JULY 7th 2005 PAUL HILL

Paul and Ruth sing Country Roads

It was a welcome return tonight for Sheffield based Singer / Instrumentalist Paul who gave us a lovely mix of all types of Country allowing us to see his expertise in guitar, harmonica and fiddle playing.

  His programme was carefully planned to satisfy dancers, singers and listeners alike. He regularly filled the floor with both line and partner dancers, the most popular songs being ' Six Days On The Road' , ' Devil Woman', ' Don't Rock The Jukebox' and a medley consisting of ' I Can't Help It' and ' Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain'

Tunes enabling him to involve his harmonica included ' Mr Bojangles', ' City Of New Orleans ' and an Elvis medley of ' Blue Suede Shoes',  'Teddy Bear' and ' Hound Dog'.

Paul also treated those members who like to join in and sing to a Drifters / Jim Reeves medley of ' Save The Last Dance For Me', ' Stand By Me', ' Under The Boardwalk' and ' He'll Have To Go' which was also enthusiastically received by the dancers too.

In his own inimitable style, Paul gave his audience just what they enjoy, not forgetting a wonderful medley of traditional American fiddle tunes.

 

Paul Hill January 20th 2005

 Due to inclement weather conditions tonight, only a small crowd  gathered to welcome Paul Hill to our club. For some inexplicable reason nearly all of our regular dancers failed to make an appearance.

     Paul, who hails from Sheffield , is muti- talented in that he plays several instruments to accompany his singing. He skillfully showed his versatility on acoustic guitar, harmonica and fiddle with only a drum machine as background.

His programme was predominantly filled with familiar favourites tonight, but Paul gives the songs his own personal interpretation. Sometimes he will give his audience something different.

    Regular favourites included ' Heartaches By The Number', ' Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain',  ' I Can't Help It',  ' Devil Woman' and ' I Fall To Pieces' but there were examples of the good but unusual songs including Ian Tyson's ' Summer wages' Credence Clearwater Revival's ' Lodi ',  Jim Groce's  ' Bad, Bad, Leroy Brown' and  Bruce Springsteen's ' All  That heaven will Allow.'

Interspearsed amonggst the songs were two very fine fiddle medleys - one of American square dance tunes and another of Irish jigs and reels.

 In addition, we had sing along material, Alan Jackson and Maverick songs for the few dancers, and a full dance floor of smoochers for ' When You Were Sweet Sixteen' for an evening of good all-round entertainment.

        Cyril Insley

 

 

July 15th  2004 Paul Hill

Our guest singer tonight comes from Sheffield and for the last fifteen years has been performing both country and middle of the road music.

Formally the guitarist in a trio, Paul has backed International star Pete Rowan on appearances in the steel city, and confesses to liking Bluegrass music too.

Tonight he ably displayed his versatility on several instruments,guitar, fiddle, and harmonica.

Having had residencies at ski resorts and on liners, it's been some time since he performed a whole evening of country music but this he managed with ease.

His programme consisted mainly of Country music standards, the most recent being Alan Jackson and the Mavericks numbers. He was able to play his fiddle virtuosity on two particular occasions when he played a series of American Bluegrass tunes and later a medley of Irish Reels and Jigs. The harmonica came to the fore on ' Six Days on the Road'  'City of New Orleans'  and ' Folsom Prison Blues ' in particular.

Infrequently heard numbers like ' In the Ghetto' 'Lodi'  'Summer Wages' and ' You've Got a Friend ' all found favour with the audience, which regrettably was badly affected by summer holidays.

However this did not prevent a varied entertaining and enjoyable show.

                        Cyril Insley. Top