by Sandra Brennan & Al CampbellAustralian slide guitarist Dave Hole is noted for his energetic, high-volume rock & roll/blues music and unusual playing style. Though left-handed, Hole plays guitar right-handed and developed a technique to compensate for a finger injury in which he places his fingers over the top of the neck. He also uses a pick for a slide and utilizes fingerpicking when playing normally. Born on March 30, 1948, in England, but raised from age four in Perth, Australia, Hole became interested in blues guitar around age six after hearing a schoolmate's Muddy Waters album. He received his first guitar at age 12, but became discouraged trying to learn it by himself (teachers were in short supply in isolated Perth) and abandoned it until he was 16. This time, he began picking up riffs and techniques from records. Primary influences include Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Robert Johnson, Elmore James, and Mississippi Fred McDowell. Hole became a professional in 1972 when working with a band in London. Returning to Perth in 1974, he began his long stint touring the western Australian club circuit, playing 20 years in remote towns before making Short Fuse Blues, an album he financed, produced, and recorded with his band Short Fuse in three days in 1990. He then hawked the album during club performances and on a whim, sent a copy to Guitar Player magazine in the U.S. The editor listened to it, liked it, wrote a praise-filled article hailing him as the newest guitar wizard and comparing him to such greats as Stevie Ray Vaughan and Albert King. He then helped Hole land a distribution deal with Alligator Records and released Working Overtime (1993), Steel on Steel (1995), Under the Spell (1999), and Outside Looking In (2001). With each new release, Dave Hole continues to build a respectable following in the U.S. and European blues scene that grows stronger every year.