Singer/songwriter Dan Hill will experience bittersweet feelings when he launches a mini soft-seater concert tour in May with dates set for Richmond Hill, Meaford, Midland, Markham, Oshawa and Peterborough with fellow singer/songwriter Andy Kim.
Hill was supposed to be executing this tour with April Wine lead vocalist, Myles Goodwyn both taking the stage together, playing their songs and telling stories about the creation of those songs. But Goodwyn unfortunately passed away December 3rd, 2023, before the tour could be executed.
“I was shocked, surprised and stunned by the news, noted Hill during a lunch interview at Joeys Restaurant staged at their Don Mills location. “During our one appearance together, at the Markham Flato Theatre last April, Myles sang like he was 19 ago, he hit all the High C notes and seemed quite healthy and robust, but he was obviously ill and had to sit down during our performance, Hill explained noting both of them are diabetic. “He phoned me 10 days before he died and told me he couldn’t do the tour and I knew something was seriously wrong.”
Understanding that the soft-seater dates had been booked like a year in advance, the promoter asked Hill if he wanted to cancel the dates and so he has decided to recruit his old pal Andy Kim to step in for Goodwyn.
“I have known Andy since 1977,” Dan enthused. “Everybody on this planet has heard of “Sugar Sugar” (which Kim co-wrote with Jeff Barry)) it was Billboard’s No 1 song of 1969, beating out The Beatles’ “Hey Jude”. It came out as the theme song for The Archies’ animated television series, but all sorts of people have recorded that song including Bob Marley, Wilson Pickett and Mitch Ryder,”
Kim is a brilliant but modest individual who is also a respected songwriter and is noted for his Christmas charity show which he stages annually in Toronto and Montreal and attracts an all-star cast of guest performers. “Andy totally multi-tasks the entire event, I don’t know where he gets the energy from.”
Hill and Kim’s performance will follow the same format as that intended for the Myles Goodwyn shows with the two performers on stage together, sharing songs and stories with their audience.
Aside from the soft-seater shows, Hill is also scheduled to execute a series of song-writer seminars in British Columbia and is also due to perform a few fund-raising shows at the Blue Frog Studios in White Rock April 26th. “I used to perform at the café there during my early days and it was one of my favourite venues,” Hill noted. “I was supposed to perform there earlier on but Covid stopped me from performing there.
Speaking of Covid, Hill actually put that down-time to good use writing songs for other artists. “It was different being an artist who relied on performing and releasing records. ”I was able to write songs for other people, he says noting compositions for George Strait and a duet between Ronnie Milsap and Kelly Clarkson are also set for release.
Anthem Records also marked Record Day by releasing an early compilation of Hill songs on white vinyl as a collector’s item.
Speaking about his own legacy Hill explained that a lot of creativity was initiated during those years, “A lot of books were written a lot of music was recorded I was lucky that I didn’t have to play live. I found it a great time to write and record.”
“I don’t think about my legacy too much,” he continued. “The great thing about getting older is that you don’t care what other people think about you, you don’t have to prove yourself ad nauseum, I wrote and released six albums in six years around the world I used to spend a lot of time worrying about what people thought of me but now I love to just play music.”
“I’ve kind of gone back to the way I started with just my guitar and keyboards I don’t try to compare myself with other people when I’m playing live. My songs are a lot more famous than I am. There are more famous people in Canada than me. Butt very few have had the track record as a songwriter than I have had.”
“But that’s okay, I don’t have a problem with that. With hit songs you never know when they come and go, now all my songs are evaluated in different ways,”
Hill notes that instead of just relying on record sales and radio airplay, social media has allowed for world-wide exposure. “Now I get sizeable royalties from places like Argentina, Malaysia and The Philippines” he noted.
And there’s always television exposure. “It seems that every television commercial features a classic rock song and you look at what happened to Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill when it was featured on that “Stranger Things” episode. It went to No. 1 on the Billboard charts after initially being released in 1985.”
In winding up our chat, Hill confessed that “If someone says I am a crap songwriter, that does not bother me, but if someone says you can’t sing anymore, that would drive me crazy, that gets to my ego I try to sing everyday and keep my voice in good a shape as possible”.
And finally with all the pop star bio pix now in vogue (Bob Marley, Elvis, Elton John, Queen etc., If some studio wanted to make a movie about Dan Hill’s legacy, which actor would he choose to play himself? “Denzel Washington” he declares after pondering the question. “He’s about the same age as me (69), and apparently he can sing and he’s quite a good actor!”
For further tour and ticket information, visit danhill.com/events
