the first single to be lifted from the album.
Check it out at www.downhillshome.com or www.myspace.com/downhillshome
or download it from itunes.
I am back in Melbourne on Wednesday night for a very special
performance with the immortal Victoria Williams. We are playing The
Empress Hotel in Fitzroy. It starts at 8:00pm. So come on down and
spend an evening with us before Victoria bids Australia a reluctant
fare-the-well and heads back home to the beautiful expanse of the
Californian desert …
Since you guys are my friends I though you might want to check out the hot new Vagrants vids from the recent Hi Fi Bar gig http://www.youtube.com/thevagrants
Friday
Night Fire continues at Edinburgh Castle this Friday June 26 with Tobias Cummings and new band
Alaska Coats, Pony Face, and Voodoo Economic. Also Dan Lethbridge rounds out
his residency at Wesley Anne this Thursday June 25 with D Rogers in support.
Two great nights of local Melbourne
music, proudly presented by Hundred Fire Management. We hope to see you there!
If the positive innovations connect exponentially before the massive
breakdowns reinforce one another, the system can repattern itself to a
higher order of consciousness and freedom without the predicted
economic, environmental, or social collapse ... If the system could go
either way, a slight intervention to assist the convergence of the
positive can tip the scales of evolution in favour of the enhancement
of life on Earth. Barbara Marx Hubbard.
Hey Downhills boys, I've just rebooted by page (in steel toed fashion)to promote my new DJ persona around town. Check out the new Wild Grass set (that's bluegrass to you) I've got on there for download. Let me know what you think! Hope to catch a live show of yours real soon! Alysha
I'm really excited to have uploaded to myspace my first video! It's called 'A Day At The Country Show'. I'd love you to check it out and let me know what you think.
I'm really excited to have uploaded to myspace my first video! It's called 'A Day At The Country Show'. I'd love you to check it out and let me know what you think.
Hey guys, too bad it didn't work out for Friday Night Fire, but it would be great to see you at this show. Dan Lethbridge continues his June residency at Wesley Anne this
Thursday with support from one Tim Cannon. Come warm yourself by the
open fire, have a drink and relax with some great music.
where is australia in our music ? is the land worthy of being evoked through song ? how shackled are we by the precendent set by overseas artists ? to what extend are we rabbited by past masters ? was the song perfected by 1973 ? are we appealing to people's nostalgia or people's optimism ? is mother earth to be saved or to be sailed ? are we using music to call inter-stellar cousins and create the possibility of contact? is the future back in fashion ? is substance back in style with it ?
Hello... We've changed our name (formally Radiophobia) and just finished our 2nd EP. There are 5 new tracks up on our page we'd love for you to check them out!
Hey, Hope your doing well. We're heading over east and playing a couple of shows this weekend. On Friday the 5th we'll be at Gertrudes Brown couch in fitzroy & on sat 6th we'll be at The Edinburgh castle in Brunswick. Hope you can make it... Cheers OTD
Hi Guys: Go-Go Sapien Launch their debut album this Saturday, May 30th at The East Brunswick Club (280 Lygon st. East Brunswick). It's gonna be an audio/visual, psychedelic/garage extravaganza...
ALBUM AVAILABLE AT OFF THE HIP RECORDS 383 Flinders Lane Melbourne
