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Building on the critical success of 2003’s "We Built a Fire," songwriter Donal Hinely returned in 2006 with the timely and provocative "Giants," a stirring album driven by memorable images and well-crafted songs. Like recent offerings by Todd Snider and Steve Earle, the album reaches beyond the political landscape and unlocks the common human experience. From the acoustic folk of the title track to the roots rock of "Before Music was a Product" to the raw country of "Blue Ink," Giants is a journey that resonates with both head and heart. Nashville producer/cellist David Henry (Josh Rouse, Cowboy Junkies,Vienna Teng) ties together this diverse mix of songs with his lush, trademark sound and guitarist Will Kimbrough (Rodney Crowell, Todd Snider) adds tasteful accompaniment, showing why he continues to be one of the most sought-after session men in the country. Hinely is also a noted practitioner of the glass harmonica and plays a homemade set of 24 water-tuned wine glasses and brandy snifters. He picked up the instrument when his older brother Terry--a master of the rare art and long-time musical partner--was killed by a reckless driver in Dallas. Track 5, "The Shakes," provides a musically unique moment as the glasses accompany ukulele, cello and drums.

"Giants"r remained on the Americana Music Association album airplay chart for more than 10 weeks, quite a feat for an independent recording. It also garnered nominations for best album of the year by the annual Independent Music Awards and the Acoustic Music Awards. Hitting all points of the compass in 2006, Hinely was a showcase artist at both South by Southwest Music Conference in Austin, Texas and the North by Northwest Festival in Toronto, Canada.

Hinely left his hometown of Denton, Texas for Nashville in 1994 and has since earned recognition in the songwriting community for his original perspective and honest performances. The Indie Acoustic Project honored We Built a Fire alongside Rodney Crowell's Houston Kid and Kate Campbell's Monuments as the best Americana album of the year in 2003. The CD features a stellar lineup including Kim Richey, Mindy Smith, Will Kimbrough, and members of Wilco, the Edwin McCain Band, and Hayseed Dixie. Hinely has gained experience in the streets and pubs of the world, once taking his guitar and a one-way ticket to Australia and working his way back home through Asia and the capitals of Europe. Now more commonly he takes his music to festivals, special events, and the Bluebird Cafe stage in Nashville, Tennessee.

From his website ...

So, How Did I Get Here?

It can be an enlightening and somewhat scary exercise to sift through the past in search of some turning point, the one defining moment that sets you on your present course. One such moment arrived at the impressionable age of 13 when my older brother Terry sneaked me into Poor David's Pub in Dallas to see the legendary Texas troubadour-entertainer Steve Fromholz. Stepping through the door on McKinney Street into that smoky domain was like setting foot in some exotic new world. Fromholz told his stories, sang his songs in between tequila shots, and made me a believer in music. That pretty much did it.

Along the way there have been many other moments: In 1979 I saw Cheap Trick at the Dallas Convention Center. This led to my conversion to rock-n-roll and later to the formation of a great little rock band called the Agents of Kaos. I wrote some songs about social justice, but mostly I just wrote about girls. During a party in college in my hometown of Denton, Texas, I heard Van Morrison's album "Astral Weeks" for the first time. This awakening led me to a whole new world of music by the likes of Nick Drake, John Martyn, and Leonard Cohen. A California road trip with my sister Susan turned me on to the greatness of Richard Thompson as we drove through wine country listening to his live album "Small Town Romance." This led directly to the desire to write better songs. Around this same heady time, friends introduced me to the great Irish tradition as played and recorded by Planxty and Christy Moore. These influences led indirectly to playing music with my brother for more than 10 years at Renaissance festivals and small venues throughout the south, including the aforementioned Poor David's Pub (it had moved to its current location on Greenville Avenue by that point) and the "world famous" Bluebird Cafe in Nashville, Tennessee. Somewhere in the middle of all that, I earned a masters degree in history from the University of North Texas and bummed around Europe with good buddies in 1982 and again in 1989. I also mowed lots of yards and painted many apartments.

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This artist lives in Tennessee.

The gender of this artist/group is male.

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• We Built A Fire

• Giants

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Song	Album	Length	Played	Overall	You	Tags	Single Request
Louisville	Giants	5:15	1	0 votes	You have to login to give your opinion about songs.
Henry Ford	We Built A Fire	3:24	2	0 votes	You have to login to give your opinion about songs.
Bubble	Giants	1:51	2	3 votes	You have to login to give your opinion about songs.	Band / Solo vocalist / Violin / Acoustic guitar / Highly produced / Folk pop
	Total Time	10:30

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Artist name is|Donal Hinely
Last played|   more than 1 month ago
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Show name|    Songs by Donal Hinely
Length|       15 minutes
Order by|     random
Limit|        3 songs
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Stats

• Spotlighted: Never
• Songs on WWR: 23
• Total plays: 64
• Total requests: 13
• Total listens: 1339
• CDBaby referrals: 0
• CDBaby sales:

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