Tommy Hill was born in the deep south, small town of Magnolia, AR. Early on, Tommy realized his true calling was to share his love of music. As a child he would tune into R & B on the radio and turn all the furniture in the house into drums. When finances allowed, his mother bought him his first real drum set. In High School,Tommys Band Director headed up a band, allowing Tommy to share his love across Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas. After High School, Tommy moved to Denver, where his dreams of becoming a full time musician began to unfold. Tommys uncle took him to a Jazz club to show him the skill level required of a professional. Tommy practiced with dedication and was soon ready to move into the spotlight. In the early 70s, Tommy was working with an R & B/Jazz band in Denver. The band was hot and landed a steady job at the well known Warehouse Club where they opened for national acts such as; Grover Washington, O. C. Smith, Della Reece, Gene Harris & Three Sounds, Eddie Harris, Dizzy Gillespie, and Charles Lloyd. One very special evening, the renowned Hammond B-3 player Jimmy Smith, asked Tommy to join him onstage. Tommy was deeply moved and forever changed by the experience. Tommy toured with The Coasters on the Reno/Vegas circuit with Tommy on drums and vocals. After coming off the road, Tommy moved to Dallas and played with the Johnny Taylor Band. During this same period, Tommy became active in his church and was influenced by the great traditions of Gospel music. After some time Tommys close friend Andrew Jr. Boy Jones asked him to go back out on the road with he and famed harp player Charlie Musselwhite. While touring both domestically as well as internationally, Tommy played on 3 cds, won the W.C. Handy Award for Best Blues Band of the Year, and played the major Blues and Jazz festivals around the country. After years on the road with Charlie Musselwhite, Tommy and Andrew returned to Dallas to form their own band and were soon signed with JSP Records, where Tommy played on Andrews first two CDs. Tommy also played on CDs for other artists including Cookie McGee, Randy McAllister, Gregg Smith, R.L. Griffin, Bob Kirkpatrick, and Eugene Church. Tommy began writing his own material and recorded Hanging with Tommy in 1995 withTommy on drums, keyboards and singing all vocals. After this first release, Tommy formed his own band, The Hilltones. Tommy Hill and The Hilltones recorded Rolling with Tommy in 2000. Tommy is currently playing live in the DFW area promoting his latest efforts and is also working on a self-produced video for his next release.
Posted on: Fri, 18 Jul 2014 06:04:54 +0000
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