The Kill Devil Hills are an Australian acoustic,

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

-tinged rock band formed in 2003 in

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River (Western Australia), Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Austral ...

by founding mainstays Brendan Humphries and Steve Joines. They have released four studio albums, '' Heathen Songs'' (August 2004), '' The Drought'' (October 2006), '' Man, You Should Explode'' (September 2009) and ''In on Under near Water'' (March 2016).

History

The Kill Devil Hills were formed in Fremantle in early 2003 by Brendan Humphries on lead vocals and guitars, Lachlan Gurr on mandolin and banjo, and Steve Joines on vocals and guitar. Initially the trio played "bushranger rock" and "cowpunk". The name of the band is derived from the title of a chapter, written by Harry Smith in a book, '' Invisible Republic: Bob Dylan's Basement Tapes'' by US music critic

Greil Marcus Greil Marcus (born June 19, 1945) is an American author, music journalist and cultural critic. He is notable for producing scholarly and literary essays that place rock music in a broader framework of culture and politics. Biography Marcus wa ...

, about Bob Dylan and The Band. In the late 1990s Humphries had been a member of Gutterville Splendour Six, alongside Gareth Liddiard and Rui Pereira of the Drones, which issued a self-titled extended play in 1998. The Kill Devil Hills were soon joined by Steve Gibson on percussion and drums. The Kill Devil Hills released their debut album, ''Heathen Songs'', in August 2004 and nationally in February 2005 on the

Reverberation Reverberation (also known as reverb), in acoustics, is a persistence of sound, after a sound is produced. Reverberation is created when a sound or signal is reflected causing numerous reflections to build up and then decay as the sound is abso ...

label. Michael Inglis of ''

FasterLouder Junkee Media, formerly known as Sound Alliance, is a digital media company based in Australia. According to the company, Junkee Media's websites attract a monthly audience of over 2 million unique browsers. Nearly 70 per cent of the website's tr ...

'' felt that "While the album has its dull moments, the Kill Devil Hills have come up with a coherant debut album that asserts the band's identity. At the same time, there are enough standout tracks to make this disc worth your hard-earned dollars." In the same month they were nominated for six WAMi Awards, taking home "Best Blues/Roots Act" and "Best Country Music Act". National youth radio station,

Triple J Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greater emphasis on broadc ...

, picked up the album, with ''Heathen Songs'' receiving a lot of airplay on a variety of shows. They were chosen as one of their 'fresh Crop' Artists of 2005. The group featured on Triple J's "Like a Version" segment and its JTV. They appeared on the

Lonely Planet Lonely Planet is a travel guide book publisher. Founded in Australia in 1973, the company has printed over 150 million books. History Early years Lonely Planet was founded by married couple Maureen and Tony Wheeler. In 1972, they embark ...

documentary series, " Six Degrees", broadcast on SBS. The band performed at The West Coast Blues & Roots Festival 2005. Also that year they appeared at Bridgetown Blues Festival, where they played on stages supporting

The Black Keys The Black Keys are an American rock duo formed in Akron, Ohio, in 2001. The group consists of Dan Auerbach (guitar, vocals) and Patrick Carney (drums). The duo began as an independent act, recording music in basements and self-producing thei ...

The Mountain Goats The Mountain Goats are an American band formed in Claremont, California, by singer-songwriter John Darnielle. The band is currently based in Durham, North Carolina. For many years, the sole member of the Mountain Goats was Darnielle, despite th ...

, The Living End,

Dallas Crane Dallas Crane are a triple ARIA Award nominated Australian alternative rock band from Melbourne. Their self-titled third album was released on 10 July 2004, and peaked in the ARIA Albums Chart top 50. Its lead single, "Dirty Hearts" (June ...

, The Mess Hall,

Kim Salmon Kim Leith Salmon (born 24 January 1957) is an Australian rock musician and songwriter from Perth. He has worked in various groups including The Scientists, Beasts of Bourbon, Kim Salmon and the Surrealists, Kim Salmon and the Business, and Da ...

