Bman's Blues Report

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Dear Illusion , from Steve Hill and it's a great mix of blues, rock and pop. Opening with All About The Love , Steve Hill uses a bold blues hook with great vocals and  his own guitar riff, and the backing of Wayne Proctor on drums to st the stage, joined by Jacques Kuba Seguin on trumpet, Mario Allard on bari sax and Eduard Touchette on trombone, Felicien Bouchet on trumpet, Nacim Brahimi on tenor sax, and Gregory Julliard on trombone for some up tempo revival like reinforcement. Power opener. Rocker, Everything You Got has a great, snappy beat and Hill's vocals are super. With a bluesy riff on guitar, and some hot soloing to boot and punchy, understated horns by Sequin, Allard and Touchette, this track is a great radio track. Don't Let The Truth Get In The Way (Of A Good Story) is another great melody with a tight rhythm. What I love is the change up when Hill kicks his riffs into overdrive with slide and a h...

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Desert Trip , from Steve Hill , and it's an interesting blend of folk, rock and blues. Opening with Evening Star , a chant like blues track with a thumping drum beat and fleet fingered acoustic guitar work is a strong opener for one of Canada's most prolific guitar players. Rain is a real cool track with super vocals, a progressive melody and solid guitar accompaniment. Cold Hearts reminds me quite a bit of a Frank Black composition (Pixies) with it's solid melody, strong pace and tight package. Very nice. Another strong composition is I Won't , a simple acoustic and vocal ballad. Hill has a great way of blending a cool tune with interesting rhythm and just the right amount of finger work. Very nice. With it's firm foot stomp driving rhythm and guitar driven melody, Hill does some of his best vocal work on Make Believe . The track shows how simple guitar execution can be so tasty. Judgement Day has a ...

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, The One-Man Blues Rock Band , a new live album from Steve Hill and it's powerful. Opening with Rhythm All Over , a power rocker, Steve Hill wastes no time making you a believer. With an excellent rock voice, the terrific ability to accompany himself as well as any band and fluid slide riffs, this is an excellent opener. His lead guitar on Go On , make you actually sit back and listen. This guy's playing has such presence that it rivals Jimmy Page and Alvin Lee. We're talking strong phrasing and focused notes. With a solid bass line and strong melody, Hill has great energy.  Excellent! Never Is Such A Long Time oozes blues like it was born in the Mississippi hill country but with a firm grip on modern rock and guitar techniques and tight drum rhythm giving it not only an emotional power but also strong musical punch. Very nice!  Little Walter's Hate To See You Go is a great blues rocker with Hill just k...

I just received the newest release, Angel's 11 , from Angel Forrest and it's got a special feel. Opening with Hangman , a solid blues rocker, Forrest shows that she's serious business and ready for anything. With Johnny Flash on guitar, Dennis Coulombe on bass, Sly Coulombe on drums and Bernard Quessy on B3, this track could easily see a lot of radio play. All The Way has a real cool rhythm and perfect timing from Coulombe on percussion. Forrest has a special voice and this track is perfect for her. Rob MacDonald lays in a nice guitar solo rounding out this track. Spoil Me Up is a real cool, jazzy track featuring beautiful guitar work from Steve Strongman and nice horn work from Frankie Thiffault on tenor sax, Mathieu Mousseau on bari sax, and Nicolas Boulay on trumpet. Excellent! Hold On Tight has a bluesy rock/ country sound with a real cool bass line from Alec Mc Elcheran. Ricky Paquette steps up with some searing guitar lead and I particularly like Sly Coulombe, ...

I just received the newest release, Solo Recordings Volume 3 , by Steve Hill and it's quite good! Opening with a Damned , modern take on a JL Hooker style boogie, Steve Hill, a soloist (plays everything), really gets things cranking. With basic drums and bass rhythm, Hill is a super singer and knows how to squeeze the juice out of his guitar on this driving blues rocker. Dangerous leans a little more toward the rock arena but with solid blues roots. This is a track with a catchy melody and powerful guitar riffs making it a natural for the radio. Muddy Waters tracks, Still A Fool and A Rolling Stone are paired together into one stellar blues track. Hill uses this track in a somewhat original form with his own powerful voice and original riffs as a base and then grinds out terrific blues sounds on his electric guitar. Excellent! Quieting things down a bit, Hill delivers Slowly Slipping Away , an acoustic ballad with cleanly picked guitar patterns, harp solo and a nice melody. A...

