I have had the amazing pleasure of recording my most recent songs at Bushwick Studios in Brooklyn.
The top 3 tracks (Little Girl, Tough Year, and The Other Side) were produced by Daniel Mintseris and have some fantastic musicians playing on them. Although they are not my "band" I want to thank them all for helping my songs come to life!
Daniel Mintseris: Piano, Wurli, Digital Effects, Clavi, All the quirky tinkling things, and Production.Whynot Jansveld: Bass, Fretless.Doug Yowell: Drums.Dave Eggar: Cello.
Josh Kessler: Guitar/production/mixing...and little ol me... Jennifer Hill... Singing...banging on the Piano,the Wurli, and letting out my soul.
MY NEW TOURING BAND FEATURES MYSELF ON VOCALS AND KEYS,BOB ON THE DRUMS,ON THE GUITAR???( LOOKING FOR SOMEONE LOYAL AND KICK ASS..COULD BE YOU), CHRIS ON BASS, AND JESSE ON VIOLIN. WE ARE NOT JUST A BAND BUT A FAMILY OF NOMADS LOOKING TO FIND THE MUSICAL TRUTH!
ALSO CHECK OUT MY S.W.A.N EVENT http://www.myspace.com/swandayct
June 2007 Interview with Detroit's MUEN Magazine: PIANIST/SONGWRITER/VOCALIST JENNIFER HILL
MUEN: HOW ARE THINGS GOING? WHAT IS THE LATEST NEWS? IS YOUR NEW PIANO GETTING BROKEN IN?
JENNIFER HILL: Things are actually going pretty great! I am happy with my band mates and have been playing in my favorite city, New York. My piano is definitely getting broken in! I love the way it feels under my fingers. It recently survived an accident I was in with the band. It's a tough machine!
MUEN: WHEN AND HOW DID YOU FIRST GET INTO THE MUSIC BUSINESS?
JENNIFER HILL: That's a long and involved question...
I began singing as soon as I could make noise. My mom used to sing a lot to me. She was a big influence when it came to music. She always had something playing and I loved to dance with her. She saw the gift I had and encouraged me to go for my dreams.
I ended up going to college for vocal performance (on scholarship) and then followed my dreams to Manhattan and then back to CT where I now live with my daughter.
I make my living teaching the rockstars of tomorrow and performing. I mainly play in NYC although I have some gigs coming up in CT...
MUEN: ARE YOU LOOKING TO GET SIGNED TO AN INDY OR MAJOR LABEL?
JENNIFER HILL: As far as getting signed...I'm not really sure how I feel. I just want to be able to tour and play my music and make ends meet(although help with tour fund would be a major plus.)
I just don't want to be put into a box...
MUEN: HOW MANY SONGS HAVE YOU PERSONALLY WROTE, AND WHICH ONES ARE YOU THE MOST PROUD OF?
JENNIFER HILL: I write EVERYTHING that I sing...unless I do some obscure cover. I am proud of them ALL. They are me.
MUEN: WHO DO YOU COLLABORATE WITH, WHETHER IT BE OTHER BAND MEMBERS, AGENTS, ETC.
JENNIFER HILL: I collaborate with everyone I come into contact with. I find everyone has something valuable to teach.
ADD JENNIFER HILL TO YOUR PAGES !
Copy and Paste the code below to add JennIfer Hill's banner to your MySpace profile
My fingers, my voice and my experience.......
IF YOU ARE A BAND WHO WISHES TO ADD ME....PLEASE HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY....I LIKE TO CONNECT WITH REAL PEOPLE NOT FRIEND COLLECTORS .....
To me, Music is life.....I have never known a day in my life to be without it. I got my voice from my mother. She was really into singer/songwriters and used to wake me up every Saturday morning by vacuuming and BLASTING Joni Mitchell, James Taylor, Carol King, Phoebe Snow....She also taught me the lyrics to songs by playing her records over and over..."Bobby McGee " being her favorite sing along in the car song........
When I was around five I began getting alot of attention for my voice. I was singing solo parts in the choir at church and entertaining my friends with my Annie renditions (every recess they made me sing "Tomorrow" or "Maybe"). But I was kind of shy. My mother would take me on auditions and I would freak out...so I did alot of group music things and started piano and flute lessons at age 7..............it wasn't until 7th grade that I finally shed the fear of performing alone.
