Michael Lee Hill Music related Playlist
33 videos • 2,170 views • by Michael Lee Hill The Artist Personally Selected by Steve Vai as the winner of the Steve Vai/Ibanez guitar challenge! Tonos.com teamed with Steve Vai and Ibanez Guitars for the Tonos Guitar Challenge, which sought the guitarist who could record the most creative and "best" re-interpretation of the famous Steve Vai recording "Jibboom". Thousands of guitarists from around the globe entered but Steve Vai personally selected Michael Lee Hill's entry as the winner of the competition (Hill also received an Ibanez guitar designed by Steve). A mentoring session with Vai would follow, in Detroit at the G3 concert with Joe Satriani, John Petrucci and Billy Sheehan, and Vai granted permission to Michael to release "Jibboom" (Michael's version, featuring the original drum and bass tracks by Mike Mangini and Philip Bynoe) For as long as he can remember, musician Michael Lee Hill has been hopelessly addicted to the guitar. At a young age he discovered a natural talent for the instrument, easily learning songs by ear from the radio and quickly absorbing any learning material he could find. His appetite for making music increased in leaps and bounds when the guitar became a means to express complex ideas and emotions largely unaddressed in his "normal" life of school and growing up. Mike was soon spending several hours each day and night concentrating on his craft, often forsaking his friends and social life so he could continue creating music and reaching new heights on the instrument. This would continue through his teens and twenties. Now at age 38, with more than 25 years of playing under his fingers, Michael Lee Hill emerges from obscurity in Ohio with the release of Music From Here To Andromeda, a 23-song concept album showcasing Michael's guitar mastery and exposing deep-running spiritual & metaphysical interests as well. This collection of music is being used in the new David Sereda film From Here to Andromeda and was remastered and compiled from Michael's past two CDs, plus there is a lot new material for your listening pleasure as well. Music From Here to Andromeda was written, recorded and realized by Michael himself, who created his own indie label, Moment Point Records, to release the CD this year. Counting Eric Clapton, Edward Van Halen, Jimi Hendrix, The Police, Steve Vai, Joe Satriani and Prince as his most significant musical influences, Michael Lee Hill draws from these and other sources of inspiration while never sacrificing one ounce of his own identity; tracks like "Feeling September" and "The Lifting" capture a tenderness and musical sensitivity that runs throughout most of Music From Here To Andromeda while "Testing 1,2,3" pulls out the stops and keeps punching. Michael also gets to salute his hero Jimi Hendrix in "Jimi's Communication," a recorded improvisation with a groove that feels five feet thick. In an age when too many guitar records sound like everybody else's, Music From Here to Andromeda is a refreshing and satisfying disc of mammoth proportions. Music From Here to Andromeda follows Hill's debut solo release, All That Is, which was well received in the "guitar underground" but never gained national attention, Fiercely independent, Michael Lee Hill recorded, produced, and released Music From Here to Andromeda himself, and is supporting the release with music press and live performances. He has recently signed an endorsement deal with Peavey and Michael now proudly endorses Peavey Joe Satriani JSX amplifiers and HP Special Guitars. For the Tonos and Ibanez Guitar Challenge, Steve Vai recorded the backing tracks to "Jibboom" from his recent album Ultra Zone. Entrants download the track, available in the MP3 format only, record their original guitar solo to the song and submit it to www.Tonos.com by January 25 for consideration in the contest. All entries are posted on the site where Tonos users can listen and rate the solos. On February 13 the contestants will be narrowed down to ten semi-finalists; seven will be chosen by Tonos' A&R department and three will be chosen by Tonos members, with the ultimate winner chosen by Steve Vai. The winner will be selected by February 26, 2001 and will receive a personal lesson with Steve Vai and an autographed Ibanez Steve Vai JEM7DBK guitar.