Saxophonist Mike Phillips on coming to Cayman
Hearing about Jazz Fest on BET was what first brought him to the Cayman Stage- that and a little jingle penned by local band Hi Tide which accompanies the Cayman Islands' televion ads in the US.
Hi Tide’s two members, Shane Allenger and Sean Hennings, have plenty of talent and years of experience between them to churn out an excellent Christmas CD.
However, they went one better and included a number of songs on their latest Christmas album, titled Warm Wishes, which sees the duo teaming up with other Caymanian musicians such as saxophonist Devon Edie.
Local crooner Quincy Brown offers some variety on vocals on the album’s opening track Angels We Have Heard on High. With Jonathan Ebanks providing soothing guitar rhythms on the instrumental Auld Lang Syne, the CD’s closer – which makes sense, as Auld Lang Syne is actually the traditional New Year’s Eve song more so than Christmas. Mr. Edie’s sax spices up an instrumental version of Angels We Have Heard on High.
However, Hi Tide’s sound when they stand alone as a duo is no less impressive. Standouts include the melodious, relaxing sounds on It Came Upon a Midnight Clear and the band’s arrangement of 12 Days of Christmas, as the calypso rhythms prevent the song from become tedious when the lyrics begin repeating themselves for the 10th, 11th, and, yes, 12th time.
The CD marks the band’s eighth album, and third Christmas collection, but still their sound refuses to get old as the duo incorporate new beats and melodies into their repertoire of hits. One thing that remains constant, however, is their uniquely acoustic sound which, when coupled with the duo’s percussive rhythms and smooth vocals, is a treat for the ears.
Hi Tide continues to be one of Cayman’s success stories, having achieved international recognition for their music. Three of their hits – Open Invitation, In Your Kiss and That’s What I’d Do – have made it into the international charts, and most recently their song Love You More has been licensed for play in European stores while tunes Next to You and Don’t Ask Me Why have both been licensed to a new television show, Sleepless on Sunset.
Audiences in Cayman are lucky enough to have the opportunity to watch this talented band play live every Thursday, Friday and Saturday night at Deckers Grill and Lounge.
Hi Tide - "Open Invitation" is up to #3 on the weekly playlists for WKEY-FM and WKEZ-FM. You are headed for the top!!
Hi Tide's song Open Invitation has reached #1 on the Independent Music Network's Mainstream charts. The charts are rated according to votes and radio requests. You can find out more online at www.independentmusicnetwork.com
The band Hi Tide is also making some music history of their own. “Open Invitation” (Has) is the track that is taking the format by storm.
"Open Invitation", a single by local duo Hi Tide recently started making a strong appearance with Spins Tracking System.
STS, a company in Long Beach California, calculates radio airplay for broadcasters, record companies and publishers.
Hi Tide's "Open Invitation" recently showed up as #84 on the Hot 100 singles, #48 on mainstream and #29 on the independent charts. The same song is also being used in the Department of Tourism's TV commercial, which is extensively programmed on American National Television.
The song was composed by Shane Allenger and Sean Hennings of Hi Tide for their album of the same name. Like much of their original music, the tune can best be classified as top 40 pop.
The song or album can be purchased online form itunes, Rhapsody. CD Baby and many more
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 HiTide 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 HiTide 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 HiTide 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.
“The music has always been in us,” says Hennings, who has hopes of taking HiTide to the world. “It was God given and we are going to use it to the best of our ability,” adds Allenger.
All HiTide songs are downloadable on both iTunes and Rhapsody.
Hi Tide have been playing music in the Cayman Islands for 13 years and have gained a reputation for playing joyful, upbeat music that lifts the spirits of both local people, as well as visitors.
Hi Tide are creative musicians who have forged their own, distinctive musical style.
At the heart of Hi Tide are Shane Allenger and Sean Hennings. It is these two musicians that write most of the band’s material and represent them during their routine performances on the Island.
Sometimes, for larger events more musicians are added, to make their sound even richer.
Mr Hennings explained: “Hi Tide is really only Shane and Sean; and we do mainly a two- man show with me on guitar and Shane on congas.”
He added, “This is our steady income and we have developed quite a following as a duo. But for big events such as the Jazzfest we like to use a full band to get the full effect.”
At the recent Cayman Jazzfest, the line-up of the band consisted of Sean Hennings on drums and background vocals; Shane Allenger, lead background vocals and congas; Jonathan Ebanks, lead guitar; Bugs Wilson, Bass and background vocals; Jeff Japal, keyboards; and Kate Allenger, violin and background vocals.
Some of the extra musicians that join the band from time to time have been working with Hi Tide for a long while, so their relationship with the band as a whole is a very good one, and their contribution perfectly fits in with Hi Tide’s style.
“Jeff, John and Bugs have been recording and playing at various shows with us since our first album 13 years ago,” Mr Hennings explained. “Kate has been recording with us over the last four or five years.”
Hi Tide’s music really consists of an eclectic mix of many different elements. Explaining the nature of the mix, Mr Hennings said, “Since there are so many flavours to our music but almost always with a Caribbean twist, we call it ‘Carib Pop.’
