ElizaBeth Hill

A renown First Nations singer/songwriter is releasing her new CD at a London club.

ElizaBeth Hill will perform at London Music Club Friday to release Too Long Away....(see URL) - London Free Press

by Elizabeth Yates

Singer, Songwriter, Storyteller: ElizaBeth Hill explores many genres

Crafting songs, creating stories, teaching singers, scoring films: all part of the artistic amalgam that is ElizaBeth Hill.
And on Feb. 25, she gets to indulge one of her greatest passions--singing for an audience. Hill is among more than 20 Six Nations entertainers who will participate ina showcase called Celebrating Our Gifts at the Sanderson Centre.
"I love to perform" she says. "I love to see the smiles and the tears. I love to be able to move people--their thoughts, their feelings--with music.
"There's such a wonderful reward in that"
With a country pedigree honed in Nashville, Hill's music is accented by many influences, including blues, folk and rock. Her melodious speaking voice transforms into expressive vocals--sounding just a bit like Emmylou Harris--warmed onstage by an honest and unpretentious manner.
Along with the personal satisfaction of connecting with listeners, Hill's talents have been rewarded with critical recognition: a Juno nomination for her 2000 release, Love That Strong, as well as two nominations for Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards in 2001. She plays on the folk circuit all around North America and has been featured on CTV and City TV.
But singing gigs--solo with acoustic guitar or with a band--are just a tiny fraction of Hill's artistry. She sat down with The Expositor to discuss her myriad activities after returning from the Barrie area, where she gave vocal workshops to native youth. "I show them how their voice moves through their body," she explains. "Your whole body is your instrument, not just your throat."
This is a time of satisfaction and perhaps, just a smidge of relief, for Hill, who has just completed an intensive five-year undertaking: a Mohawk language CD called Peacemaker's Journey. The project involved connecting with fluent speakers and working to tell their unique stories through song--both lyrical and instrumental. The six tracks which resulted from these collaborations express beliefs fundamental to native culture: thankfulness and reverence for life; a sense of stewardship for the Earth; the necessity of youth to honour their heritage and realize its value.
"For each piece, I worked to get the most direct and valuable message," says Hill, who is still striving to master Mohawk.
Growing up on Six Nations, she heard people speaking the language, as well as Cayuga, and Seneca. But only a few commonplace phrases took root--thanks to the disruptive legacy of residential schools, where natives were beaten for speaking their own language. Hill's grandfather had been fluent, but his knowledge was never passed down in the family because Mohawk became a forbidden tongue.
"This has been a good reason to really celebrate my language and learn more...there is something about original languages that is very enriching for the soul."
Produced by Bob Doidge at Grant Avenue Studios in Hamilton, the disc will be out this month--possibly in time for the 25th. While initially intended as an education resource, it may have a wider reach due to growing public interest in native culture.
With the Mohawk CD complete, Hill is writing and arranging a new solo record, aiming to release it by fall. And she's currently enjoying her third collaboration with Six Nation's artist and filmmaker, Shelley Niro. The musician's haunting score for Niro's 2003 short film, The Shirt--which was selected for the Venice Biennale and the Sundance Film Festival--was widely praised.
Composing for film requires study of the script, searching for the best way to express the director's vision. " I love it: unlike songwriting, your'e actually focused more on what you want the audience to feel."
"It's very challenging and very much intuitive for me."
Hill is eyeing the idea of screenwriting herself, as another outlet for her narrative bent. A veteran storyteller--she's always making up tales for her three young granddaughters--Hill stretched that genre a couple of years ago by writing her first play. Called Wooly's Umbrella, it's a comic work anchored in native issues.
"Whether I'm singing, writing, drawing or creating a story, I'm always doing something in the arts," says the mother of two and grandmother of three who prefers not to give her age.
"I like the idea of always being an artist, until I die."
Once in a while, the musician finds time to head south to Tennessee. Hill spent nine years in Nashville, moving there in 1986 to boost her songwriting skills. She took music business studies at Belmont University in Nashville, and hooked up with a publisher, which handled her songs for 2 1/2 years. After that, she headed bacvk to Canada, spending time out west performing at coffee houses and festivals for a couple of years. Back in Tennessee, she resumed working with publishers, while retaining rights to some songs.
"The ones I liked, they didn't want," she says, includi - The Expositor, Thursday, February 17, 2005

