Erin Hill is a singer, harpist, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and science fiction geek :-) Her band "Erin Hill & her Psychedelic Harp with The Space Rats" uses electric harp as the lead instrument with her Space Rats band of bass, drums, pedal steel, synth and harmony vocals. The music is beautiful and psychedelic pop, with lyrics steeped in the tradition of classic science fiction. Erin & The Space Rats are currently recording their debut CD. Her previously released albums are the guitar-based "Frost as Desired" and "Let Stand in a Cool Place."
On the Celtic side, Erin's album with her group Celtic Voices, "Four Leaf Clover," just debuted at #1 on the Billboard World Music chart, and in the BillboardTop 40 Independent Albums.
Erin recently opened for a-ha in Europe and London, where she played solo at the Royal Albert Hall (see the a-ha.com interview with Erin on a-ha's official site).
She has also sung and played with Enya, Cyndi Lauper, Kanye West, moby, Joan Osborne, Randy Newman, Dave Chappelle, Marshall Crenshaw, Martha Wainwright, Duncan Sheik, The Smithereens, Savoy, Julee Cruise, John Flansburgh (of They Might Be Giants), Lenny Pickett (of Saturday Night Live), and Levon Helm (of The Band). She plays regularly with Will Lee (of David Letterman), Jimmy Vivino (of Conan O'Brien), Kanye West (Live Earth, TRL, BET, etc.), G.E. Smith (of Saturday Night Live), and Garth Hudson (of The Band).
On the silver screen, Erin played Sandra Mescal in the most recent Tim Robbins' film "Cradle Will Rock" and appears on the soundtrack along with PJ Harvey and Eddie Vedder. Erin has sung solo on HBO's "The Chris Rock Show" as the Hippie Chick, and on Comedy Central's "Chappelle's Show" as the Pretty White Girl.
Erin is in the upcoming film "Clear Blue Tuesday," in which she plays (surprise) a science fiction fanatic! She has several original songs in the film as well as being a screenwriter on it. She is also a screenwriter on the upcoming sci-fi film "Fade To White," which Erin describes as “On the Beach meets Saturday Night Live, post-apocalypse.” Her songs can be heard in several other films, including "Spent," "Bad Bride," and "American Desi." She signed The Buddy Scott Trio to her label and their songs can be heard in the MGM film "A Guy Thing." As a voice-over artist she’s been heard on commercials from Coca-Cola and Match.com to Play-Doh and Dunkin’ Donuts.
Erin is known at the Ritz-Carlton on Central Park South for her rock ‘n’ roll arrangements on solo harp, playing (and singing) everything from Bowie, The Beatles, Stevie Wonder and Neil Young to a-ha, The Police, Roxy Music, Prince and Avril Lavigne.
Erin is the harpist on the new soundtrack for "The Fantasticks," on Martha Wainwright's acclaimed debut album "Martha Wainwright," on the original Broadway cast album of Sam Mendes’ "Cabaret," in various commercials (Dunkin’ Donuts, etc.), and on MTV2’s "Wonder Showzen."
She is also in The Dream Jam Band, which is produced by Rick Chertoff (Cyndi Lauper, Joan Osborne, etc.). As “Erin the Red,” she plays bass, harp, keys, sings, and is a songwriter in the band. The Dream Jam Band most recently appeared at Lollapalooza 2008 and on the Sprout network (PBS KIDS). Erin also sings, plays and is a songwriter in her group Four Celtic Voices, who are managed by the same team as The Irish Tenors, and released their debut CD on St. Patrick’s Day, 2009 on national television on QVC.
Erin studied voice with Marni Nixon and at L'Ecole Hindemith in Switzerland and has played Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall. She was a founding member of the band Wicked Felina with G.E. Smith (of Saturday Night Live), where she was a co-writer, co-singer, and played harp, guitar, flute, accordion, and hammered dulcimer. Erin’s played drums with Martha & the Vandellas; she’s a classically trained pianist and plays keyboards, as well as percussion, guitar, and vocals for Will Lee and Jimmy Vivino in The Fab Faux; and she plays saxophone and flute (and harp) on the Sam Mendes "Cabaret" soundtrack on RCA.
Erin’s original science fiction songs are often inspired by various sci-fi novels or short stories, such as the Ray Bradbury-inspired “Giant Mushrooms,” or the Philip K. Dick-inspired “Owls.” Other songs have a straight science edge, such as “Lookout, Science,” and “Girl Inventor,” while others are inspired by art from science fiction magazines of the 1930’s through the 1960’s, which Erin collects. Erin & The Space Rats do mainly her psychedelic sci-fi songs, but she also sprinkles in a little opera, which she sings probably even better than The Doctor on Voyager ;-)
Oh, yes -- she also juggles and is an expert at walking on her hands.
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