Press Release

“The reason this whole record got started is because I wanted to record this old song written 30 years ago!” says longtime Nashville icon Ned Hill, That song (Little Miss Cairaco) was the start but what surrounds it may be his best record yet.

 

The first three songs are outstanding. “Why in the World?” is a poignant folk-pop-rock masterpiece, looking for answers in these turbulent times. “Drive” has hints of the Bottle Rockets with lines like “dig a hole or throw a punch-take it to the streets and I’ll pack a lunch-with a sign that reads-I just can’t breathe-it’s all too much-it’s just too much.” And the title track “Saw Jesus at the Park” imagines seeing an exasperated Jesus walking his dog at the park. When confronted about how he’s doing, he simply laughs, pulls out a joint and asks for a light.

 

Teaming up again with producer/guitarist Dave Coleman and recorded in Nashville, Hill compiled a song that has lingered in his vault alongside his recent fare. And it all fits. Nothing about “Saw Jesus at the Park” sounds old or doddering. This is record by a man reaching new heights instead of phoning it in like happens to so many artists who’ve banged their heads against the wall for decades. Ned Hill is still growing. 

 

The record, in contrast to some of Hill’s previous more rock & roll work, finds him crossing over from the loud Replacements-inspired rock that often swallowed his lyrics inside the noise. Now, having crossed over into solid Americana singer-songwriter guise, his words can be heard. It’s worth it, too, Hill is one of the most incisive, unfairly ignored lyricists and tuneful bards in Music City. These songs are tight, melodic, witty and solid. He’s joined up with longtime violin and viola road partner Tina Simpson with Dave Coleman on guitar, also supplementing drummer Chris Benelli, Brady Beard on keys, Jared Manzo and Jeff Thorneycroft on bass..

With one cover, Hill incorporates the old Creedence tune, ‘Hey Tonight’ with a sound both rocking and elegant and within a hair’s breadth of a Ned Hill original.

 

Altogether, Saw Jesus at the Park is a fully realized and heartfelt collection that tramples on so much of his work from the past. After 30 years, it’s his time,

REVIEW Snippets
This column doesn’t often make room for EPs, but the latest from the Ned Hill Band is good enough to merit an exception. The folk/rock set features vocals by the band’s Nashville-based namesake, who sounds redolent of R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe, plus a shimmering cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s 1971 hit, “Hey, Tonight.” Also here are five originals by Hill, whose backup crew includes his producer, Dave Coleman, who plays lead guitar, bass, melodica, and accordion. Half a dozen other players add strings, bass, keyboards, and percussion.

The music has a 1960s vibe, and so do some of the lyrics. In the midtempo title cut, Hill meets Jesus, who pulls out a joint and asks for a light, and in the hard-rocking “Drive,” he sings, “The echoes of 1964 play in my head.” Elsewhere in that same song, though, he’s planted firmly in the present. “What a world,” he sings, “Say, what’d I miss? Twenty-four seven, you can’t take a piss without some breaking news of some craziness comin’ down on you.” Adds Hill: “I just can’t breathe, it’s all too much.” American Cosmic Revival’ by Christian Parker

The music is toe tapping roots rock of the most head nodding, enjoyable kind. “Drive” laments the daily bombardment of bad news, backsliding in the areas of moral justice, and pressures that we find ourselves fully surrounded in, and then taps into our most basic desire to flee, and just “drive.” Melissa Clarke-Americana Highways