Notes
What happens when you mix rock, blues, soul and even country with a hint of the islands? You get Hi Tide. Anyone who has visited The Cayman Islands recently would tell you that Hi Tide is a must see. Founding members Shane Allenger and Sean Hennings have been writing and playing together in bands since 1984 and formed Hi Tide in 1994. Prior to the formation of the band, Shane, (lead vocals and congas) lived and worked in Nashville, Tennessee where he performed regularly on TNN with many country greats such as Conway Twitty, Loretta Lynn, Nicolette Larson and Randy Travis. Meanwhile, Sean (guitar, drums and vocals) had been in Hollywood, California, improving his drumming and music skills at the popular Musicians Institute of Technology. As for influences, Shane says that some of his singing and songwriting inspirations come from Sting, Annie Lennox, Peter Gabriel, Michael McDonald and James Imgram while Sean says his drumming influences include Steve Gadd, Dave Weckel, Stewart Copeland and Carlton Barrett of Bob Marley and The Wailers. Since 1994, Hi Tide has been busy playing full time in Cayman as well as taking time out to perform with and open for the likes of Bon Jovi, Jimmy Cliff, Third World, Shabba, The Jeff Healy Band, Garbage, George Duke & Al Jarreau. In 1997, they received runner-up honors in the Rhythms of The Caribbean Competition sponsored by Island Records and The New Yorker Magazine. Since then they have represented The Cayman Islands at The Summer Concert Series in Boston, The Caribbean Tourism Convention in Aruba and the 1999 EARTH Awareness Festival in Live Oak, Florida. Their song, "Unity" was also chosen as the theme song for the EARTH Awareness Festival 2000. They have also performaed in Arizona, Colorado,Tenessee, Texas, New York, South Florida, Hawaii, Canada, France and England. Hi Tide has released seven albums. Change, Begin Again, Unplugged Classics, Unplugged Classics 2, A Cayman Christmas, Merry Christmas from Hi Tide and Open Invitation, their latest release. Of course, they receive extensive air play on Cayman's radio stations, but they have also been featured on Westwood One's top 100 countdown as import of the week and two songs from their album Begin Again, "That's what I'd do" and "In your kiss" received regular air play on top 40 radio in the USA. And most recently, the title track from their latest album 'Open Invitation' is being used for the 2008 Cayman Islands ad campaign.
