Arty Hill: Another Lost Highway
"Arty Hill is currently setting the bar for male country singers." - John Conquest, 3rd Coast Music Magazine
"Some call this music modern honky tonk. Heck, this is the way country music should sound, period." - Elmore Magazine
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From Baltimore, MD to Central Texas, Arty Hill is packing the bars and dance floors with his unique brand of Modern Honky Tonk. He sings with an "reminiscent of Johnny Cash." (Vintage Guitar Magazine). His songs - marrying the soul of classic country with the wry storytelling of Guy Clark and Townes Van Zandt - have been recorded by Rockabilly Queen Bee Marti Brom, Austins Texas Sapphires, the Grammy-nominated Kenny and Amanda Smith Band, and award-winning Alt-Country pioneers Jason & the Scorchers. And with his recordings topping the FAR chart, it's no wonder Rambles.net calls him "a country songwriter of the first order."
A native of Maryland's Eastern Shore, Arty was steeped in classic country music, as well as the rock, pop, and jazz music favored by his parents. He later moved to Baltimore, and turned his full-time attention to creating his own brand of honky tonk. He spent hours honing his songwriting skills, and recorded two solo CDs of original songs "Based on Real Life" and "Baltimore Reasons." He later enlisted Craig Stevens on drums and D.C. Telecaster legend Dave Chappel, to form the earliest version of the Long Gone Daddys. Together, they recorded 2005's "Back on the Rail" - 11 Arty Hill compositions, ranging from the Sun-era rockabilly of "Jackson Shake" and "Big Daddy's Rye" to the stone country "Based on Real Life" and "Me & My Glass Jaw." Blue Suede News raved: "This self-released jewel is much too good to be overlooked. In fact, it's awesome...a great, mature release."
By 2007, Arty had revamped the Long Gone Daddys, and joined forces with Bill Hunt's Boston-based label, Cow Island Music. Cow Island released three of Arty's recordings: 2008's "Bar of Gold" (#1 on the Freeform American Roots (FAR) Chart for two consecutive months); a 2009 reissue of "Back on the Rail" with a bonus track; and 2009's "Montgomery on My Mind: the Hank EP" (a tribute to Hank Williams, including 3 new original tunes, also a FAR chart #1). After playing 3rd Coast Music's 2008 NotSXSW festival in Austin, TX, Arty established a band of crack Austin sidemen - the Pearl Dusters - with whom he regularly plays gigs in Central Texas.And people were definitely taking note of Arty's songs. "Church on Saturday Night," from the Hank tribute cd, was pre-loaded into the media players of select Ford trucks, and is currently the theme song for Joe Angel's "Kindly Keep it Country" on KEOS 89.1 FM College Station/Bryan, TX. Arty also co-wrote "Beat on theMountain" with Jason Ringenberg. The song was featured onJason & the Scorchers' 2010 release, "Halcyon Times," and the soundtrack to thefilm "Coal Country," which also includedperformances by Willie Nelson, John Prine, and Ralph Stanley.
When the time came to start the next recording, Arty wanted to push the idea of a honky tonk "album" a little farther. "Honky tonk and classic country music were never album-oriented formats, like rocknroll. Albums usually included a few good singles, and the rest was filler. I'm anti-filler. I want my albums to be authentic, but also to take some chances, like Beatles and Stones albums. You should want to listen beginning to end, then start all over again. If I can accomplish that, then I've made a good record."
In 2010, Arty started recording "Another Lost Highway," his most ambitious work to date: a diverse collection of original songs, a healthy roster of guest musicians, and expectations that would require everyone to bring their 'A' game to the table. But from beginning, the project was fraught with difficulties. The brutal winter of 2010 wreaked havoc on the schedule, then the Long Gone Daddys had a streak of horrible luck: Dave Giegerich began undergoing treatment for a rare blood disease, and Ed Hough was seriously injured by a a hit and run vehicle while loading his car after a gig. By late 2010 the album was nearly finished, but Arty and Cow Island Music couldn't see eye-to eye, and Cow Island passed on the project. Ed Hough was on the mend, but just as the last instrumental tracks were finished, Dave Giegerich passed away.
"We played the Chesapeake Folk Festival about five months before Dave died," Arty remembers. "He had been hospitalized the week prior, and when I went to see him, he could barely walk. But he showed up at the gig, walking on a cane in the blazing sun, smiling and joking. Sick as he was, Dave played the most amazing stuff - the rest of us just kept looking at each other, shaking our heads. I dunno - we're all not really accepting that he's gone. A world without Dave leaves a lot to be desired."
Before his untimely death, all of Dave Giegerich's tracks had been completed - save one. Virginia pedal steel player Lynn Kasdorf, who had been filling in for Dave that fall, stepped in and played the track, and also became a permanent member of the Long Gone Daddys. With the recording still behind schedule, and CD release shows looming, Arty and co-producer/engineer Dave Nachodsky took a brief respite to assemble "Pie for Breakfast," a limited edition cd of Arty's live, radio, and unreleased studio performances. "Since we needed a new cd to sell at upcoming shows, I went through recordings that DJs, fans,and other folks have been handing me the last couple years. We found some good performances, and left in some of the studio chatter and interview segments.Itkinda tells the story of what I've been doing for the last few years, which isas much a crusade as it is music. You haveto believe what you're playing and singing - that this music is the most important thing in the world, and that it will make people feel things they've never felt, have fun, be happier."
In late April 2010, the final tracks for "Another Lost Highway" were complete. And it's much more than just another honky tonk album. "Each of the artists I most admire - Bill Monroe, the Rolling Stones, Sam Cooke, Hank Williams, James Brown - took his favorite styles of music and distilled them into something new and different. I'm trying to do thesame thing. No doubt, it's a long, continuingprocess. But if you do it right, thena bluegrassy tune like "Roll Me A Song," a latin-flavored tune like "Breaking Up Party," rockers like "Big Drops of Trouble" and "Blackwater Wildlife," a Texas shuffle like "Victoria's Secret Is Safe With Me," and acontemporary ballad like "The Last Time I'll Ever go Away" - should all sound like they come from the same place. I think "Another Lost Highway' has that consistency from track to track, and is another step in the process of creating Arty Hill Music, whatever that turns out to be."
And the DJs agree.
Bruce Price (KNON, Dallas, TX) raves "From "Victoria's Secret Is Safe With Me" to "Halfway House" to "Blackwater Wildlife" Arty Hill and band deliver 12 radio-ready tunes that eclipse anything else being released today under the 'country' label.This line from "Omaha ICU" - 'My baby she don't come around/to see me in my paper gown' - expresses so much in a few words and knocks me out every time I hear it !"
And Doug Gesler (Lost Highway, WMBR, Cambridge, MA) says: "The jukebox is about to get an update, and from the opening explosion of guitar and drums on "Roll Me A Song," you know this Lost Highway's gonna be a little different. Plenty to dance to, sing along to and cry in your beer with.Jump in, hang on - it's one sweet ride!"
