While they are not as "bluesically correct" as some, the members of The Steve Hill Trio are attempting to create their own sound by taking various elements of older forms of black music, including post-war blues as well as soul related styles, and mixing them with rock. Trying not to get too "busy" or "crunchy", for lack of a better term, yet at the same time, not being averse to "rocking out", the "Trio" has delineated a fine musical line for themselves. However, it is one they feel best suits them. Not "real deal" bluesmen, so much as rockers who happen to like playing blues and styles related to the blues, they rely on original material to separate them from the large pack of highly talented musicians in and around the Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas area that they call their home. Of course, like any self respecting blues influenced bar band, they also perform covers by other artists. But it is their original material that defines the band and makes them unique.
Consisting of Steve Hill, guitar and vocals, George Presley, drums, and Steve Evans, bass, the "Trio" members were all associated with a touring blues, blues/rock band during the early to late 1980's called The J.B. Strut Band. Hill was a founding member of "J.B. Strut",which was originally formed in his hometown of Chicago, Illinois during the 1970's. He and Presley were mainstays in the Texas version of the band, which traveled a seven state area, including extensive dates throughout Texas, doing shows with Johnny Winter, Omar and the Howlers, Little Joe Blue, the Tailgators, and others. Steve Evans was the "sub" bass player when their permanent bassist could not be present.
The Steve Hill Trio began in 1995 when Presley called Hill and invited him to a jam session that he was having with some other players. Very quickly, the jam ended up morphing into a band. After several personnel changes, including scaling back what had been five pieces to just three, Evans came back into the picture when he returned to the DFW area from his native city of El Paso where he had relocated. When Hill and Presley heard that he was back, the decision was made that he should be holding down the bottom in the "Trio."
The band's newest release, entitled, "What Ever Happened to Playing for the Love of Music?!" is their first all original CD, with 15 songs penned by Hill which cover a broad stylistic range. However, the roots and feel of the music stems back to blues artists like Albert King, Albert Collins, Magic Sam, Muddy Waters, Howling Wolf, Junior Wells, Otis Rush, Buddy Guy, the Vaughan brothers, soul performers such as Dyke and the Blazers, James Brown, and the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band, as well as rock influences like Bo Diddley, Chuck Berry, and bands like the J. Geils Band, the early Stones, the Animals, Van Morrison's early band, Them, as well as others in the blues, soul, and rock world too numerous to mention. The Steve Hill Trio tries not to stray too far from these roots, while attempting to add their own individuality to the mix. It's what they want to play, the way they want to play it. The band's website can be accessed at www.stevehilltrio.com.
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