Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
There is no history to the overnight sensation, the back story, the will and the desire are rarely played upon, it is all very sudden and instant, the immediate that gives way to the soon forgotten, the very best are those that gradually come up through sheer hard work, determination and set back after disappointment, hard times after frustration. It is in the satisfaction of knowing for a while that you were your best friend, harshest critic and withstood the pressure of being the only one to believe that makes The One Man Blues Rock Band you pursued, all the more sweeter.
It would be fair to come across Steve Hill’s music and wonder where he has been all your life; this Canadian troubadour, award winning, one man collective appears out of nowhere it seems and serenades the listener with great songs and a mountain filled with experience, enough to cram into Lake Ontario, to satisfy a train carriage journey from Montreal to Vancouver and still have time for one last story in a café on the station concourse. It is in this immense life that Steve Hill opens up and the one man band is illuminated and coveted.
It is in the spirit of the man that captivates the listener, that endears him to their own soul, the percussion of no limitations and the expertise to carry the one man band onwards; you wonder where he has been all of your life, more than likely playing the Rock Blues, playing wherever and whenever and to catch him live must surely rank as one of the finest experiences that you can name and one that is the subject of this frank and beautiful live recording at La Chapelle in Quebec.
A one mission which gives songs such as Emily, Out of Phase, the superb The Ballad of Johnny Ward and Voodoo Child (Slight Return) such dynamic panache, which immerses the listener in to a world of the exploration of their own passions, is complete and contented, a remarkable capturing of a live sound in which the roof is raised and the musician, as well as playing every instrument, holds the Rock Blues aloft.
The stories told, the music humble, this is a magnificent performer that you never knew you loved, till now.
Steve Hill releases The One-Man Blues Rock Band on May 11th.
Steve Hill comes to Liverpool’s Epstein Theatre on Thursday 10th May in support to King King and to The Citadel in St. Helens on Saturday 12th May in support to Danny Bryant.
Ian D. Hall