Hallock Hill

Sir Richard Bishop, “The Pillars of Baalbek,” The Freak of Araby (Drag City 2009)

Sun City Girls founder, Sir Richard Bishop, has built a career on continual variation and change. As inflective of Ennio Morricone as Dick Dale, of blistering six-string slingers as somber melancholics, Bishop’s arc proves that one doesn’t have to be pigeon-holed to thrive. His brother, Alan Bishop, who formed another third of the Sun City Girls, founded the currently critical Sublime Frequencies label, which single-handedly turns the idea of “World Music” on its head.

The Bishops, despite their Anglo-ecclesiastical surname, are half Lebanese and sat at the feet of their oud-playing grandfather when they were young. Sir Richard Bishop formed the Freak of Araby Band to record this album of half Middle Eastern covers and half originals. Guitarist Rasheed Al-Qahira, percussionist Mohammed Bandari, bassist Ahmed Sharif, and hand drummer Abdulla Basheem masterfully back up Bishop, whose guitar histrionics are kept in bay on The Freak Of Araby. Here, the melody and mood rule. Bishop and the band are due to tour North America this year.

Sir Richard Bishop official site

Sir Richard Bishop on MySpace

Drag City