Sunshine tip

Dave Bowers (guitars, vocals), Dee Hannan (mandolin, vocals) and Alice Garner (cello) have played separately and together in a variety of line-ups over the years. They have each moved through a kaleidoscope of styles & traditions, including country, rock’n’roll, electronica, lounge, Irish, Greek and more. Drummer Al Barden joined the trio in 2025 bringing his signature touch to the band’s sound.

The band members' diverse musical experiences are woven through the tapestry of their sound. Labels are always limiting, but they have been described as Americana and alternative country. There’s rock and folk in there too, and other influences hard to pin down.

The band name Sunshine Tip plays with the double meaning of an actual tip in the Western suburbs of Melbourne where Dave grew up, and the magical touch of sunlight that makes beauty out of ugliness.

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Bowers is Sunshine Tip’s main songwriter, working up new material on acoustic guitar and bringing it to the group for collaborative arrangement and refinement. Dave grew up on Melbourne's western edge, watching the farm across the road transform into outer suburbia. This experience on the border of city and country informs many of the band's songs. 

Dave's musical background includes: Eugene Hamilton and the Money, Hogbelly Morton’s Country Revue, Mr Universe, Fonda, The Nubiles, B# Big Band, Stone Cold Boners and the ‘Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Any More’ Scott Walker tribute (with Dave Graney, Clare Moore & Rob Snarski).

Dave is also a painter and graphic artist. He exhibits regularly in Melbourne, and was one half of Doug Bartlett, created many memorable t-shirt designs as a 90s Mambo artist and co-founded the surfwear label Umgawa.

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Alice Garner started playing cello aged ten, and after eight years of classical training moved into other musical territory. She learnt to listen in new ways and to trust her ear over decades playing and recording with the Xylouris Ensemble and then euphonia, alongside her childhood friends Dee and Mairéad Hannan. In Sunshine Tip, Alice improvises cello parts that move from drones to moving bass lines to melodic solos. She also plays regularly with  Sally Ford and the Idiomatics, including on their recent album Every Happiness. 

Alice earns a living as a historian and audio maker and occasionally goes back to her first trade as an actor. 

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Dee Hannan has been practising as a musician and multimedia artist for over 30 years. Dee trained in classical piano and harpsichord with Elizabeth Anderson and Cretan lute with Giorgos Xylouris. 

She has played live extensively and recorded with bands and artists including the Xylouris Ensemble, Psarantonis, The Troubles, Friends & Relations, Paul Kelly, Caroline No, Xylouris White and Mick Turner. She has worked with international producers like Donal Lunny (IRL), Guy Picciotto (USA), and Stelios Aerakis (GR). With Alice and Mairead Hannan she was involved in original music theatre productions Square and Kyklos and in creating the original soundtrack for the award-winning One Night the Moon. 

Dee worked for many years as a Digital Arts Producer at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Most recently, when not playing with Sunshine Tip, she has been playing (and recording) with Taps of the Holy Trinity, Caroline Kennedy, Henry Hugo, Xylouris White and Ekranoplans. 

In Sunshine Tip, Dee brings her gift for heart-breaking vocal harmonising along with understated but unforgettable mandolin parts.

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Drummer Al Barden met the band over summer holidays in Gippsland and they realised he could bring the right feel and sensitivity to the Sunshine Tip lineup. Al joined the band in 2025, drawing on decades of experience playing in many bands and across different genres. He adds texture and drive to the band’s arrangements. Al also plays with Flickering Stars, Marcel Borracks’ Telecaster Diaries, Machine Translations, Minibikes and Murphnick, among others. When not playing drums, he’s a mechanic and carpenter so a very handy person to have around!