Drew Hill

Hello Campers,

2018 has been a busy year which keeps getting busier. Much thanks to the locals who join me at my pianoman gigs in the NY metro area. It's truly an honor to perform for you all and your enthusiasm keeps me fresh!  The 2108 NY Metro Fest For Beatles Fans was such a thrill!  Joined by both Randy and Tal Bachman, Roy Orbison Jr and kin, Mr Neil Innis and crew rocked with us for some some Rutle-mania at both the Fest and The Cutting Room NYC shortly after. 

Now, just a few days away from three shows in Chicago, Liverpool is prepping to do a show to remember at the Fest For Beatles Fans.

Much more on the horizon to be announced shortly!  Thanks for visiting my site and check back periodically for updates....and join the mailing list so you don't miss the fun!   Looking forward to the opportunity to bring you more good times and  good music!

peace and love,

Drew

Hello CHICAGO!!!

Can't wait to see you all as I perform with  LIVERPOOL at  2017 CHICAGO FEST FOR BEATLES FANS August 11-13, featuring the performance of the 50th anniversary of Sgt Pepper in it's entirety, along with other Beatle classics and surprises. 

 LIVERPOOL is also really stoked to be backing up the historic gathering of four original members of WINGS, Neil Innes (Ruttles, Bonzo etc), Saxman Mark Rivera (Ringo, Billy Joel etc), and madman Hudson Brother Mark Hudson to lead an allstar jam into the wee hours. 

For Venue and Ticket Info see www.THEFEST.com

Hello and thank you!
The show could not have gone better (ok, perfectionist say's "Oh really?"). I still feel that the guys in LIverpool outdid themselves once again and I'm honored to share the stage with them.
The Fest -Command, the Lapidos family really know how to put on so much more than just a musical event. Word back from fans and all have been nothing but raves about the great time had by all.
I want to thank the guest performers who followed with us after we finished our portion.
The legendary guitarist Albert Lee was just amazing! A gentle soul and the best of the best at what he does.
Joey Molland of Badfinger performed some of the greats and was as usual "the quintessential rocker" and a regular guy...lots of laughs to look back on. 
The multi-coloured, most diverse, the Hudson brother, Ringo producer, singer/songrwriter for everybody under the sun, Mark Hudson took to the stage joined by all the above and with the Mersey's own Billy J Kramer for a rock jam that left the band, the crowd on their feet and exhausted! Wouldn't have it any other way!!!
Lastly, I can say that the energy that came from the Chitown audience was what really drove us. The guys and myself cannot be more thankful to you all for reminding us what rock and roll is all about!  We are most fortunate to have you all to play to...
OK, wishing you all well and can't wait to see you in March in New Jersey!
peace and love,
Drew

 

With the passing of Sir George Martin, I began to reflect the influence the man's work has had on me. It was haunting in a sense. I spent a good part of my life studying his work and always considered it the absolute  litmus for quality production. His use of the orchestra in breaking new ground bringing a masterful history of musical evolution into the element of the Beatle's creations seemed to chime with my musical upbringing.

At a very early age, I started playing piano...so young I'm not sure if I could speak yet. I didn't know it was something unique as my two older brother's played as well. I remember thinking that everybody played piano. Music was like food.  The records my family had covered a gamut of styles...Beethoven, Gershwin, Goodman, Hank Williams etc. Combine this with my much older brother's collections, I thought they were all equally "cool".

When I was about five years old, I could first recall the Beatle rage on NY's WMCA and WABC (WA Beatle C) duking it out to get the official recognition. From that point forward, I was just taking it in as I grew, singing and playing Beatle songs, taking for granted that their music incorporated all the musical influences I was exposed to from the beginning.

By 1966, the use of orchestral instruments only added to my picture...it only made sense to do so in my little world...that's what I knew. These songs became a virtual soundtrack to my life as I watched the older kids change and grow in thought and style, all influenced by this same group. I attended peace demonstrations with my family (my dad an ex-paratrooper in France during WW-II), I spent the summer of '68 mistakenly placed on a hippy commune in Michigan while my parents thought I was in a summer resort with her friend's children. Sgt Pepper was my soundtrack at that time and I remember laying back at night and listening at night to A Day In A Life, thinking how it all seemed to fit my experience...or at least what I could understand at the time.

I remember playing Abbey Road on my brother's record player and thinking about how mystically spacious the mix in "Because" was...Because the sky is blue, it makes me cry... It was like the song was written looking out of my own young eyes on the world.

After high school, I was asked to join a "Beatle's Band" by my friends, Jon and Neil. It honestly hadn't dawned on me to do this, as the music was so engrained in me, I hesitated...it was personal.

Well...from there, as some of you know, it went much farther than I could have ever dreamed. I found myself with the tools in synthesis to dissect and recreate much of the work that was never considered for performance by the Beatles. Now, I dug deep, pulling apart this untapped plethora of my childhood's soundtrack...programming and playing was a challenge and an education all in one. I was more than humbled dozens of times. There were times I would pull off my headset and say, oh my god...
Then to perform at Beatlefest to a crowd of people who knew the music much the way I did was like a dream.  
Back to today, as I write, Sir George Martin is gone. That sense of musical understanding I have suffers most...a mentor for lack of a better word. 
 I will carry on of course. My children have been presented with Mr Martin's magic since birth and now have a acute understanding of quality production and the incorporation of orchestral instruments and vocal harmonies to push that emotion in their music to a whole other level.
Although I never met the man and in all humility, I feel I've lost a father in a sense. I've been so fortunate to have grown up when I did...
rest in peace sir.
Drew
 

OK, Its a Go...
Drew will be performing with LIVERPOOL August 14-16 in Chicagoland. Looking forward to getting back to play for one of the most enthusiastic crowds anywhere!...and the guest lineup joining us is something not to be missed!!!
We love you guys!

See www.TheFest.com for tickets in info...