Local band Hi Tide is off to Cape Canaveral in Florida to headline the Space Coast Music Festival.
The honour of headlining such an auspicious festival in the United States was in no small part due to the band’s relentless promotion of their original songs and live shows, as well as their drive to put themselves in new and challenging situations without fear.
“We heard they were having a festival there and I decided to send the organisers our new DVD album ‘The Studio Centre Sessions’. They then ended picked us to be the headliners,” explains Sean Hennings of Hi Tide.
He says the group was going to launch the live album, which features video and audio in the Cayman Islands at the end of this month, which they will still do so once they are back from Florida. Though he says that the view is that this festival would also be a great platform to introduce the project.
Hi Tide is comprised primarily of the duo of Sean Hennings and Shane Allenger. However, the band has a larger ensemble, which features notable musicians such as John Ebanks, Roger “Bugs” Wilson and other players of instruments who joined Hi Tide on the making of the Studio Centre Sessions album. The album consists of past Hi Tide favourites that have been recorded live and featured on DVD.
The Space Coast Festival will take place next Friday and will feature Hi Tide playing a one-hour set.
“We leave next Friday and will come back that Sunday. Cape Canaveral is on the East End of Orlando and this is a music festival to raise funds for music instruments in schools in Florida,” Sean says. “It is far from just another gig. In fact, we have a song that is called “Unity” that is on the album that features young children singing and it was one of the songs the organisers of the festival took a liking to; so much so that they arranged for school children to join us on stage for that song.”
This is the 12th studio album from Hi Tide. The group has also done several other festivals in the US, including an acoustic festival in Sarasota, Florida, where they were well received and sold many albums, Sean says.
Hi Tide have also performed all over North America, France, England, Peru and Hawaii. The group can be seen at Decker’s Bar and Grill from Thursday through Saturday from 7.30 to 9.30pm and at theReef in East End on Tuesday nights from 7 to 10pm.
For more information on Hi Tide, visit their website at Hitidemusic.com