Adam Hill - Old Paint (2015)

“The songwriting is hands-down brilliant, his lyrics filled with sensitivity and humour. . . . If you thought folk music was simple, think again.” - The Grapevine (July 2012)

“Anyone who appreciates folk, bluegrass, or country should find something to love. . .” - Independent Clauses (May 2009)

Adam Hill isn't one for living in the past, but he does welcome paths that already have some footsteps on them. On his fourth album of new-timey folk and roots music, Adam commits fully to the idea of reinventing traditional songs. Every one of the twelve tracks on Old Paint is probably on some dusty Folkways record in one form or another. But each of those twelve tracks is also polished up with a brand new coat of chords and lyrics, the final arrangements giving ancient songs a new relevance for the present day. Though he may wander into the surrounding brush sometimes instead of taking the straight and narrow, Adam's aim is to widen the path of folk music rather than simply keep it from becoming overgrown and obscured.

A composer at heart, Adam loves making records because the compositional process is equal to the performatory act. The writing of parts, the layering of instruments, the construction of grooves all live in both worlds at once. And while he sticks to more organic acoustic sounds here than on some of his previous recordings, there is still a sense of playful experimentation. On Three Hundred Miles, he turned his guitar into a dulcimer by tuning it to an open chord, attaching paperclips, and banging away on it with chopsticks. The Cuckoo features a spastic recorder part that invokes both birdsong and the olden-day instruments of the British Isles, where the tune comes from. And on Bentonville Blues, he addresses wage slave culture while creating a percussion track with actual nickels and dimes. These are tunes that your grandparents might have sung, but performed in a way that they wouldn't have. And that right there, the idea of taking something old and making it feel new again, is what tradition is all about.

“Hill blends musical genres, sound bytes and beautiful arrangements with well-constructed stories that are as unique as they are fascinating. Hill’s flare for spinning a tale is equal to his proficiency with composition.” - Penguin Eggs (Summer 2013)

“Adam Hill is a treat and a half. . . . His lyrics are alternatingly hilarious, provocative, reflective, and clever as hell, rolling along a dirt road while gazing at the stars.” - Folk and Acoustic Music Exchange (June 2009)