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| Hi Tide Rises on Talent and Determination One would be hard pressed to try to categorize Caymanian band HiTide.Both sons of merchant seamen—cousins from The Brac—Sean Hennings and Shane Allenger were introduced to various musical genres at a young age. "Our fathers used to bring back music from all over the world, " says Hennings (guitar, drums and vocals). "And I believe our early appreciation for different types of music is why the melodies we create today cannot be placed into one bracket." With a wide range of influences that include Steve Gadd, Annie Lennox, Dave Weckel, Stewart Copeland and Carlton Barrett of Bob Marley and The Wailers, Peter Gabriel, and Michael McDonald, one can quickly understand the band's diversity. From rhythm & blues to even a little calypso, you name it and Hi Tide will play it. Having formed the band Network as teenagers in the 1980s, both Hennings and Allenger moved away from the islands for several years, though then still followed their musical dreams. Allenger lived and worked in Nashville, Tennessee where he performed regularly on TNN with such country greats as Conway Twitty, Loretta Lynn, Nicolette Larson and Randy Travis. Hennings, on the other hand, called Hollywood home, while improving his drumming and musical skills at the popular Musicians Institute of Technology. Both eventually moved back to Cayman and formed Hi Tide as a full band in 1993. When, one by one, other members dropped out of the band, the two cousins decided they wanted to continue doing what they loved—even if only as a duo. "When we first started as a duo, we were told that we would never be able to survive, " says Allenger (lead vocals and congas), with a 'Wonder what they think now?' smirk. "We saw a place for what we do, " explains Hennings. "A lot of the times when you go out and listen to music it's from a computer. But there are still people who love to hear good live music, and that is what we strive to provide." With live musical performances becoming less popular, Allenger explains that some people might even assume that the band is pulling a Milli Vanilli (lip-syncing to previously recorded music). "It has happened before, where people have tried to cover our microphone, or even tried to hold Sean's hands when he is playing—just to see if we're really performing live." With seven albums—Change, Begin Again, Unplugged Classics, Unplugged Classics 2, A Cayman Christmas, Merry Christmas from Hi Tide and Open Invitation— produced in ten years, HiTide's resume is impressive and includes both opening for and performing with such major musical names as Jimmy Cliff, Bon Jovi, Garbage, Third World, Shabba, The Jeff Healy Band, George Duke, Al Jarreau, Natalie Cole and Emmylou Harris. Today the accolades continue to flow in. And most recently Hi Tide had a cameo appearance in the movie Cayman Went, and their song Open Invitation is featured in a Department of Tourism television commercial aired in the United States. write your comments about the article :: © 2008 Jazz News :: home page |