thomas hine

IF YOU HAPPEN TO DOWNLOAD SONGS MAKE SURE TO SCROLL DOWN THROUGH THE MUSIC STORE (18 tracks total)-------ANIMALS DREAMING (A.D.) - CD available March 2007 - - -contact me here if you would like a copy - - -- - -track listing1- buzz aldrin 2- let there be a hell 3- come down from the trees 4- molina 5- hard time on the easy road 6- mustard tea 7- animals dreaming 8- my funeral 9- don't wake me 10- autumn sun - - - - - - - - -Also, I have included my previous album "Lookout Birds" (2006) for download ---1 the ceiling 2 it's over (morricone) 3. sahelian boxer 4 it has to be done 5 lookout birds 6 port harcourt (in better times) 7 the pitch 8 grandiose suitcase - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - first a word on production - F@#$! i’m not a producer! there are people who are in the business of selling you gadgets that make it possible to create music in certain venues (your kitchen table if you’re like me) and say you can get perfect sounding recordings - good luck! but i work with what i have - guitars, bass, voice, drums, etc. i had piano beaten into me at a young age (denver, colorado). later i learned guitar on my own and was more pleased. after some time in college learning about evolution and ethnomusicology (also got a healthy dose of cultural relativism -i.e. we’re ALL doomed), i found myself in west africa trying to learn about palm-wine and highlife guitar styles. Unfortunately, ambassadors of this pure sound are almost extinct, so i immersed myself in traditional ewe drumming. upon returning with a stranger view of the world, i wound up coordinating through mr. adjei with some nigerian percussionists who wanted to cut a cd. that year oyoyo (see photo) was formed, and we released a cd (vol. 1). fairly successful outing for this group with extensive shows and even a live set on kgnu’s african roots broadcast. i also met during this time griot morro suso, who is a master of the kora (his cousin, boubacar djiabate still performs in boulder) and was able to perform with him at diverse functions (the most profitable of which were african weddings, etc.) what i missed out on in africa when trying to learn guitar styles, was repaid by happening upon huit-kilos nseka after a show at the fox. huit is the best zairean guitar player in the world, and is best known as tabu ley rochereau’s solo guitarist. he moved to the states and i found him backstage at the fox, and the next year we met up again in vail. on a few occasions for a few hours i was able to play his guitar for him, showing him my interpretation of some his solos with tabu ley. he nicely showed me the correct way of playing his style, and even invited me to join a band with him in california. i opted against. huit currently lives in l.a. after a stint with a successful band of zairean expats in portland (www.huitkilos.com). after all of this talk about my involvement in african music, you might be thinking my style must be african. unfortunately, i’m not an african - but i definitely absorbed a lot of percussive, vocal, and guitar influences (see “autumn sun” and "the ceiling" for sebene outtros). when i got out of college and began painting houses with the navajo people, i was reacquainted with a drummer (jason wheeler) from highschool. we and two other friends - bruce conrad and lowfat formed an impromptu band which was to save the world called three-quarters madmen (i would like to think that i was the sane quarter, just kidding). we played the typical venues around denver that young alt-rock bands played, and even made it on to record a second demo. i was able to provide most of our songs and offer singing and guitar. it was great. around that same time, i became involved with a zairean style band called simba that needed a lead guitarist. i was eager to play, and did - leading to a show at the boulder theater (see photo). that didn’t last for long as their regular cote d’ivorian guitarist got out of jail and was looking for me. at least i got to put some of huit-kilos’ teaching to use. then came a lull - i continued playing with all of my acquaintances, but it was time to “grow up” (ha). i started to really concentrate on styles that brought me to the guitar in the first place - fingerstyle blues and folk (which is quite a bit like the african stylings) and started to get a feel for my own style. i also developed a taste for acadian music (e.g. le reve du diable), and must apologize to daniel lanois for hollaring at him to let me backstage at the fox, i guess i had grown acusstomed to such treatment. i went on to get a PhD in linguistics with my thesis being "how to present second degree sarcasm via the mediums of internet, e-mail, and song without getting punched." i like to consider myself an ethnomusicologist, but nothing compares to andy kershaw's work- check him out on the bbc radio3. i went on to “release” (i don’t think there were any “sales”) my first solo album “eating with the others” in 2003. it gave me a chance to pretend i was my own band - which is good and bad. bruce conrad learned some of the songs and we hit the road for a few open stages under the moniker of “macready and childs” to a pretty warm response. paying the bills sobered us up though, and we had to lay low. i did learn a bit about music production and did (and still do) record and collaborate with morro suso and others. i got a job (see photo) doing tasks that the government has created for somewhat intelligent people to do to keep them busy, since real work is becoming scarce. or perhaps (as s. brad ganong, mandolin) says, “we are in the business of saving lives.” in 2006, i recorded another album (with similar “sales”) and also found myself reunited with some old friends i would play with on occasion. mike pearson - guitar, s. brad ganong - mandolin, and jack powers - stand-up. stack monkeys. it helped keep me rooted in american folk and traditional sounds. anyways, the above album was titled “lookout birds” and i hope represented a transition towards where i am at today. jack powers has gone back to nashville, but us others continue to play and expectorate. apart from continuing to record and collaborate with morro suso (www. link to come), i also have been recording some great music from mike pearson (www. link to come) with collaborations from myself and s. brad ganong. i continue to record my music as well, mainly on my own, but have twisted some mandolin contributions out of ganong’s arm ( see “molina”). 2007 will see a return to live performances and the release of a new album titled “animals dreaming.” did you know buzz aldrin brought AIDS back from the moon?