WHEN Eugene Hideaway Bridges says he’s been playing music all his life, it’s more truth than exaggeration.
The 49-year-old (pictured) claims he started his musical journey about 47 years ago and, given his background, it’s no surprise.
“I started when I was two years old,” he explains over the phone from London. “The music was in me. I was singing all these melodies and I had a little plastic shovel that I put elastic bands on and would play like a guitar.
“There’s such a thing as being blessed with talent. Most everyone else had to study it or pay their way through.
“My dad was Hideaway Slim, who was a bluesman back in the day. He’s a preacher now. I started playing back-up in his band from when I was two until I was seven.”
Guitar players are common in his family, and his mother shares a family connection to Tina Turner, so it all makes sense.
Seemingly born into music, Bridges was also born to travel. He tours incessantly and regards the road as his home.
“I grew up in 12 homes around the US — there’s no one place where I grew up,” he says.
“Home for me is not the same as what everyone else calls home. Home is on stage.”
Bridges’ never-ending tour is an opportunity to do the things he loves all the time — play music, meet new people, and spreading a message of love, growth and groove.
“It’s about the emotion in the telling of the story,” he explains.
“I try to … let the music touch people and speak for itself, and people can grow from that.”
Despite being a regular visitor to our shores, his upcoming Port Fairy Folk Festival visit will mark his first time in the south-west.
mneal@standard.fairfax.com.au