Alistair's Biography
Alistair Hulett was born in Glasgow
and discovered traditional music in his early teens. In 1968 he and his family
moved to New Zealand
where he established a reputation on the folk circuit with his large repertoire
of songs and his interpretation of the big narrative ballads.
In 1971, at the age of
eighteen, Alistair moved over to Australia. For a couple of years he
sang his way around Australia's
festivals and clubs before "going bush" for several years. During
this time he began to write his own songs and, following a two year stint on
the "hippy trail" in India,
he returned to Australia
in 1979 to find the punk movement in full swing. He joined in with the garage
ethos in a band called The Furious Chrome Dolls.
In the early 80's
Alistair was again performing folk material around Sydney and was a founding member of a five
piece punk folk outfit called ROARING JACK. For the next five years the Jacks
made a startling impression on the Australian music scene. Their first album,
"Street Celtabillity", was released in 1986
and reached No. 1 on the local Indie charts. By the
time the second album, "The Cat Among The
Pigeons" was released in 1988 the band were headlining in major Australian
rock venues as well as opening for overseas acts including BILLY BRAGG, THE
POGUES and THE MEN THEY COULDN'T HANG. The second album was nominated for an
Australian Music Industry Association (ARIA) award and was released in Europe by the German label Intercord.
Alistair's solo work was
always a part of the Jacks live shows and offers to appear at festivals and
clubs in his own right drew him further back into the folk orbit. By 1989 his
songs were being extensively covered by several stalwarts of the Australian
folk establishment, most notably JOHN McAUSLAN and
KATE DELANEY & GORDON McINTYRE. The demise of
Roaring Jack coincided with this period and after the release of their third
album, "Through The Smoke of Innocence", the
band decided to call it a day despite another ARIA nomination.
Alistair's first solo
CD, "Dance of the Underclass", was recorded in 1991. Completely
acoustic, with contributions from other members of Roaring
Jack, the album was instantly hailed as a folk classic and proved to be the
turning point in Alistair's return to the folk fold. His position as one of the
most influential musicians on the Australian scene was now beyond dispute. In
the U.K. his song "He
Fades Away" was picked up by ROY BAILEY and by JUNE TABOR and later by
ANDY IRVINE.
All three performers recorded uniquely different but thoroughly compelling interpretations
of the song.
Rather than follow with
more of the same Alistair recorded his solo CD with a return to the punk
fuelled energy of the days with Roaring Jack. "In
the Backstreets of Paradise" was a
collection of songs originally intended as the next Jack's release and rather
than let the songs go to waste Alistair formed an acoustic outfit called THE
HOOLIGANS to complete the cycle. The album caught some of Alistair's new found
admirers among the purists unawares but during the next two years The Hooligans
won them over with blistering live performances at every major folk festival in
Australia. In the meantime Alistair continued his solo gigs with an ever
growing reliance on the traditional songs that have always formed the backbone
of his writing.
In 1995 Alistair
compiled a collection of songs that owed little to punk and everything to the
Folk Revival that inspired him in the sixties. "Saturday Johnny and Jimmy
The Rat" was originally intended as a solo affair in homage to the likes
of EWAN MacCOLL, JEANNIE ROBERTSON and DAVIE STEWART
as well as an acknowledgment of the time when the folk movement was a vital
political and musical force. At the time DAVE SWARBRICK was living in Australia and
Alistair toyed with the idea of inviting Swarb to join
him in the studio. Nothing more would have come of the notion had it not been
for a 'phone call from a friend saying that Swarb
wouldn't mind working with the bloke who had written "The Swaggies Have All Waltzed Matilda Away". Thus was
forged a musical partnership that has won acclaim from audiences and critics
alike. Following a hugely successful Australian tour the duo returned to the U.K. A
triumphant perormance at Sidmouth
in 1996 was broadcast by the BBC and was followed by a live in studio session a
few weeks later. Since then Alistair and Dave have toured extensively in the U.K., returned to Australia for another successful
tour and recorded their second album together. "The Cold Grey Light of
Dawn" was enthusiastically received and gathered some impressive reviews.
Alistair, based once again in Glasgow,
continues to work solo and with Swarb. He has also
written, and performs, three workshop presentations, each one lasting
approximately 90 minutes. "From Blackheath To Trafalgar Square"
looks at "insurrection and resistance in the Disunited Kingdom"
from the Peasants' Revolt to the Poll Tax Riots. "The Fire Last Time"
is a study of the protest song movement of the 1960's and "Red Clydeside" examines the working class unrest on the Clyde between 1915 and 1920. For details of current
activities check the gig page on this site or phone one of the numbers on the
front page.
(Photo:Bob
Naylor)
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