In a music world increasingly compartmentalized into tiny musical pigeonholes, Bob Hillman's songs live in several neighborhoods at once. Hillman's third album, IF YOU LIVED HERE YOU'D BE HOME, bears the melodic hooks and infectious feel of power-pop, the rootsy, organic vibe of Americana rock, and the conceptual heft and lyrical insight of the singer/songwriter. With sharp social satire that harkens back to vintage Kinks and a literary bent as book-smart as the Decemberists but as heartfelt as Elliott Smith, Hillman delivers concise, punchy tunes short on pretense and long on wit and wisdom.
Originally from Los Angeles, Hillman came to New York City in the '90s to pursue songwriting with a vengeance. He quickly insinuated himself into the local scene and it wasn't long before he was opening shows worldwide for everyone from Suzanne Vega to Dave Alvin, stealing audiences' hearts with a mix of spontaneous humor and perspicacious songcraft, and stealing the show everywhere from the Fillmore Auditorium to the Newport Folk Festival. A move to the midwest found Hillman in the heart of the Iowa City songwriters' scene that spawned storied troubadour Greg Brown. Far from the lights of New York, Hillman put together a band of crack local musicians and made IF YOU LIVED HERE YOU'D BE HOME, a homegrown record that matches his worldly observations with small-town heart and musical muscle.
Hillman will be touring throughout 2006 in support of his third batch of expertly crafted, hard-hitting songs, demonstrating the commanding skills that have won him numerous songwriting awards and placed him on hand-picked compilation albums alongside the likes of Vega, Aimee Mann, and Bruce Springsteen (all of whom have been mentioned by the press as reference points to triangulate Hillman's broad-ranging style). As one reviewer put it, "he may be one indie-movie soundtrack away from bigger things." Whether or not the silver screen becomes Hillman's entree to the mainstream, IF YOU LIVED HERE YOU'D BE HOME makes an even bigger mark on the musical map this formidable songsmith has already tacked up on the windshield.
You can contact Bob at: bhillman@gmail.com
What They Said About Bob Hillman
"The audience was also thrilled with opening act Bob Hillman, a performer one-third Bruce Springsteen, one-third Bob Dylan, and one-third Conan O'Brien."
- Cambridge Star (Cambridge, MN)
"Opener Bob Hillman wowed the crowd with a stunning set of material that is available only on the internet. A member of New York's "Songwriter's Exchange," Hillman should be teaching classes in how to warm up an audience. Disarming them with a humorous tune written expressly for the occasion, "I Am the Opening Act," his material ranged from the gently political to the wildly romantic. Although he was not prepared for the unexpected encore, Hillman complied by covering Tom Petty's "Waiting Is the Hardest Part."
-Seattle Post-Intelligencer
"Opening act Bob Hillman was a little bit like a male Suzanne Vega with a wackier sense of humor, a less tentative Elliot Smith or perhaps a folkie Tenacious D. His set was good enough to suggest he may be one indie movie soundtrack away from bigger things."
-Wisconsin State Journal (Madison, WI)
"Lyrics don't get much smarter and funnier than those in the songs by singer-songwriterŠBob Hillman. Hillman nearly stole the show when he opened for Suzanne Vega at the Barrymore last December, regaling the crowd with hilarious songs about communists and the pitfalls of being an opening act."
-Capital Times (Madison, WI)
"Opening act Bob Hillman was wry and a bit loopy. When not singing in a minor key about Las Vegas, he likened "Greenland" to his love life, all with a self-deprecating smile. It's good to know that Suzanne Vega will not be the last quirky folkie to emerge from New York."
- Portland Press Herald (Portland, ME)
"Opening act Bob Hillman charmed the crowd with his funny, winsome 40-minute set, which included a song about being the opening act. ("No, you can't have your money back.") The singer-songwriter also performed a song about Communists that he admitted swiping from an article in the Onion, and he also hilariously re-created the moment in 1965 when Bob Dylan went from acoustic to electric. The audience dutifully played its part with a chorus of boos and shouts of "Judas!"
-The Capital Times (Madison, WI)
"The charming Bob Hillman (who'd recently opened for Suzanne Vega at Clowes Memorial Hall) came next as "the second opening act," singing a ditty with the same name that he'd obviously crafted that day. His was a solo acoustic set of clever, literature-inspired tunes about the likes of Tolstoy, Faulkner and Wilde, with a breathy, sepulchral voice. Bravo."
- NUVO (Indianapolis, IN)
"Singer-guitarist Bob Hillman opened the show with a set of sweet, smart tunes that ran the gamut from a melodic indictment of the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop to a ballad that relates the works of Tolstoy to a romantic night out in New York."
-The Boston Globe
"Bob Hillman--remember that name, because I predict that we will be hearing some interesting things from this very articulate and expressive young singer-songwriter."
-radioio.com
"Bob Hillman, a young, engaging, somewhat jocular singer-songwriter in the college-coffeehouse tradition, was an entertaining opening act."
-Seattle Times
"Singer-songwriter Bob Hillman opened for Vega with a 45-minute set. Accompanied by his own guitar and one other guitarist, Hillman delivered some witty, thoughtful music. The humor in his music is of a thoughtful variety. He laments the Communists, for instance, because they were a good enemy, one we all understood. His is a breathy, earthy sound that is remarkably like his speaking voice."
-Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
What they said about Welcome to My Century
"The album avoids the overly-earnest bent of so many of today's serious writers, with a healthy dose of self-deprecating
humor and an offhand vocal delivery reminiscent of alternative rock back when it was alternative. These songs may sound pop
but are folk in a deeper sense - distilling the life experience of city denizens, carefully disguising wisdom as casual observations.
This album is highly recommended."
- Sing Out!
"Acclaimed in major dailies nationwide, Bob Hillman is a sharp-witted troubadour akin to Louden Wainwright III, Richard Thompson, and John Hiatt. A purveyor of intimate, wry, and nakedly honest autobiographical pop songs cloaked in a folk-rock context, Hillman's second release is an engaging journey through the emotional highs and lows of human relationships and not-so-simple twists of fate."
- Minor 7th
"Welcome to My Century is a storytelling melting pot of skilled musicianship and serious yet often comical compositions that are sure to please. I've never heard of this Mr. Bob Hillman but that song about War and Peace is enough to make you want to pick up War and Peace and start reading it."
-Host Susan Stamberg on NPR's All Things Considered
"Hillman sings in a deadpan vocal style and brings a dry sense of humor to the table; so dry that some listeners may not realize just how clever and insightful a lyricist he can be. But Hillman's lyrics have a lot of meat on their bones. Bob Hillman is a formidable talent. Here's hoping that Welcome to My Century is the second of many albums to come."
- Acoustic Live
