Bob Hillman

Biography

Though Bob Hillman may like to have fun with words and employ irony and humor to entertain his listeners, he above all tries to say something interesting about the way we live now.

On Welcome to My Century, his second collection of honest, literate songs, Bob revitalizes timeworn themes by getting at them from unusual angles. For example, the works of Tolstoy provide the backdrop for a song about a romantic evening in New York City ("Tolstoy"), and geographical and political facts about Greenland inform the story of the disintegration of a relationship ("Greenland"). In "Bolted Down," he turns an absurdist's eye on the neuroses of city dwellers.

Produced by Tommy West in his studio, Somewhere in New Jersey, Welcome to My Century features some of New York City's finest musicians, including guitarist Dave Schramm, who has worked with Freedy Johnston, Richard Buckner, Yo La Tengo, and the Replacements. West, who produced and played piano on all of Jim Croce's recordings, adds vocal harmonies and shares keyboard duties with organist Brian Mitchell.

Bob has showcased in many of the country's best-known listening rooms and theaters, including San Francisco's Fillmore Auditorium, where he opened a sold-out show for Suzanne Vega in March 2001. In 2001, he opened more than twenty dates for Ms. Vega in the Midwest and on the East Coast. He has also opened for, among others, like-minded singer-songwriters Freedy Johnston and Dan Bern.

Bob won the songwriting contests at the 2001 Sisters Folk Festival and at the 1999 Tucson Folk Festival. He is a four-time finalist in the Telluride Troubadour Contest at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival, and has twice been selected for the New Folks Showcase at the Rocky Mountain Folks Festival. The SIBL Project (Songs Inspired by Literature) named "Tolstoy" one of ten winners of its inaugural songwriting contest, and will release the song on a compilation CD in spring 2002.

Sliced Bread Records released Playing God, Bob's debut album, in 1998. It was favorably reviewed in Sing Out!, Music Reviews Quarterly, and other periodicals, and received airplay on a handful of radio stations around the country. New York DJ Vin Scelsa championed "Everyone's An Actor in New York," an insightful, comic take on the endless proliferation of actors, writers, and other artists in the New York metropolitan area.

Contact:
Bob Hillman
www.bobhillman.net
bhillman@earthlink.net

Comments about 'World Trade Center' and 'Communists':

My Brooklyn apartment triangulates the Statue of Liberty and the site of the
former World Trade Center. I used to joke that, depending on my mood, I
could contemplate a symbol of freedom or a symbol of capitalism, i.e. greed.
So much for that dichotomy! I was in San Francisco on September 11th and
watched the World Trade Center collapse over and over again beginning at
8:00am PST. My song, "World Trade Center," is about that experience.
"Communists" is less directly about 9/11. I grew up during the Cold War,
and remember a time when no one was perceived as being more dangerous than
communists. Now that the Red Scare has faded, everything is more dangerous
than communism; the song is a list of some of those things.
- Bob Hillman

'World Trade Center': A view from a former New Yorker who was out of town.

'Communists': Bob Hillman explores a world with changed priorities after September 11th.
- Suzanne Vega

'World Trade Center'

[ mp3 sound clip ]

I saw the Trade Center fall on TV
Fall on TV
I turned it on coincidentally
It happened to you like it happened to me
I saw the Trade Center fall on TV

I see them falling again and again
Again and again
Over nine hundred times through the long weekend
Somewhere inside was a friend of a friend
I see them falling again and again

San Francisco’s perfect view
Of downtown New York City through a
Cable-ready picture tube
Calibrated expertly to
Render unequivocally
Something I don’t want to see
Have I seen everything?

I asked myself if it had to be real
Not really real
Special effects from a big movie deal
I had to think and I had to feel
I asked myself if it had to be real

Timing and dramatic flair
Anchormen with perfect hair
Planted in expensive chairs
Reading out our history
Crying intermittently
Front and center honesty
Have I seen everything?

I saw the Trade Center fall on TV
Fall on TV
I turned it on coincidentally
It happened to you like it happened to me
I saw the Trade Center fall on TV

'Communists'

[ mp3 sound clip ]

Communists are no longer dangerous
They’re not even close to the top of the list
We have cybercriminals
Bioterrorists
Letter bombers
Stalkers
Paramilitary groups

But in 1917 they were righteous and they were mean
And they executed anyone who dared oppose the new regime
Tidy ideology: selected by the few
For the reconstructed many, any system of beliefs will do

Communists are no longer dangerous
Who could have predicted this stupefying twist?
We have Hollywood producers
Rap metal bands
Politicians
Belgians
Escaped zoo animals

Religious fundamentalists and other stalwart foes
Of the principles of reason, season-ticket holders to the show
Of power, men who cower behind propaganda tools
And absurd interpretations of a set of very simple rules