Montgomery on my Mind:
From 3rd Coast Music Magazine: "[Montgomery on my Mind] is a short album, but with Arty Hill, anyone into Real Country should be happy with anything they can get- there are times when he reminds me of Don Walser, and you can't say any fairer than that...Hill is currently setting the bar for male country singers. (John Conquest, 3rd Coast Music Magazine, October 2009). (complete review not available online)
From Lonesome Highway: "This fine ep from Arty Hill is rooted in the 50s but very much about today....hardcore and heartfelt." http://www.lonesomehighway.com/pdf/online-issue-7-edit-2.pdf
From Country Standard Time: "Making a tribute album to Hank Williams could be career suicide, but Arty Hill and His Long Gone Daddys pull off their eight song homage with solid vocals great picking and most of all, a ton of respect." Read the complete review here: http://www.countrystandardtime.com/d/cdreview.asp?xid=4299
Back on the Rail (2009 reissue):
From Rambles.net: "[The Long Gone Daddys are] one fabulous band, and Hill is a 'billy singer who delivers the narrative -- sad, bitter, wry, humorous or odd -- with absolute authority. He is, moreover, a country songwriter of the first order. As a traditionalist in an age when mainstream "country" has devolved into an instantly disposable substance, he may be out of time, but he's never out of rhyme." http://www.rambles.net/hill_rail09.html
From Sleazegrinder: "On this reissue of 2005's debut...Hill and his two-man assembly line plough out the sparsely-attended, softly-hewn but hard-bitten songs of heavy heft and sharp reckoning of the stripe usually associated with the Texan poets of parlous states like Guy Clark or Rodney Crowell and beyond into the deep canyons of classic country-honkin' tonic. A large feat it is, but Hill's lyrics and compositions are at a similar level as those rightly lauded eloquenteers....A classic from the far side of the basement bar drenched in wry, though not ironic, depictions of life's li'l ol' slinky intricacies, irritations and tribulations. - Sleazegrinder, October 24, 2009 http://sleazegrinder.blogspot.com/2009/10/arty-hill-long-gone-daddys-back-on-rail.html
From Country Standard Time: "Drenched in sawdust-on-the-floor feeling and smartly sequenced, [Back on the Rail] is what country music used to be all about." http://www.countrystandardtime.com/d/cdreview.asp?xid=4185
From Vintage Guitar Magazine: "Vocally, Hill is perfect for these songs. "The 'everyman' quality of his voice is reminiscent of Johnny Cash, and has the integrity and skill to convey lyrics ranging from funny and silly ("I Ate Through the Jail") to an interracial romance love story that didn't sit well with locals ("Tammerlane")....This disc should catch a larger audience [.]" (Vintage Guitar Magazine, September 2009) (review not available online)
From Jumping from 6 to 6: "This is what country music should be: real music by real people for real folks." http://www.jumpingfrom6to6.com/index.htm
Previously:
"["Back on the Rail" is a] self-released jewel...much too good to be overlooked. In fact it's awesome and just what I needed after an endless pile of
Rockabilly CDs that overall were too similar to produce any real standouts and contained somewhat marginal songwriting....Enough whining, there's nothing to
complain about with this release. It's the real deal, Honky Tonk Country with intelligent, totally heartfelt lyrics, great production & sound,
singing and picking....There are rockers and slower Country numbers filled with real life stories that are haunting....It's a great, mature release."
- Blue Suede News # 77
"Voted Austin's Best New Band of 2005, the Texas Sapphires have a secret weapon named Arty Hill in the unlikely city of Baltimore. While Sapphires orginals like 'Emerald Outlaw' and "Break this Fool' are potent enough, Hill's stone-cold 'Driftin' In' and the lowdown 'Bring out the Bible (We Ain't got a Prayer)'...mark the high point of the Sapphires' debut."
- Texas Music
The Houston Press just gave a great review to "Valley So Steep," the new CD from my good bud, Billy Brent Malkus and his band, the Texas Sapphires. The CD includes their really cool versions of my songs "Driftin In" and "Bring out the Bible (We Ain't Got A Prayer)."
William Michael Smith of the Houston Press said, among other things: "If honky-tonk has a future, hopefully it will sound a lot like "Driftin' In" or "Bring Out the Bible (We Ain't Got a Prayer)."
To read the full review, go to The Houston Press
"Arty Hill's songs are salted with tears and steeped in the rich brew of classic country and western that, in the right hands, never loses its power. Shaded from the glare of Nashville's bright lights, Hill draws inspiration from the streets of Baltimore, and his tunes should be in heavy rotation on every jukebox in every corner tavern in town..."
- John Lewis, Baltimore Magazine
"[Arty Hill and the Long Gone Daddys are] firmly rooted in the country
traditions of Hank Williams and George Jones, yet find equal footing
in the earth quakin' rattle of Sun-era rockabilly...[T]hese guys make
classic Texas singer/songwriter country and honky-tonk much like Austin's
super-group Heybale! It's good fun if youre looking to move your feet, and
good for listening too as Hill's story tunes are as catchy as the ones that
jump.
- Miles of Music
"Tompall Glaser and Harlan Howard's "The Streets of Baltimore" has
reigned as the Official Baltimore Country Song for decades, but [in
Arty Hill's "I Left Highlandtown"] there's a respectable rival... Like the
rest of the Hill originals on the new "Back on the Rail," it slaps lyrics that'd
impress at any guitar pull on top of the kind of basic Tele-twang-and-shuffle
backing custom-built for red-lit barrooms."
-Lee Gardner, Baltimore City Paper
"Jackson Shake, Drifting In, and Back On The Rail perfectly deliver
that jumping old country vibe so many try to nail and so many fail at.
Great songs, great production, and great singing/picking - it's all here. And
pay close attention to Tammerlane. It is a masterpiece."
- Jason Ringenberg / Farmer, Musician
(formerly of Jason & The Scorchers)
"[Arty Hill and the Long Gone Daddys] make music in the spirit of classic country - Hank Williams, Johnny Cash - but add a strong dose of '50s rockabilly to the mix. It's the kind of music that makes you alternatively want to get up and throw your sweetheart around the dance floor and drown your sorrows in another pint of beer."
- Style Magazine
"[Arty Hill's] music is grounded, genuine. When he sings alone...a vulnerable sweetness emerges and it is hard to resist."
- Nicole Schulteis / The Daily Record
