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Hamhock (Glenn Moody) and Slide (Matt DeWein) met in 1997 when their respective younger brothers introduced them. The spark was there from the very first chord. They cleared the slate of all other musical commitments and concentrated on developing their sound and style as a unit, and never looked back.
The self-taught guitarists have performed live at many festivals and well-known venues around North Central Florida. Ham & Slide road-testing their material and tightened their sound prior to entering the Sound Refinery Studios to record their debut CD, "Cracker Blues." The songs were all recorded live with no overdubs over the course of one weekend in 2000, and continues to receive positive feedback. A live CD was recorded at the Thomas Center in September of 2007 and will be released soon.
Hamhock, a skilled banjo picker and acoustic guitarist deeply influenced by such greats as Earl Scruggs and Brownie McGhee, creates a driving, rhythmic foundation for H&S’s trademark "delta-style cracker blues" sound. Slide developed his melodic and intuitive style through immersing himself in the music of Stevie Ray Vaughn, Son House, and particularly Duane Allman, who Slide states as his primary influence. Their style could be referred to as acoustic blues with strong bluegrass and funk influences. Robert Johnson has been another major musical inspiration for the duo.
Over the last few years, Hamhock and Slide have been keeping their fingers on the pulse of the local music scene in and around Gainesville, Florida, performing at local venues and festivals. Ham & Slide have played regularly at the Gainesville Downtown Fall Arts Festival, Micanopy Fall Festival, and recently the Gamble Rogers Festival in St. Augustine and are generally having a wonderful time keeping the greasy side up.
Invited to perform at Athfest 2000 in Athens Georgia on the strength of their debut CD, "Cracker Blues", they were the only Florida band playing at this annual Georgia music festival.
Hamhock and Slide, both Army Veterans were honored to be been able to perform in Denver Colorado in 2005 and in Rapid City South Dakota in 2006 and were winners of the 1999 National Veterans’ Creative Arts competition for their original tune, "Dove, winners of the 2005 National Veterans’ Creative Arts competition for their original tune, "Amarula", and winners of the 2006 National Veterans Creative Arts Competition for their original tune "Over Yonder", All of which had been chosen from among 3000 applicants.
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