Review: David Hyams at Sundown Studios

David Hyams at Sundown Studios
Thursday, February 6, 2024

Few musicians are as entrenched within Fremantle as David Hyams. The cross-genre singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, composer, and producer is a veteran of local acts such as Devils on Horseback, The Press Gang, and the Miles To Go Band. For several years he also oversaw the monthly Fremantle-based themed singer-songwriter night, Writer’s Block, while more recently he has been an integral part of both The Human Highway and the Rose Parker Trio.

In addition to recently playing everywhere from local venues to regional festivals, Hyams has even performed in the occasional prison. Amongst all that, he’s also carved out some time to record a new album. Working out of Sundown Studios, Hyams was an obvious choice to join the latest instalment of the facility’s Sundown Live Series. A summer concert series staged at the O’Connor-based studio, the series not only provides a live performance platform for recent clients but treats audiences to a little of the magic that happens inside a recording studio.

Not only does the series provide bands and musicians an opportunity to showcase what they’ve been working on, but the concerts are also recorded for future release. The current series has featured a diverse array of local acts. Along with Hyams, Mariah Hlatywayo, Sue Munns, and Shannon Smith have already graced the stage, while Tanya Hemi and Western Australia’s coolest French-Australian band, Cassis, are scheduled to close out the season.

On Thursday night, however, the Sundown stage belonged to David Hyams. Joining the singer-songwriter was producer, engineer, and studio manager, Elliot Smith (drums), Roy Martinez (bass), Adam Gare (fiddle), Nikki Dagostino (accordion and piano), and Pia Smith (backing vocals). The six-piece managed to squeeze themselves onto the intimate fairy light-draped stage for a heartfelt tour through the latest additions to Hyams’ extensive songbook.

The ensemble opened their set with Love Gets Us Home, with Hyams explaining how the composition was spawned from the Writer’s Block series. The series was a local fixture in Fremantle, with Hyams corralling a rotating cast of singer-songwriters at Clancy’s for an in-the-round performance of songs composed around a central theme. Love Gets Us Home was born from a night devoted to love songs.

Continuing the exploration of the theme was It’s Christmas Eve, a recently composed Christmas ballad, before the group delivered a stirring rendition of A Roadside Lament. Detailing an encounter with an emu on an isolated stretch of a Gascoyne highway, the sombre ballad highlighted the band’s instrumental prowess. Here Hyam’s cascading acoustic guitar and Gare’s shimmering fiddle were poignantly underpinned by the brooding rhythm of Smith and Martinez.

As Hyams swapped his acoustic guitar for an exquisite electric Tennessee Rose Gretch, the ensemble dove into a spritely trio of songs, including Runaway Train, This Means War, and Tearing Up the Ground. The latter owes its inspiration to Hyams sharing tea with an Indigenous elder on the veranda of their East Pilbara home as a mile-long iron ore train grumbled past. It’s Not Love saw Dagostino lay down her accordion in favour of piano, while The Wave was a gorgeous ode to Hyams’ daughter, encouraging her to be a wave while he remained her rock.

For years, Hyams has been conducting songwriting and recording workshops in prisons around the state. The experience meant he was privy to many inmate stories, from which he learned that pretty much no one was ever guilty. But Hyams also realised many of the inmates were there as a result of one poor decision, a momentary lapse in judgement, or simply trusting the wrong person. Drawing from that, one of the final songs of the evening, A Fine Line, affectedly contrasted actions and fate. Shine On followed in quick succession, providing a fitting conclusion to a uniquely intimate concert experience.

The inside of a recording studio isn’t a space the general public gets to experience, but for Hyams, it’s home turf, which tonight’s performance empathically displayed.

BRETT LEIGH DICKS

Photos by Brett Leigh Dicks