by Elizabeth Yates

Singer, Songwriter, Storyteller: ElizaBeth Hill explores many genres

Crafting songs, creating stories, teaching singers, scoring films: all part of the artistic amalgam that is ElizaBeth Hill.
And on Feb. 25, she gets to indulge one of her greatest passions--singing for an audience. Hill is among more than 20 Six Nations entertainers who will participate ina showcase called Celebrating Our Gifts at the Sanderson Centre.
"I love to perform" she says. "I love to see the smiles and the tears. I love to be able to move people--their thoughts, their feelings--with music.
"There's such a wonderful reward in that"
With a country pedigree honed in Nashville, Hill's music is accented by many influences, including blues, folk and rock. Her melodious speaking voice transforms into expressive vocals--sounding just a bit like Emmylou Harris--warmed onstage by an honest and unpretentious manner.
Along with the personal satisfaction of connecting with listeners, Hill's talents have been rewarded with critical recognition: a Juno nomination for her 2000 release, Love That Strong, as well as two nominations for Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards in 2001. She plays on the folk circuit all around North America and has been featured on CTV and City TV.
But singing gigs--solo with acoustic guitar or with a band--are just a tiny fraction of Hill's artistry. She sat down with The Expositor to discuss her myriad activities after returning from the Barrie area, where she gave vocal workshops to native youth. "I show them how their voice moves through their body," she explains. "Your whole body is your instrument, not just your throat."
This is a time of satisfaction and perhaps, just a smidge of relief, for Hill, who has just completed an intensive five-year undertaking: a Mohawk language CD called Peacemaker's Journey. The project involved connecting with fluent speakers and working to tell their unique stories through song--both lyrical and instrumental. The six tracks which resulted from these collaborations express beliefs fundamental to native culture: thankfulness and reverence for life; a sense of stewardship for the Earth; the necessity of youth to honour their heritage and realize its value.
"For each piece, I worked to get the most direct and valuable message," says Hill, who is still striving to master Mohawk.
Growing up on Six Nations, she heard people speaking the language, as well as Cayuga, and Seneca. But only a few commonplace phrases took root--thanks to the disruptive legacy of residential schools, where natives were beaten for speaking their own language. Hill's grandfather had been fluent, but his knowledge was never passed down in the family because Mohawk became a forbidden tongue.
"This has been a good reason to really celebrate my language and learn more...there is something about original languages that is very enriching for the soul."
Produced by Bob Doidge at Grant Avenue Studios in Hamilton, the disc will be out this month--possibly in time for the 25th. While initially intended as an education resource, it may have a wider reach due to growing public interest in native culture.
With the Mohawk CD complete, Hill is writing and arranging a new solo record, aiming to release it by fall. And she's currently enjoying her third collaboration with Six Nation's artist and filmmaker, Shelley Niro. The musician's haunting score for Niro's 2003 short film, The Shirt--which was selected for the Venice Biennale and the Sundance Film Festival--was widely praised.
Composing for film requires study of the script, searching for the best way to express the director's vision. " I love it: unlike songwriting, your'e actually focused more on what you want the audience to feel."
"It's very challenging and very much intuitive for me."
Hill is eyeing the idea of screenwriting herself, as another outlet for her narrative bent. A veteran storyteller--she's always making up tales for her three young granddaughters--Hill stretched that genre a couple of years ago by writing her first play. Called Wooly's Umbrella, it's a comic work anchored in native issues.
"Whether I'm singing, writing, drawing or creating a story, I'm always doing something in the arts," says the mother of two and grandmother of three who prefers not to give her age.
"I like the idea of always being an artist, until I die."
Once in a while, the musician finds time to head south to Tennessee. Hill spent nine years in Nashville, moving there in 1986 to boost her songwriting skills. She took music business studies at Belmont University in Nashville, and hooked up with a publisher, which handled her songs for 2 1/2 years. After that, she headed bacvk to Canada, spending time out west performing at coffee houses and festivals for a couple of years. Back in Tennessee, she resumed working with publishers, while retaining rights to some songs.
"The ones I liked, they didn't want," she says, includi - The Expositor, Thursday, February 17, 2005