A collection of original bluegrass tunes from Idaho banjo player, Ron Hillier

11 MP3 Songs
COUNTRY: Bluegrass, COUNTRY: Progressive Bluegrass

Details:
First of all, Iâd like to point out that none of these songs have anything to do with my lovely wife, Kerry. Weâve been married for 29 years and she has never given me any good material for a good bluegrass song. Well, maybe some happy ones. But thatâs not the theme of this CD. Iâve been playing bluegrass and writing tunes for about 35 years. Some of these tunes are pretty close to being 35 years old and Iâm just now getting around to recording them. For those of you who want to do the math, that gives me about a 6 year window for the songs about other women. Having said all that, some of these tunes are brand new and, as of this writing, have never been performed in front of a live audience.

Iâm guessing that the majority of these CDâs will wind up in the hands of those of you who have known me for a while. If, by chance, you strangers out there start buying this CD, it might be a good idea to tell you a little about myself. Itâs not like youâre going to find me on Wikipedia or something.

Iâm a middle-aged guy from Idaho. I have a good day job, a great wife, Kerry, two fine sons, Ryan and Mike, many good friends, and a very old Lab named Barney (see track 10).

Iâm very proud of my sons. Ryan is a fine musician and helped me with some of the guitar work and the arrangements on this record. Some of you may know Ryan and I from our seven years of traveling around the northwest with our bluegrass band, Deadline Ridge. The band broke up in 2007 but Ryan and I still play music together from time to time.

Mike is in the US Army and recently returned, safely, from a 14 month tour in Iraq.
(see track 6) He is presently serving in Alaska and is getting married soon to a very cool Alaska girl named Nicole. Mike has done some amazing things, but I really canât go into to that here. Very proud.

I like listening to all types of music but bluegrass is what I love and itâs what I play. I really enjoy straight-ahead, traditional, south-eastern bluegrass. But, no matter how hard I try, the tunes I write usually come out with a western slant to them. I guess thatâs because Iâm from Idaho. Heck, Iâve never even been to Kentucky.

Well, whatever you call these tunes, I hope you get a little something out of them. I should have another CD ready to go in another 35 years. Ron


Ron Hillier - Banjo and Mandolin on all tracks
Lead Vocal on 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11
Harmony Vocal on 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11
Rhythm Guitar on all tracks, Lead guitar on 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
Upright Bass on 4, 6, 7, 10

Shawn Dean - Fiddle on all tracks

Ryan Hillier - Upright Bass on 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 9, 11
Guitar Lead on 9, 10, 11
Finger-style guitar on 2


Special thanks to Shawn Dean for the fiddle work on this project.
(He stopped by on his way from Seattle to Austin.
Shawn used to play with us in Deadline Ridge.)

Special thanks to Ryan Hillier for his ideas and guitar work.

Special thanks to Mike and his buddies for their service to our country.

A very special thanks to all of our good friends, and family, for helping
us to stay sane during the deployment thing.

Ron plays a Deering Golden Wreath Banjo, A Santa Cruz DM guitar, and a Flatiron mandolin.
Shawn plays a Sam Daniels Fiddle. Ryan plays the Santa Cruz and an old Guild D-35.

Mixed and Mastered by Ron Hillier and Ryan Hillier

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