Winnipeg musician J Riley Hill is excited about his latest album— a re-recorded compilation of some of his favourite songs over the past few years.
“It’s difficult to say how many albums I’ve recorded because I’ve recorded so many of them independently,” said Hill from Vancouver en-route to Pentiction, on his latest tour, which will bring him to the Owl Acoustic Lounge , Nov. 28.
“ But this one is the first one I really put a lot of time into,” he continued. He spent a year recording the Cd and another year before that working on the songs.
“It’s been out for six months now, so I’ve been working on touring and promoting it,” he said.
“ Some of the songs on it are five years old, so there’s really something for everyone in it,” he said.
There are elements of pop, folk, jazz and reggae on his self-titled CD.
“ It really is varied. These are the songs that really stayed with me,” he said adding he never took his time on a record before.
“ Other times I’d listen to it and I’d really be embarrassed. There would be a lot of things I’d want to change. I’m really proud of this one, though there are still a few things I’d like to change,” he said.
I like a lot of the songs. This is the time I think I got them right.”
He is touring with a five piece band including a banjo player, a keyboardist, a bassist, a guitarist and a drummer. They haven’t played Lethbridge before.
“We haven’t been playing together for every long, but it they are all excellent musicians. And every show is quite different,” he said.
“We’re playing an open mic and we love playing things like that,” he continued.
The open mics at the Owl Acoustic Lounge begin around 9:30 p.m.