Brendan is a Guitarist/Educator based in Melbourne Australia . With over 30 years playing experience he draws from world, jazz and minimalist influences.

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Reviewer: Robin Lumley (BRAND X)
I hate "pigeon holes" but here I am forced to use some. Brendan Hains's MODAL NOMAD is SORT OF Jazz-Rock, SORT OF free-form improvisation and SORT OF a platform for some superb and accomplished playing. Which leaves you none the wiser as this music is basically UNpigeonholable! Mr Haines is an outrageously articulate guitar-player and has a writing style second to nobody. I found this collection of original pieces (bar one track, which is an interpretation of a John McGlaughlin tune) a wonderful journey through the various modal scales. Mr Hains leads us, ever musically, by a route encompassing the Modes....thus the title. We all know the Ionian scale..its what Western Music has been based upon for centuries...but there are, after all, another six scalic modes with subtle appeals of their own. This Mr Hains proceeds to demonstrate with a fluid and beautiful guitar technique which underpins his writing skills. What a winner! I truly thought that the era of getting such an album as this had passed and I am delighted to be proved wrong. This kind of band and this kind of music really deserves a big exposure....the band should be booked into all the important jazz festivals on the planet...sadly, we're all aware that this is unlikely. Brendan Hains has boldly released this record under his own steam and finances, but it seems to me that a sympathetic record label should grab this one as fast as it can. The CD is hardly ever off my player. And for a man who can cite"Arthur TWO SHEDS" Jackson as an influence...well, that did it for me!!

Brendan plays Alhambra Guitars

Equipment from Billy Hydes