David Rhodes

David Rhodes – the name is a shorthand for Peter Gabriel's guitar, for an important part in Gabriel's musical work. The more reason to take a closer look at this artist and his current album Bittersweet.
 
1993 saw the release of a compilation called Plus From Us. The songs on the album were by some of the musicians who had worked on Peter Gabriel's album Us that had come out the year before. Most of these artists had produced their own albums by that time. One of them, however, is a long-time member of Gabriel's band and much in demand as a session musician, but he had not yet released an on album: David Rhodes offered Down By The River for Plus From Us – and the booklet said it was to be released on his upcoming solo album...
Sixteen years later we can finally listen to the album – a long time even when you compare it to Peter Gabriel's release cycles. The album is called Bittersweet. It is not available in stores but only as a download for which you have to become a member of the Bowers & Wilkins Society Of Sound. Sounds complicated? It is. But since this was apparently the only way to put the album out at all fans can take up the offer or hope for a regular CD release. B&W offer the album in several high-quality audio formats and provide cover artwork. And Down By The River is one of the ten songs we can finally listen to after it has matured for sixteen years.
 
David is not the kind of musician who enjoys the limelight; accordingly there is no portrait of him in the album artwork but only a snapshot that shows him tuning his guitar. The B&W homepage addas a couple of other snapshots from the recording sessions, no further photos. The album credits list well-known names and place: Recordings took place at Gabriel's Real World studios and the album was released through Real Worls Music Ltd. David co-produced the songs with Richard Evans who he has been working with for several years on several projects. Ged Lynch, another member of Gabriel's band, plays the drums. Other musicians are less connected to Peter Gabriel: Dan Brodrick (keyboards), Charlies Jones (bass, played for Robert Plant and Goldfrapp), the Tosca String Quartet. Peter Hamill did backing vocals for one song. Guitars and vocals are provided by David Rhodes himself, of course.