Exclusive AUK Mini-Gig: Avery Hill

This is the 20^th video in the revived, re-tooled series of exclusive Americana UK mini-gigs. So far, it’s been a blast and maybe even a little self-serving in that I have the opportunity to see musicians playing their songs live, some of whom I’d likely never have the chance to see perform otherwise. Songwriter, teacher and storyteller Avery Hill is one such artist, coming from Portland, Oregon, which is well over 2500 miles from my home.

Hill grew up in a supportive household. Her mother paid for her first guitar and patiently listened to her rave about Joni Mitchell. Her father made her mixtapes and taught her to harmonise to The Beach Boys on the radio. “When I was ten or eleven, we would play cassettes in the old Volvo station wagon,” Hill recalled. “Brian Wilson became my first musical love as a songwriter. How he put songs together; I wanted to be in that world. When we were living in New England, I went to the Newport Folk Festival and saw Dar Williams. That made me think, wow, you can write like that in her style.”

She has lived in the Pacific Northwest for most of her life, with a lot of adventures abroad in her twenties. “I busked a bit while living in Europe but didn’t start playing professionally until I moved to Portland in 2012. I had accepted a job as a schoolteacher, which I thought would be my career, but quickly realised it was not the right fit. I had invested a lot in the idea of myself as a teacher, so I was pretty distraught but found comfort returning to my guitar and writing songs.”

Song ideas often come to her on a walk in the park. Random notes scribbled on napkins remind her to follow up on them. Music snippets are recorded on her phone’s voice memo that otherwise would be forgotten. Not every idea turns into a song that’s a keeper. “Sometimes it’s hard to know when the song is done or to let go of one that’s not going to make the record,” she admits. “That said, the writing process serves the artist in moving forward.”

Her first album, “Dreams & Ghosts: A Family Album” (2015), ranked in the Top 10 on the Folk DJ charts and features the single ‘Hello & Goodbye.’ Tom May, host of River City Folk, commented: “This emerging singer-songwriter has a memorable, lilting voice and is already penning songs that could someday be classics. She is an extraordinary young talent.”

“The One Who Remembers” is her latest, and Hill was very particular about what songs started and ended what turned out to be sort of a concept album. “The eight songs themselves are the memories, but how we access those memories is important. I love how those moments can be these portals between the past and the present. Everyday objects, sights or sounds that take you back to a time in your life.”

This mini-gig session was recorded at The Panther, a studio in Portland owned by Steve Drizos, who also recorded and mixed the album. “I’m playing a 1930s Kalamazoo (L-00), which I bought on consignment at Artichoke Music. I was teaching in the store after hours and stared at that thing on the wall for months. I told myself that if it was still there by Christmas, I would buy it for myself. Now, I can’t imagine writing music without it. I fall in love with it all over again each time I play.”

The musicians accompanying Hill are Jenny Conlee (keys/accordion), who is most recognised as a founding member of the indie-rock band The Decemberists. “She’s a critical and indispensable musician,” Hill said, “collaborating with a variety of artists and groups here in Portland.” Aaron Elliott (bass) is a founding member of the bands Andrew’s Ave and Fly Over States. He is also Musical Director for the a cappella choir school PDX Vox.

On the subject of teaching, Hill did eventually find her stride as a teacher. “I don’t have a degree in music, but my Master’s in Education really helped me establish a strong music teaching practice here in Portland, which is a really lovely balance to my performance work.” Her plans include more teaching this year. “I’ll be launching an online cohort of folks interested in cultivating a regular writing practice in a series of songwriting sessions. I’ll also be continuing to develop a unique songwriting workshop I’m calling NatureSong, which brings creative writing out into natural environments.” Interested people can learn more about both on her website.

As Avery Hill is fond of saying, “Every song is its own creation,” and in the video, she plays three of her creations.

1. The One Who Remembers – “This is the title track of the album. It’s set out in a natural landscape where I often go to reconnect with myself and get some clarity and perspective. It sounds quaint, but I really love how much nature has to teach us about making our lives simultaneously more simple and more meaningful.”
2. The Spoon Jar – “I never met my great-grandmother, but I grew up with a lot of her things in our home, and each object had a story. I started this song with a list of everything I knew about her, looking for some thread to hold it together, and by the end of the song, I realized it was actually a song about my mother. She’s the reason I know anything about my great-grandmother, so I wanted to be sure to bring her in there, too.”
3. Walk Through the Door – “I explain the inspiration for this song in the video, but I’d also like to share how much I love the accordion motifs Jenny Conlee adds to this song. She plays on almost every song on this album (piano, organ, accordion) and brings so much richness to these songs, taking them to a place I didn’t even realise they could go.”