Head for the Hills (band)

Head for the Hills is a four-piece string band from Fort Collins, Colorado consisting of Adam Kinghorn (guitar/vocals), Joe Lessard (violin/vocals), Matt Loewen (upright bass/vocals), and Sam Parks (mandolin/vocals). Lessard is also a founding member of alternative hip hop group, Whiskey Blanket. Formed in 2003, Head for the Hills' style of music is described as progressive bluegrass but explores a variety of modern genres, from Americana to jazz, indie rock, and hip-hop. All members contribute to songwriting and material arrangement, with the primary vocalists being Kinghorn and Lessard.[1]

History

Kinghorn, Lessard, Loewen, and founding member, Mike Chappell (mandolin) first formed the band during their freshman year of college at Colorado State University. Prior to this, Kinghorn and Chappell played music together as high school students in Golden, Colorado. Upon meeting Lessard and Loewen, they decided to pursue their mutual interest of bluegrass music. In 2003 and 2004 they played house parties and small local venues throughout the Front Range of Colorado.

Head for the Hills' first official show was at Higher Grounds Cafe in Golden, Colorado, in February 2004. In 2005, the band went on their first out-of-state tour to the Midwest. That same year the band played their inaugural season opening show at the Mishawaka Amphitheatre near Fort Collins, Colorado.[2]

In 2007, Head for the Hills released their first studio album, Robber’s Roost, produced by Sally Van Meter.[3] and most notably Telluride Bluegrass Festival in 2012. The summer of 2007, the band won the Northwest String Summit band competition at Horning's Hideout, an acoustic music festival outside Portland, Oregon.[4] In the following years the band played the Wakarusa Music Festival, DelFest,[5] High Sierra Music Festival, SXSW, Summer Camp Music Festival, RockyGrass, Mulberry Mountain Harvest Music Festival, FloydFest [6]

The band has also performed on notable radio outlets: NPR's Ideastream, eTown and more.

In 2010, the group released a self-titled album produced by Leftover Salmon's Drew Emmitt at the home studio of Bill Nershi, member of The String Cheese Incident. The album was engineered by Gus Skinas, who is perhaps most well known for his work digitally remastered Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon, among others. In addition, Vance Powell - who has a Grammy for his work on the Raconteurs wildly successful Consolers of the Lonely album—mixed the record.

In 2014, Head for the Hills released their third studio album entitled Blue Ruin. This album displayed a new direction for the band in that it was less focused on traditional bluegrass sounds and explored influences of hip-hop and gypsy jazz, to name a few.[7]

In 2015, founding member Chappell left the band to pursue a life outside music. Sam Parks began playing with the group during the summer of 2015 and after Chappell's August departure, officially becoming a member in January 2016.[8]

In February 2019, the band announced the March 22 release of their Say Your Mind EP, Spring tour dates and music video for Never Does from new EP.[9]

On March 28, 2019, Todd Patrick Livingston announced on his Facebook page that he will be joining the band on the road from April 3, 2019 to May 19, 2019.

Band members
  • Adam Kinghorn (guitar/vocals)
  • Joe Lessard (violin/octave violin/vocals)
  • Matt Loewen (upright bass/clarinet/vocals)
  • Sam Parks (mandolin/violin/guitar/vocals)

Former members
  • Mike Chappell (mandolin) 2003-2015

References
  1. "Band". Head for the Hills. Retrieved 2016-03-25.
  2. "Head For The Hills' Pickin' on the Poudre-2014 - Mishawaka". Mishawaka. Retrieved 2016-03-25.
  3. "Head for the Hills | Entertainment". The Huffington Post. 2016-07-27. Retrieved 2016-07-28.
  4. "History | StringSummit". stringsummit.com. Retrieved 2016-03-30.
  5. "Past Lineups - DelFest". DelFest. Retrieved 2016-03-30.
  6. "HEAD FOR THE HILLS AT TELLURIDE BLUEGRASS 2012". Telluride Inside... and Out. Retrieved 2016-03-25.
  7. "Blue Ruin – Head For The Hills". Bluegrass Today. Retrieved 2016-03-25.
  8. "Head For The Hills Mandolin Player Leaves Band | Grateful Web". www.gratefulweb.com. Retrieved 2016-03-25.
  9. "HEAD FOR THE HILLS ANNOUNCE NEW EP "SAY YOUR MIND", OUT MARCH 22". Music News Net. Retrieved 2019-07-24.

Additional references
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