david hill

I was watching the Olympics last night with my daughter and I was struck with the similarities between competing for a medal, and performing and releasing music. Apart from the fact that a gold record and an Olympic gold medal are icons of success, I was thinking more along the lines of the “behind the scenes”…The downhill skier as an example spends their days, weeks, and years perfecting a downhill regime that allows them to better their time. Daily, persistently and, to a large degree anonymously, they train, tweak and work to shave another fraction of a second off of their time. As a musician writing songs, or playing an instrument – there is a lot of old fashioned work involved too. Learning theory, running scales, hours of repetitive practice to better understand a song, or countless listens to a song one tries to complete… I think in the ideal of both scenarios there is a romanticizing. A downhill skier out in the nature, experiencing the thrill of downhill, sun shining, birds chirping, awe inspiring mountain scenes…the musician by their bay window, sitting at the piano, passionately expressing the tongues of angels (or demons as the case may be). Granted – there are truths to both, and the analogy continues. Years go by – the big day arrives, and all is thrown into a few minutes of performance – for which the athlete has striven…do they rise?…are they defeated? How about music – the big record for which thousands are invested is released, does the public care? Is there a tap into the public in the form of a hit? Hit or stiff? Flight or flounder? And then – after time, back to the routine of improving, and, as a Christian musician, celebrating the mere act of creativity as given by a loving God. Too often the “big thing” is seen as the objective – and the process of acquiring it is miserable…I submit – that though the gold is certainly desirable and worth striving for, you had better enjoy the simple act of the process in which you strive ( and this applies to all disciplines artistic or not), because if you don’t – your arrival will only bring a bitter realization that that wasn’t what you really were seeking to begin with. Finally – anytime anyone ventures out of the socially accepted norms of occupation (occupation being defined as how you use your time – much more valuable than money) you need a will of uncommon veracity.

physically at least. It was a wobbly return to say the least. Actually everything was fine until Chicago.
1) Our luggage was lost.

2) I was confused with another David Hill and separated from my family for questioning…they never said what the other David Hill did, but they did apologize to me for the mistaken identity.

3) Our flight from Chicago to Mpls. was delayed then canceled.

4) Because of the impending storm, heading straight for Chicago – they got us out asap – which meant the only option they gave us was to go to Duluth.

5) The only rental company with a car in Duluth was Hertz – and the only car they had (a Toyota) was $556.00 for a one way to Mpls. No, this is not a typo, I guess it was a privately owned car or something (can you say scam? I knew you could).

6) Rick Ayyyy (THE MAN!) saved the day – driving up to get us, starting at 7:30 p.m., and then getting home at about 2:30 a.m.
I was so tired on the drive my eyes literally started to cross, as I fought to stay awake, I could just imagine how Rick felt with the storm and driving conditions. The return trip took about 30 hours. One of the roughest jaunts I have ever had. I have to tip my hat to my wife and family – they are amazing “can do” travelers…an attitude that made the whole experience a good one.

After a couple hours sleep – the kids are in school, my wife went to get Jeb, I plan on shoveling, drumming, working on the next song, and hopefully getting my examiner article out.

we have been in Holland for 5 days and it has been really incredible. If you are here for the first time – feel free to look at the music section, where I post songs that are more or less finished. I think the most popular song I have done so far is “Glorious Day”… keep in mind, I have written a variety of songs…and I try to do the self – production thing…stylistically I really don’t have a hard direction yet, and even the next song I do this Wednesday is up in the air. I hope you enjoy your visit, and if you want to drop a line, it is always nice to hear from visitors. One more comment – I have just discovered that in Holland my streaming button does not show up – not sure why this is – but it forces a download if you want to hear anything…I am putting it on my “to do” list for things to fix.

Grandfather died. I really loved the Corporal…he lived a vibrant healthy life up until his sudden death at 94 (last week). I will be posting the Wednesday Wallop (best name I have to date for the song a week) as usual. I must warn you though – with the emotions and experiences being what they are I have hit a decidedly techie Euro sounding piece, named for now “squank” – If everything goes as planned, should go up Wednesday. I intend to tweak and post from Holland. Until then here is a photo for your enjoyment.