“Most of our stuff is easy listening and even our faster songs still tend to have a relaxing mood to them,” he said.
Although the band cover many other artists’ songs, Mr Allenger and Mr Hennings are both prolific songwriters, and have between them written most of the songs on three of the band’s albums. They have also collaborated with local songwriters Jonathan Jackson and Mel McCoy.
“We like the smooth but grooving songs,” Mr Hennings said. As far as covers go, we play hundreds of great songs. There are too many to mention, but some of our favourite artists are Bob Marley, Sade, Sting, Simply Red, Dave Matthews, Jack Johnson, Jimmy Cliff, and Third World, but the list is too long to name them all.
“And as far as original songs are concerned, we like to play every song we’ve ever written. There are no favourites. They all come from us and we love playing all of them. If it was left up to us, we would play only our original songs and just once in a while throw in a cover song. “Of course we do love all the artists we cover. After all they are our inspiration. But the ideal Hi Tide show for us is when we play mainly originals; and there is no bigger complement than when someone comes to the stage and requests one of our songs.”
One of their songs, ‘Love You More,’ is very popular with audiences, and although it still has that Caribbean lilt, the song sounds as if it would do well on pop radio stations anywhere in the world.
“I think ‘Love You More’ is our most popular song to date,” Mr Hennings said.
Although Hi Tide does not fit into the ‘traditional Caymanian music’ category in the same way as Swanky does, it is still, as Swanky is, an eclectic mix of regional styles, just as Swanky’s traditional ‘kitchen music’ is.
The difference is really the time frame. Whereas Swanky’s music is really traditional music collected together from an earlier time, Hi Tide are really doing the same thing; it is just a much more contemporary version of what is understood to be ‘Caymanian music.’
Commenting on the Caribbean flavour, and more specifically, Caymanian identity of their music, Mr Hennings said: “Caribbean percussion and beat is always the most important thing in music. It just comes naturally to us. Sometimes it’s the guitar, sometimes the drums, sometimes the bass line that has the Caribbean sound. This is not intentional, it just happens that way.
Mr Hennings continued: “We are fans of all kinds of music. Most Caymanians grow up listening to and loving all forms of music and it shows in the recordings of all local musicians. As we really don’t have a style of music that is truly Caymanian yet, we truly believe that with every album that we record we are coming closer to developing a sound that is truly Caymanian.”
So cool! Christmas in the Caribbean! Hi Tide consists of Shane Allenger (lead vocals, percussion, background vocals) and Sean Hennings (guitars, bass, drums, percussion, background vocals), and together they create the most excellent island pop. "A Cayman Christmas" is exactly what island dreamers would hope for in a holiday offering of this sort. The music is extremely well crafted, conveys a breezy sense of sand and beach without being hokey, and creates a mood that blows a carefree Caribbean breeze across the listeners.
The too-short (just under 34 minutes) album features ten tracks, all well-known Christmas songs featuring Allenger's first-class tenor voice--rich, mellow, and full of heart. The always-delightful accompaniment has an upbeat island flavor and frames Allenger's efforts perfectly.
The opening cut "The little drummer boy" really grabs the listeners' attention, particularly with the heavy-duty drumming of various sorts throughout. Other tracks cry for attention, too; for example, "Away in a manger" impresses with its Caribbean swing, and "Silent Night" features very sweet harmonies. My favorites, however, are probably the brightly jazzy "Winter wonderland" and "Jingle bells" (hey, Hi Tide, come to Minnesota if you really want to experience WINTER!). The CD slides to a stop with a warm and winning "Have yourself a merry little Christmas."
Care to escape the rigors of ice and snow? Need a Caribbean vacation? "A Cayman Christmas" is a terrific ticket out of town.
--Carol Swanson
(Reviewed in 2004)
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From the liner notes:
Shane Allenger: lead vocals, percussion, background vocals
Sean Hennings: guitars, bass, drums, percussion, background vocals
Guest musicians:
John Shillito: bass on tracks 2, 3, 7 & 9
Kate Copley: violins on track 2 & 10
Jonathan Ebanks: guitar solos on tracks 5 &
Keith Waithe: flute on track 4
Gary Ebanks: sax on track 7
Based in the Cayman Islands, Hi Tide is up to its old tricks (see "A Cayman Christmas," also reviewed on this site), making very fun island pop. "Merry Christmas" is the second holiday offering from this duo, Shane Allenger (lead, background vocals, and percussion) and Sean Hennings (acoustic guitar, bass, percussion and background vocals), and the album is a clear continuation of the island magic flowing from the first.
Perhaps the biggest change from the first album is something small--the sound of little kids' voices in "Do You Hear What I Hear?" In addition, on this second effort Hi Tide has invited other friends to provide bass (Lammie) and violins (Kate Copley) to enrich the instrumentation. Copley also applies some nice background vocals in two numbers.
