| BIOGRAPHY Gerry moved to Australia
from England after touring from Edinburgh Festival with the hugely successful
cult-cabaret music group ‘The
Bouncing Czecks’. A professional musician since
1975, Gerry had travelled much of the world with a variety of groups before
settling in Melbourne in 1988, where he quickly found a place for himself
as a sought-after sideman, and recording session player – before
starting his own Popular Bluegrass band ‘Gerry Hale’s Uncle
Bill’. Gerry has held the role of Musical Director for numerous Commercial Theatre productions in Melbourne and Adelaide (variously for MTC, Playbox, Shakespeare In The Park…), and in 2000 completed a film score co-written and performed with Paul Kelly: Silent Partner. Deborah Conway’s highly original 2001 recording of Patsy Cline songs (to go with her …Always Patsy stage show) features Gerry’s many musical talents in a highly contemporary context.. And more recently soundtracks for films, Ned and tracks for Strange Bedfellows. A multi-instrumentalist, playing almost anything with strings - fiddle, mandolin, guitar, dobro, slide guitar, banjo, autoharp…Gerry has been a popular player in Melbourne’s lively music scene, and well-respected on the national country music circuit. He has been seen regularly with (amongst others): Colin Hay, Broderick Smith, Zydeco Jump, Cyndi Boste, Steve Boyd, Paul Norton & Wendy Stapleton, Anne Kirkpatrick, Vika & Linda Bull, Paul Kelly, Deborah Conway, and Uncle Bill… A dynamic, high-energy performer, with a varied musical background and eclectic tastes, Gerry formed Uncle Bill in 1996 – a group based around a ‘popular bluegrass’ style: acoustic instruments played on microphones, and strong vocal harmonies sung around one central microphone. Many of the country’s finest songwriters offered their material for Uncle Bill’s debut CD Special Treatment, and both Renee Geyer and Paul Kelly used the group as their backing band on the fine country compilation CD Where Joy Kills Sorrow. Kelly enjoyed the band’s style so much he collaborated with the band in 1999 and produced the CD Paul Kelly & Uncle Bill: SMOKE, which won in several categories at the Victorian Country Music Awards 2000. ‘Gerry Hale’s Uncle Bill’ have three independently-released CDs, and have played solidly until mid-2002. He is now regularly seen with Deborah Conway, recently recording and co-producing her latest CD, Summertown and also his new band Gerry Hale's Innocent Bystanders and their recent recording in Gerry's Red Heeler Studio, titled VIVANDO. Update 2010; Gerry has reformed Uncle Bill after almost a decoade on ice. Recording is underway for a new album...... check out the new website, www.unclebill.com.au. He also now runs his own business called the Guitar Gallery, selling all things acoustic not just guitars.
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02-Aug-2010
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Gerry Hale 2011 |