Michael Hill Blues Mob - Keyport

Raised in the South Bronx, Michael Hill’s early exposure to music included Harry Belafonte, Jackie Wilson, Elvis Presley and many other artists heard on his father’s records. He took piano lessons at age seven and sang in school and the church choir as he grew up. Hearing Jimi Hendrix changed his life, inspiring his love of the electric guitar. During High School years in the East Village, Hill and friends spent every weekend listening from the street outside at the Filmore East and other New York concert venues, giving Hill the opportunity to see Jimi Hendrix and other influences, such as Jeff Beck, Cream, B.B. King, Albert King and Buddy Guy. Hill began playing guitar at age18 and started the band Wild Honey in 1973, playing popular soul and funk, along with occasional rock or blues tunes. In 1985, he was invited to join the band of poet/performer Sekou Sundiata and keyboardist Doug Booth. The band included Vernon Reid, who introduced Hill to the Black Rock Coalition. Hill played simultaneously in the rock bands, Fitz, and the New York Band. Immersion in original music, combined with the urging of friends and associates to start his own band, led to songwriting and the formation of Michael Hill’s Bluesland, out of which spun the Blues Mob.