This year has been off to a good start for blues rock musician, Steve Hill. He won three Maple Blues Awards again for Electric Act of the Year, Entertainer of the Year and Guitarist of the Year.  And he’ll release his latest album, Solo Recordings Vol. 3, just five days before his OnStage concert at The Centre on March 9.
Hill’s awards are not just one-offs. Last year was a good year for him, too. He won Maple Blues Awards for Electric Act of the Year, Guitarist of the Year, Recording/Producer of the Year, and Entertainer of the Year. That breadth of recognition alone for one man should be enough to knock anyone’s hat off. But to top off his year, he also won the 2015 JUNO Award for Blues Album of the Year.
Hill first began playing guitar at age 16 and started performing at the age of 18, including busking on street corners. Having played with bands for twenty years, he recently decided to go out on his own as a one-man band. Faced with getting a day job, he picked up his guitar and started playing solo gigs again. He realized that since his foot was already stomping, he could add a bass drum to his act. That idea spawned a whole new development for Hill’s music. Not only does he have several percussion instruments as part of his show now, but he also has his guitars rigged so that the two lower strings feed to a bass amp. This allows him to add the sound of a bass guitar to his music.
According to an interview with Beatroute, a magazine based in Western Canada that focuses on indie music, when Hill released Solo Recordings Vol. 1, he played 200 concerts across the country. “And as I kept going,” he said, “I kept adding more stuff and was able to do more complicated things other than just the boom-ching, boom-ching thing with the kick and cymbal.”
If you still can’t picture what Steve Hill’s music set-up looks like, check out his music video for “Damned” from his soon-to-be-released album Solo Recordings Volume 3.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHXLPK8mAY0
Steve Hill will be joined by Canadian award-winning blues singer, songwriter and harmonica player, Paul Reddick during their OnStage performance at The Centre on March 9!