Hamish is a well known Australian musician and respected chiropractor.
He performs regularly with the multi-award winning Davidson Brothers and has owned and operated City Chiropractic Care in the Bendigo Victoria since 2008.
The eldest child of Alan and Fay Davidson commenced fiddle lessons at the Yinnar Primary School when he was eight.
Within a few years, he bought a piano accordion with his busking money and experimented with that for a while, as the Scottish musical influences surrounding the Davidson family were strong.
Hamish with his boys in Melbourne / Hamish at True Brew in Bendigo / Davidson Brothers at the 2018 Australian Country Music Awards
At twelve, he saw a live bluegrass band at the Gippsland Acoustic Music Club, and he went banjo mad. He progressed incredibly quickly under the close guidance of Laurie Grundy, learning 15 tunes in the first week. Hamish's brother Lachlan took up the mandolin at this time and they egged each other on. The pair would have to take turns at using the family stereo - Hamish would listen to Flatt & Scruggs and Lachlan would study Bill Monroe.
Hamish remained the youngest banjo player in Australia for about twelve years, but that didn't stop him from winning national fiddle championships, or exploring other musical instruments and genres. Along with his two siblings Lachan and Ailsa, Hamish played fiddle with the Melbourne Scottish Fiddle Club for several years from the mid 1990s.
Also in the mid 1990s, the Davidson family started to attend festivals such as the Yarra Junction Fiddlers Convention, the Harrietville Bluegrass & Old Timey Convention, and all of the major folk festivals. Hamish & Lachlan started to appear at these festivals in a band with Lachlan Dear as the BlueGrassHoppers. This group went through many incarnations, evolving to include Laurie Grundy and his son Josh. The Grundys stayed on right up until the Davidson Brothers' country radio friendly release Where I Wanna Be in 2004.
Laurie Grundy's 50th banjo was made specially for Hamish /
On stage at the National Folk Festival (Photo: Rhiannon Fenn) /
Hamish performing in Gippsland (Photo: Spectrum)
Hamish began composing ragtime, stride, novelty and Latin music for the piano while doing Year 11 at high school in 1998. He received strong mentorship from Californian composers such as Robin Frost (1930-) and George McClellan (1926-) through the internet. Hamish continued composing piano music in these styles until he discovered the Oscar Peterson Trio in 2002, but he was never the same musically after being exposed to Oscar’s sound. Although this marked the end of an era, this creative phase left a strong mark. Hamish decided to digitally re-release some of his piano music in 2018 on a 24 track collection titled Lonesome Ivories (Buy / Listen).
In 1999, the Davidson Brothers released their first album Blue Spruce, recorded by Andrew Clermont and featuring their sister Ailsa. It was around this time, at the age of 16, that Hamish first started dabbling with dobro, acoustic guitar and singing. The Davidson kids did a lot of busking in their teenage years.
After completing Year 12 in Traralgon in 2000, Hamish studied Human Biology and Chiropractic at RMIT in Bundoora (Melbourne), graduating in 2006. While at university, the Davidson Brothers were starting to travel to the United States regularly to perform and record. They were making regular national television appearances and touring with some of Australia's most celebrated country artists. One time Hamish sat an exam still wearing makeup from an appearance on Good Morning Australia, and his student number was cancelled three times because his lecturers assumed he was going to leave and pursue music. He had to re-enroll into the course each time this happened.
Hamish
won the Australian
Bluegrass Fiddle Championship in 2000 and the
Australian Bluegrass Banjo Championship in 2009. Historically, it is customary to retire from these championships after winning a section three times, but Hamish was politely asked to retire from the championships in 2010. Hamish also won Best Overall Musician out of 800 bands in the National University Band Competition in 2003. In 2004, master violin maker Paul Davies spontaneously showed up on Hamish's doorstep on his 21st birthday and delivered the beautiful and unique violin that he continues to play to this day. Needless to say they are still great friends, and Paul is always there to stimulate ideas and encourage innovation. Further down the road in 2008, Hamish was a
Grand Finalist in the prestigious Grand Masters Fiddle Contest, held
that year in Nashville Tennessee.