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The Panics The Panics are an indie rock band originally from Perth, Western Australia, and currently based in Melbourne, Victoria. History 2000–2006: Band formation and LittleBigMan Records The band started out while Jae Laffer (then known by his act ...

and The Drones. The band undertook a short tour of the east coast in May and were invited back to Sydney for shows in November the same year. 2006 saw the band taking time to record a new album, spending most of this year in the studio, with plans to release the new record in October. They were also nominated for another 4 WAMi Awards (winning for the second year in a row – "Best Blues/Roots Act" and "Best Country Music Act"), they performed on the local stage at

The Big Day Out The Big Day Out (BDO) was an annual music festival that was held in five Australian cities: Sydney, Melbourne, Gold Coast, Adelaide, and Perth, as well as Auckland, New Zealand. The festival was held during summer, typically in January of eac ...

, were asked to record a live set for

's 'Home and Hosed', and were invited back to The Bridgetown Blues Festiva

where they played with The Beasts of Bourbon and

Dirty Three Dirty Three is an Australian instrumental rock band, consisting of Warren Ellis (violin and bass guitar), Mick Turner (electric and bass guitars) and Jim White (drums), which formed in 1992. Their 1996 album '' Horse Stories'' was voted by ' ...

. The band's second album, '' The Drought'' was released 7 October 2006 and was followed by a national tour. The Kill Devil Hills also released a limited edition vinyl import version of ''Heathen Songs'' through Spanish record label Bang! Records (a Spanish label which has many other underground Australian bands on its roster). The Kill Devil Hills returned to the studio in early 2009 to record their third studio album, '' Man, You Should Explode'', produced by Burke Reid. It was released nationally on 5 September 2009 on Torn and Frayed (distributed by Shock). The album was given a four-star review in ''Rolling Stone'' magazine, where it was described as "a new flawless record" and "one of the best of 2010". The band also embarked on a two-month European tour in late 2010 with the European release of ''Man, You Should Explode'' on vinyl through the Spanish label, Bang! Records. In October 2013 the band released its first live album, ''Past and Future Ghosts'', which was recorded in March that year at the

Fremantle Arts Centre The Fremantle Arts Centre is a multi-arts organisation based in a historic building complex on Ord Street in Fremantle, Western Australia. The heritage-listed building complex was built using convict labour between 1861 and 1868 and was used ...

. The album contained songs from their first three albums, together with two previously unreleased songs. In March 2016, they issued their fourth studio album, ''In on Under near Water'', which Kate Hennessy of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the G ...

'' listed as one of ten "essential releases from the Australian underground". She described it as "a brilliant showcase of what the Devils do best... No one wrings a ballad dry quite like Humphries, and his lyrics, always good, have slimmed into sleek, allusive poetry."

Members

Current members * Brendon Humphries (vocals, steel/acoustic guitar, electric guitar banjo, piano) * Luke Dux (acoustic/electric guitar, slide guitar) * Todd Pickett (vocals, drums, percussion) * Alex Archer (violin, piano, electric guitar, clarinet, slide guitar, organ) * Ryan Dux (vocals, bass) * Ex-members * Steve Joines (acoustic/electric guitar, vocals) Guitar Maestro and founding member * Justin Castley (electric bass, double bass, tin whistle) * Lachlan Gurr (vocals, mandolin, banjo) * Michael de Grussa (piano, double bass, banjo, vocals) * Steve Gibson (vocals, drums, percussion, xylophone) *Timothy Nelson (keyboards, vocals)

Discography

Albums

live albums

Awards

West Australian Music Industry Awards

The West Australian Music Industry Awards (WAMIs) are annual awards presented to the local contemporary music industry, put on annually by the Western Australian Music Industry Association Inc (WAM).2005 West Australian Music Industry Award Winners

(wins only) , - , rowspan="2", 2005 , rowspan="2", The Kill Devil Hills , Best Blues/Roots Act , , - , Best Country Music Act , , - , rowspan="2", 2006 , rowspan="2", The Kill Devil Hills , Best Blues/Roots Act , , - , Best Country Music Act , , - , 2007 , The Kill Devil Hills , Best Blues/Roots Act , , - , rowspan="3", 2008 , rowspan="2", The Kill Devil Hills , Best Blues/Roots Act , , - , Best Country Music Act , , - , Brendon Humphries , Best Male Vocalist (The Kill Devil Hills) , , - , 2009 , The Kill Devil Hills , Best Country Act , , - , 2010 , The Kill Devil Hills , Best Rock Act , , -

References

External links

*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kill Devil Hills, The Australian folk music groups Western Australian musical groups Musical groups established in 2003