"Merry Christmas" has ten tracks of classic holiday standards. The tone is upbeat with swingin' Caribbean sensibilities. Again, Allenger's rich tenor voice is the star, and he really struts his stuff on songs like "Silver Bells," "The First Noel," and Roger Miller's "Old Toy Trains." Hi Tide sometimes offers up the unexpected. For example, tunes like "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" and "Rocking Around the Christmas Tree" have a distinctly country flavor, making me imagine the Hi Tide guys in cowboy gear. Hi Tide really floats my boat when the island rhythms flow the strongest; for that reason, my gold stars go to "Oh Come, Oh Come Emmanuel," "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" and "Do You Hear What I Hear?".
--Carol Swanson
(Reviewed in 2004)
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From the liner notes:
Musicians:
Shane Allenger: lead, background vocals, and percussion
Sean Hennings: acoustic guitar, bass, percussion and background vocals
Special guests:
Lammie: bass on "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen"
Kate Copley: violins on "Rockin' Around," "Emmanuel," and "Here Comes Santa Claus"; background vocals on "Here Comes Santa" and "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen"
Alex Hennings: Piano on "Old Toy Trains"
Kids voices on "Do You Hear What I Hear?": Ashley Borde, Alicia Boyd, Alex Hennings, William Jackson, Juliana Creary, Kayla Wood, Jerrica Wood, Jerdana Wood
Caymanian duo, Hi-Tide, entertained more than 100 guests at Miami's Splash Down party at DEMA recently.
Held at the popular South Beach restaurant, WISH, Shane Allenger and Sean Hennings, who have been regulars on the Cayman music scene for a number of years, performed to a crowd of nearly 130 guests at the invitation only event.
Director of Tourism Mrs Lania Rittenhouse said: "This event was special. It allowed the Cayman Islands to recognise and honour those members of the dive industry who have done so much over the years to develop our dive product in Cayman."
The Leader of Government Business and Minister of Tourism, the Hon McKeeva Bush has publicly declared his commitment to showcasing local musicians at overseas events whenever possible.
"Tourism provides us with an excellent opportunity to showcase our Caymanian talent overseas, whether we are entertaining business partners or wooing potential guests.
I am delighted that, once again, tourism has exposed one more group of people to one more of our local treasures," he said.
The June artist named as 106.1 KISS FM’s “Local Artist of the Month” is Hi Tide, comprised of multi-talented cousins from the Brac, Shane Allenger and Sean Hennings. The young men, who started Hi Tide in 1994, were exposed to various musical genres as they grew up.
Their band, which has gone through many changes and featured other musicians, has endured as mainstays, according to Matt Nasby, programming director of 106.1 KISS FM.
“Though they are already well-known on the island, 106.1 KISS FM is happy to do its part to share their music with our loyal listeners and celebrate their immense talent,” said Mr Nasby. “Their music has evolved over the years as the duo incorporates new beats and melodies into their repertoire of hits; however, one thing that never changes is their uniquely acoustic sound – easy listening for any mood.”
Hi Tide members have completed eight albums, including their most recently released Christmas album. Songs from all of these albums are well represented on local radio, with three original songs, That’s What I’d Do, In Your Kiss and Open Invitation, taking a place on international charts.
With a range of music influences evident, including Steve Gadd, Annie Lennox, Dave Weckel, Stewart Copeland and Carlton Barrett of Bob Marley and The Wailers, Peter Gabriel and Michael McDonald—from rhythm and blues to even a little calypso—Hi Tide’s music is an eclectic mix.
“There are so many flavours to our music,” said Shane Allenger, “but almost always with a Caribbean twist – staying true to our roots! We are honored to be recognized as the 106.1 KISS FM Artist of the Month and we appreciate the support of the station in spreading our music and ensuring it reaches as many ears as possible!”
Hi Tide performs at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas between 3 and 6 June. “So for any of our local fans who are looking for an excuse to visit Sin City,” he adds, “follow us!”
Throughout the years, Hi Tide has shared the stage with many internationally acclaimed performers including Bon Jovi, Jimmy Cliff, Third World, Jeff Healey, Garbage, George Duke, Al Jarreau, Natalie Cole, Emmylou Harris and Randy Travis, performing all over the world including in the USA, Hawaii, Canada, Europe, South America and throughout the Caribbean.
Listeners can visit www.hitidemusic.com to learn more about Hi Tide, hear their music and to get information on upcoming shows and performances. Hi Tide plays live every Thursday, Friday and Saturday night at Deckers Grill and Lounge.
“The radio is a powerful tool for any musician’s career,” said dms Broadcasting’s Network Promotions and Marketing Manager Phil Vinciullo, “and we would like to welcome any local musicians to submit their produced materials for future consideration in this ongoing feature. dms Broadcasting is always looking for ways to enhance our service to our community and the arts – especially showing support and giving back to our local talent.”
The radio station, 106.1 KISS FM, is one of four radio stations operated by dms Broadcasting Ltd., (96.5 CAYROCK, HOT 104.1, 106.1 KISS FM and X107.1), a subsidiary of dms Organization Ltd.