QUEBEC BLUES ARTISTS SWEEP MAPLE BLUES AWARDS Montreal's Steve Hill Tops Tally With Four Wins January 19, 2015 (Toronto) - Blue Monday, thought to be the most depressing day of the year, was anything but last night Toronto’s Koerner Hall, as internationally renowned Canadian Blues Artists from coast-to-coast were honoured by their peers at the 18 th Annual Maple Blues Awards gala. Montreal’s one-man band, Steve Hill took home all of the awards he was nominated for including Entertainer of the Year, Electric Act of the Year, Recording of the Year for Solo Recordings Vol. 2, and Guitar Player of the Year. Angel Forrest won two awards including Female Vocalist of the Year and Songwriter of the Year. Also representing the thriving Quebec blues scene were Nanette Workman who won the Blues with a Feeling Lifetime Achievement Award and Greg Morency of the Paul DesLauriers Band who won Bassist of the Year. From Montreal, Guy Belanger won Harmonica Play...

Canada's National Blues Awards Land in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa and Hamilton Maple Blues Award Nominations Led by MonkeyJunk, Downchild and Steve Hill (October 30, 2014) Toronto, ON - The Toronto Blues Society will be celebrating the 18th annual Maple Blues Awards by honouring nationally and internationally recognized Canadian blues artists from across the country on January 19th, 2015.  Toronto artists lead with twenty seven nominations, followed by Montreal (15), Vancouver (9), Ottawa (8) and Hamilton (7). Ottawa’s MonkeyJunk and Toronto’s Downchild each received five nominations followed by Montreal’s Steve Hill with four. There are plenty of other acts each with multiple nominations including Fathead, Raoul & the Big Time , The 24 th Street Wailers , Brandon Isaak, Steve Strongman and Harrison Kennedy. Quebec blues artists are well represented with nominations for Jordan Officer, Angel...

I just received the newest release, Solo Recordings Volume 2 , from Steve Hill and it's quite interesting. Opening with Still Got It Bad , Hill established a gritty blues sound that is lacking in most contemporary bands. Accompanying himself on guitar and drums, this raw sound is right on! Slim Chance has a rockier/pop sound and a more clever hook but it's the raw slide sound that does it for me on this track. Tough Luck is an acoustic, finger picked picked, folk style track with smooth vocals and harp. The Collector returns back to blues roots with raw electric slide and a jagged feel that compliments the melody quite well. Never Is Such A Long Time is one of my favorite tracks on the release with R&B kind of style yet maintaining the rawness of this "primitive" overall sound. The melody is really strong and Hill compliments his solid vocals with stinging guitar work on this track. Excellent! Little Walter's Hate To See You Go is really well done with...

 " Montreal’s Steve Hill is hands-down the meanest guitar player in Canada."   Richard Burnett, Montreal Gazette     One of Canada’s most prolific and exciting guitarists, Steve Hill has recorded the much anticipated follow-up to his JUNO nominated Solo Recordings Volume 1, which also won album of the year at the International Blues Challenge, held in Memphis in 2013. Solo Recordings Volume 2 is a step up for Hill, embracing his roots and showcasing his talents and love of blues music even further. Solo Recordings Volume 2 and its predecessor was recorded live in the studio with Hill not only on guitar and vocals, but also on bass drum, hi-hat, shakers and whatever he can do with his feet at the same time.   Featuring tracks that are heavy and hard hitting, deep and melodic, Hill manages to nail a wide rage of emotions with his songwriting and masterful guitar playing. With eight original songs and three covers, inc...

Steve Hill got an early start as a professional guitar player at the age of 16. By the time he was 20 he was already doing more than 200 gigs a year, which lead to the success of his first album in 1997. The album was voted Best Canadian Debut Recording by Vancouver’s Real Blues magazine who also proclaimed Hill to be the best young Blues guitar player in North America! Following a tour that took him across Canada, France and Belgium, he returned to the studio in 1999 to record ‘’Call It What You Will’’. He now played much bigger venues where he shared the stage with Ray Charles, B.B. King, Jimmie Vaughan, Buddy Guy, Johnny Lang and more. He won Electric act of the year at Toronto’s Maple Blues Awards and the album got a Juno nomination for Blues album of the year. In 2001, he produced Nanette Workman’s ‘’Blues and Roots’’ album. He toured with her before joining cajun star Zachary Richard for yet another Canadian Tour. The next year, Steve Hill released his third album ‘’...