It was time for our annual Talent Show and I was trying to get all these girls to do a duet with me. My choir teacher heard I wasn't going to perform if I had to do it alone and she pulled me aside. She told me that if I ever wanted to be a musician I had to learn to do things alone.She said it was going to take alot of courage and strength but in the end I would succeed. "Jennifer you can do it....you have a beautiful voice and I will be backstage if you need me.".....and that was it. I respected her so much that I couldn't let her down. So I got up the strength to sing "Lost in Your Eyes" (yes Debbie Gibson....she was my role model at the time....we both played piano and sang) in front of the whole school. I have a video of that day and it is funny to see how I start very shy,nervous, staring at the audience. It seems as out of nowhere I find my self and my voice...and this light just turns on. It was a wonderful feeling and I got a standing ovation.....that was the turning point.
I have not stopped singing or playing since. I started going to Hartt School of music as a sophomore in highschool. I won a scholarship to be in an honors choir and take lessons at the University. After highschool they gave me a scholarship to enroll there...so I stayed there for a year. It was too close to home and I needed to spread my wings so I left to move to Durango Co. with my 3 best girlfriends.
Luckily they had a great music program and alot of my credits transferred. I ended up staying there for the last 3 years of school. I loved the beauty of Colorado and the "freeness" of the atmosphere.
I was exposed to different music out there. Durango is in the 4 corners area so, New Mexico, Utah, and Arizona are not far away. My college did alot of traveling and we sang with all different choirs and musicians.
We were pretty well known as a group and we performed at the opening ceremonies of the Colorado Music Educators Convention. We also sang in Dave Brubeck's Rock Mass "To Hope", and were the choir of the Santa Fe Opera's "Ballad of Baby Doe." We did alot of "coaching"and went into the communities of our surrounding states singing and teaching other choirs.
I started REALLY writing songs while in Durango. I had a band with all original music called Acoustic Grin. We had a violin which added a bit of bluegrass to the sound...(southwestern influence).. and it was something different (for me) ......but it wasn't a big town so once you played there you had somewhat conquered it. I needed some more adventure. I loved being in the mountains but I have always had a major crush on New York.
As a kid I would go to see plays in New York with my mom. I was so into the city that I would beg her not to bring me home. As soon as I got there I would say "I'm Home Mom!"
I used to tell everyone i was going to be a starving musician and live in a Loft with out furniture.
I was almost right.....but I didn't get a Loft. I got a 9/9 living area with a tiny ass kitchen with the best bathroom I've ever had (for real!)....
I made the Upper East Side my home till 2001 and then I moved to Ct for a bit to raise my daughter. I am currently in between New York and Ct weekly.
By day I run a music/ performance school . I have about 30+ students............By night I perform in various clubs in the New York area. I usually do things solo, but I have a few musicians I work with from time to time.
I have spent the past 6 years writing a lot of music.I feel like I've grown a lot as a writer and musician. I chose to shut off the cable for the past 3 years so that I wasn't distracted by all the celebrity weirdness that has invaded music. I write when the feeling moves me. I sit down and spill out the radio in my head onto the paper and the keyboard. It is my therapy and my career all rolled into one. Sometimes a Gift, sometimes a curse.It is what my air is made of....I can't breathe without it.
I get a lot of my musical influences from my mom's vacuuming days. The songs that used to annoy me must of buried themselves into my brain because now they are what I put on my most influential songs list.
I am madly in love with Bjork, Tori Amos, Madonna, Janis Ian, Esthero, Phoebe Snow, Joni Mitchell, Sarah Vaughn, Robert Plant, Eddie Vedder, Ani Difranco, Tina Turner, Jim Morrison, and Fiona Apple. I could listen to a great blues album all day (especially when it's raining)....I could bury myself in a book all night......I am almost 2.....
My music is me and what moves me.....Please listen with an open mind and soul.
Hey, stopping by to wish you a great weekend. It's been a long week here so I am looking forward to playing some music and relaxing a bit. Hope all is well. much love ~adrian adriannrhen. com
