Pete Gow:  songs, vocals, guitars, harmonica

Del Skinner:  guitars, mandolin, banjo, lap steel
 

Case Hardin started as a vehicle for some songs I had written during the summer of '99. The band I was in at the time were roundly under whelmed by them, so after pinching their drummer and a chance meeting with one Del Skinner, whose contribution to the music would go onto become almost inseparable from my own, we set out to re- write rock's history books. Before long we were gratefull just to find
somewhere to practise and the opportunity to perform for anyone too drunk to find his or her own way out of the bar.

The fruits of those labours, over three EP’s, culminated in last years '...Hard Feelings'. Recorded live over three days it is as urgent & edgy as the recording process suggests - a tough, loose and sometimes flawed collection of which I am fiercely proud.

While the feel of '...Hard Feelings' was that of a boisterous country rock insurgency, it was perhaps the closing song, 'Turn Around', that best signalled where my writing would go next. Sure enough, after a couple of months in a hotel overseas in early 2005 I came up with the material that will form the basis for Case Hardin's next, as yet un- named and first full length, record. Mainly written in the dead of night, while all around me slept, they are as far removed from '…Hard Feelings' as it is possible to achieve by the same author. All acoustic, not even a plectrum in sight & a voice that barely registers above a whisper. The challenges thrown up by such a project are exciting to us, to create something that will offer a dramatic counterpoint to all that which has gone before it.

Over the last six years, I have often been left wondering precisely what 'Case Hardin' means to me. At various points, her role has been both transient and complex... at times she was a disguise, a cloaking device, against ridicule or failure…. a sometime adhesive to bond & provide identity to the wonderfull musicians who have passed through her door.... even a flag, planted firmly in the sand when my rationale, or motivations were questioned by those I was trying to bring together, or those who would seek to pull me in other directions.

For now… Case Hardin is simply a name; the name under which I perform, but, additionally, she represents a bond between myself and my close friend, conductor and musical conscience, Del. She is band members past, present & future as well as the very fabric of the songs; songs already written, soon be heard & yet to be even thought of - and it is by these songs, and these songs alone that we wish you to judge us.

Slainte.

Pete Gow

Sunday 3rd July 2005

To mail the band click HERE

For booking information call Pete on 0777 1608 003