David Hope (and The Henchmen)

Back to straight-up americana today with the music of David Hope and The Henchmen.

David Hope hails from Co. Clare. The man has been making music since 2007 and has been touring extensively as well. He has been doing particularly well in Switzerland and Germany. Starting out as a solo act before forming the Henchmen, David is now back as a solo artist with the upcoming solo album "Scarecrow" due for release in February 2013.Expect a review here around then. Whether playing with the backing band or not the music of David Hope is a consistent blend of roots and americana, the sort of laid-back americana that goes well with an ice cold beer on a warm summer's evening.

David released his début album in 2007 titled "A Picture". The album, produced by Terry Woods (The Pogues) is a mixture of roots and acoustic tracks that emphasise his impressive lyrical writing. In particular "Morning Light" and "Livin' by the Gun" are warm. My favourite track is the closing "On That Train", a beautiful blend of cajun and roots. With a train-like stop-start motion, the song is dominated by the chorus. It rises and rises until it feels like a whole train is singing it in the end.

In 2009 David released the more roots focused "Daybreak Someplace" ep featuring the angry "Our War" and later that year established David Hope & the Henchmen with David Murphy (John Blek & The Rats/ Monorail) and Eoin Jordan (The Céilí All Stars). With the backing of the Henchmen, the ep "Hell or High Water" was released in 2011. The bouzouki playing of Eoin and slide/steel guitar work of David really adds to David's sound. The successful blending of their instruments with the David Hope sound is evident on the title track, a buoyant melody about reaching that loved-one no matter what.

It sounds like the new album will be something exciting to look forward to in the new year. The man tours extensively in Germany and Switzerland where the album is already released. You can find his previous releases ("A Picture" and "Daybreak Someplace") to purchase on itunes. "Hell or High Water" might be more difficult to find but I'm sure if you enquire on the Facebook you might get some help. Meanwhile most of his tracks are available to stream on his Soundcloud page.

Photo: Richie Tyndall/Daivd Hope Facebook