Erin Hill

For other people with similar names, see Aaron Hill (disambiguation).

Erin Hill
Hill at the Abbey Road on the River Festival in 2019
Hill at the Abbey Road on the River Festival in 2019
Background information
Birth nameErin Kathleen Hill
BornLouisville, Kentucky, US
GenresRock, pop, celtic
Occupation(s)Harpist, singer, songwriter, musician, actress
Instrument(s)Harp, vocals
Years active1997–present
LabelsGridley Records, Cleopatra Records
Websiteerinhill.com

Erin Kathleen Hill is an American harpist, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and actress. Her Celtic album hit #1 on the Billboard World Music Chart[1] and she has played and sung with Kanye West, Cyndi Lauper, Moby, Sinéad O'Connor, Enya, a-ha, Randy Newman, Jewel, Josh Groban, and many other celebrities, as well as Hillary Clinton, Michelle Obama, and for royalty.[2]

As an actress, she has appeared on Broadway,[3] film, and television,[4] most notably as the Pretty White Girl Who Sings Dave's Thoughts on Comedy Central's Chappelle's Show.[5] She originated the roles of Kate Mullins in Titanic on Broadway, and of Lulu in the Sam Mendes/Rob Marshall revival of Cabaret and appears on both Original Broadway Cast recordings. She played Sandra Mescal in the Tim Robbins film Cradle Will Rock and appears on the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. She is an actor, composer and screenwriter in the film Clear Blue Tuesday, about which the New York Times said: "Erin Hill, as a giddy, harp-playing Trekker, stands out… The best and funniest scene in the film is Ms. Hill's".[6]

The Los Angeles record label Cleopatra Records has released three of Hill's albums, starting with Harp Town in 2016. Harp Town features Hill's harp and voice arrangements of songs by artists such as Rihanna, Radiohead, The Beatles, Sinatra, Leonard Cohen, Edith Piaf, Adele, Lady Gaga, Smashing Pumpkins, Kansas, Alicia Keys, Roxy Music, and Kate Bush. Cleopatra also released Hill's album Christmas Harp, and her album of originals, Girl Inventor.

Hill is an avid science fiction fan and a regular performer at Dragon Con in Atlanta, and her "Lookout, Science" and "Giant Mushrooms" music videos were featured in the Dragon Con Independent Film Festival.[7] USA Today premiered her sci-fi music video "Lookout, Science". Her westie dog MacLeod (named for the main character in the film Highlander) is a frequent co-star in her music videos.[8] Her three electric harps are named V’ger (from Star Trek), Klaatu (from The Day the Earth Stood Still), and Ylla (from The Martian Chronicles).

Hill was featured in an HBO Game of Thrones promo, playing the Game of Thrones theme on her harp.[9] She won an Independent Music Award for her song "Stun," from her Girl Inventor album.[10] and she did Original Music and Sound Design for the Drama Desk Award-nominated That Play: a Solo Macbeth.[11] Hill is also the voice and harp behind Tafne, a central character in the Android video game The Legacy of Barubash.[12] Hill has also played her harp several years for the US Open Tennis Championships in the exclusive Hospitality Pavilion. Newsday has called her "the dangerously enjoyable Erin Hill."[13]

In 2019, she debuted her show “Harp Oddity: The Music of David Bowie,” featuring Hill's arrangements of Bowie tunes on vocals and electric harp, along with her band.[14]

  1. ^ "Four Leaf Clover #1 in the Billboard World Albums chart". Billboard Top 200. Billboard.com. May 2, 2009. Retrieved June 4, 2010.
  2. ^ "People". Retrieved April 7, 2019.
  3. ^ "Erin Hill on IMDB". Retrieved October 21, 2010.
  4. ^ "Erin Hill on IMDB". IMDb. Retrieved October 21, 2010.
  5. ^ "Pretty White Girl Sings Dave's Thoughts". Archived from the original on April 4, 2014. Retrieved June 26, 2014.
  6. ^ "A Post-9/11 Pop Musical". Mike Hale. New York Times. September 2, 2010. Retrieved October 21, 2010.
  7. ^ "Dragon*Con Independent Film Festival". Dragon*Con Independent Film Festival. Retrieved February 9, 2012.
  8. ^ Kiefer, Jennifer (April 5, 2019). "Rock Harpist Erin Hill Comes Home". Louisville.com. Archived from the original on October 27, 2020.
  9. ^ "Game of Thrones: Season 3 – Theme Song Mash-up (HBO)". YouTube. Archived from the original on April 1, 2013. Retrieved June 26, 2014.
  10. ^ "Erin Hill & her Psychedelic Harp". Retrieved June 26, 2014.
  11. ^ "That Play A Solo Macbeth" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on September 12, 2014. Retrieved June 26, 2014.
  12. ^ "Live Harp Recording Session". Kactus Games. February 2, 2013. Archived from the original on March 15, 2013. Retrieved February 9, 2012.
  13. ^ "Sensual, ingenious 'Midsummer' enchants". Retrieved June 25, 2014.
  14. ^ Hoffman, Barbara (October 22, 2019). "This David Bowie-loving harpist has a wild link to Dave Chappelle". NYPost.com.