These
days, Hamish's primary musical commitment has been the Davidson Brothers partnership with
his younger brother Lachlan. The brothers have toured throughout every state of Australia,
and parts of the USA and Europe. Between 2009 and 2018, they have bagged 5 Australian
Country Music Awards. They hold the record in the Instrumental category (along with the Flying Emus, set in 1991), surpassing Keith Urban and Tommy
Emmanuel's respective tallies. The
Davidson Brothers have numerous recordings under their belt now, but their studio know-how really accelerated when they started working with people like Mark Thornton and Larry Marrs in Nashville Tennessee from 2006.
All You Need is Music 2017, Wanderlust 2014, Transpacific 2012 (Single), Here to Stay 2011, Born to Play 2009, Davidson Brothers 2007, Raised on the Road 2006, Where I Wanna Be 2004 (3 tracks), Stay All Night 2003, Blue Spruce 1999
The list of artists Hamish
has had the pleasure of recording and performing with continues to grow.
But to give you a sense, Hamish has been fortunate enough to work either on stage or in the studio with Troy Cassar-Daley, Hugh MacDonald (Redgum), Lee Kernaghan, John Williamson, Kasey Chambers,
Tommy Emmanuel, Anne Kirkpatrick, Sara
Storer, Shane Howard (Goanna), Sarah Curro (Melbourne Symphony Orchestra), Martin Hayes
(Ireland), Eric Bogle (Scotland), Jim Lauderdale (USA),
Kruger Brothers (USA), Butch Robins (USA), Ronnie Stoneman (USA), Melinda Schneider, Beccy Cole, James Blundell, Cameron Daddo, Bruce Rowland (Man From Snowy River), John Foreman, Adam Harvey, Greg Champion and Kevin Bloody Wilson. He has also had opportunities to work with many with rock artists, including Joe Camilleri and The Black Sorrows, Andrew Farriss (INXS), Dan Sultan, Vika & Linda Bull, and Jimmy Barnes (Cold Chisel).
Please don't hesitate to call Hamish on 0439310217 if you want to book him (or the Davidson Brothers) for a performance, some private tuition, or having him contribute to your next recording project. He is set up to track fiddle, banjo, dobro and guitar overdubs from his home studio, but he is more than happy to travel for 'live' sessions.
The Davidson Brothers established the Australian Bluegrass Scholarship in 2011 with the vision of encouraging singers and musicians who demonstrate talent, dedication and leadership in the field of bluegrass music. Since making a commitment to strengthening bluegrass in Australia, they have personally sponsored and mentored a handful of exceptionally talented individuals who truly deserve encouragement.
Other career
highlights include participating in Melbourne's Centenary
of Federation parade, performing in front of 300,000
people in the city of Melbourne,
graduating
from the Australian College of Country Music in 2002,
entertaining the troops in the Middle East in December
2006, and television performances on The Panel,
Hey Hey It's Saturday, Spicks and Specks and Rockwiz.
Davidson Brothers with Louis Gill at the National Folk Festival (Photo: Lance Black) /
Hamish adjusting his eldest son /
Hamish in the Middle East with Gary Bradbury, Dick Smith, Matt Scullion, Cass Eager, and members of the Australian Air Force
Hamish published Bluegrass Banjo: Davidson Style in 2015, a banjo tablature book containing notation for 28 of the 101 tracks recorded by the Davidson Brothers. He is currently working on a new edition of the book, which will include more songs, and a section devoted to developing technique.
Despite his lengthy wrap sheet
as an accomplished and award winning musician, Hamish also enjoys spending time with his wife and their boys. He likes to exercise regularly and active study across a wide range of subjects. Click here for Hamish's recommended reading. He has owned and operated City
Chiropractic Care in
Bendigo Victoria since June 2008. He has a wonderful
team, including two associate
chiropractors, two soft tissue therapists, three
counsellors and a clinical psychologist.
Hamish proudly endorses:
D'Addario & Planet Waves
Paul Davies' Violins and Violin Bows
Grundy Banjos
Fender Electric Guitars & Amplifiers
Joe Gallacher Acoustic Guitars
John Copley Dobros
Deering Banjos
L.R. Baggs Pickups & Preamps
RODE Microphones
