John Plays Live...
Albany, NY Singer, Song-Writer, Musician, Entertainer
With a borrowed guitar and Bob Dylan songbook, I began learning to play and sing in 1997. Over the years, my reverence for Folk & Country music grew steadily, until it became the central focus of my life. By July 2014, I’d left a lucrative career in Sales & Marketing to pursue a new chapter in life as a full-time working musician and entertainer. Over the years I’ve played hundreds of shows…now at full capacity, I anticipate performing over 300 dates in 2016.
For years I avoided writing original compositions, until 2009, when I formed a four piece all-original Folk-Rock band. The Heddy Brothers band recorded 20 songs over three session at The Warming Room Studio in Albany, and Black Dog Studio’s in Malta. Between 2009 and 2011, The Heddy Brothers performed regularly in the Capital region at Valentines, Red Square, Dave & Busters, Putnam Den, as well as Saratoga’s First Night Celebration on New Years Eve 2010. Original compositions and recordings by The Heddy Brothers are still available upon request.
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After the band broke up, I drifted back to my roots in Folk & Country music, singing and playing acoustic guitar, with harmonica accompaniment. I have played at numerous venues around Albany including The Lark Tavern, The Lion Heart, and a variety of events in affiliation with the Lark Street BID. I enjoy taking my act on the road, preferring small towns like Windham, NY (The Chicken Run, Cave Mountain Brewing Company, Ski Windham, Ski Plattekill), Woodstock, NY (Catskill Mountain Pizza), North Creek, NY (Bar Vino, Laura’s Bar & Restaurant), and Bennington Vt. (Madison Brewing Company, Kevin’s Bar & Restaurant, The Publyk House). Summer 2016 was my second season on Cape Cod, where I perform every other week at The Bookstore Restaurant in Wellfleet Ma., as well as a variety of other venues throughout July and August. Over the years I have performed regularly at numerous venues in Saugerties, Cairo, Kingston, Saratoga Springs, Lake Placid and elsewhere throughout the region, in my quest to solidify my reputation as the Hardest Working Man in Folk Music!
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In Spring 2015, I ventured into yet another vocational specialty; performing for senior citizens within Independent & Assisted Living Communities, Nursing Homes, and Community Centers throughout the region. As an in-home Hospice Volunteer from 2003-06, I learned first-hand about the therapeutic value of playing & singing for individuals with terminal diagnosis’. Since then, I have cultivated a clientele of over 50 senior living facilities in Albany, Rensselaer, and Saratoga Counties which have become the central focus of my professional music career. I love playing for senior’s and specialize in interpretation of artist like Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Merl Haggard, George Jones, Marty Robbins, Willie Nelson, and Waylon Jennings in addition to traditional Folk and Gospel songs.
More recently, I began rolling-out a new program which is a tribute to the life & career of Hank Williams Sr. The program includes stories about the singer & his songs’, as well as renditions of his hits and some lesser known compositions. I have performed the show for substantial audiences at the Rensselaer Community Center and the Troy Senior Center. I am looking forward to brining this special program into community theaters in Cape Cod, New York, and elsewhere.
My music can be heard on SoundCloud and ReverbNation, and throughout this website. Contact me by email.
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Check out John Plays Live Videos on YouTube
John Hill is an Albany NY Singer Songwriter performing throughout the upper Hudson Valley including Saratoga Springs, Windham, Woodstock, Cairo, Lake George and Lake Placid, as well as Vermont including Bennington, Manchester, Stratton and Bondville, as well as Cape Cod Ma. including Orleans, Harwich Port, Dennis and Wellfleet