Noel Hill (born 1958) is an Irish
concertina
A concertina is a free-reed musical instrument, like the various accordions and the harmonica. It consists of expanding and contracting bellows, with buttons (or keys) usually on both ends, unlike accordion buttons, which are on the front.
The ...
player from
County Clare
County Clare ( ga, Contae an Chláir) is a county in Ireland, in the Southern Region and the province of Munster, bordered on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. Clare County Council is the local authority. The county had a population of 118,817 ...
who has had great influence developing the modern playing style of the Irish concertina, as a performer and educator.
Early life
Noel Hill was born in
Caherea in West County Clare, Ireland, into a family with seven siblings. His parents and grandparents were all
concertina
A concertina is a free-reed musical instrument, like the various accordions and the harmonica. It consists of expanding and contracting bellows, with buttons (or keys) usually on both ends, unlike accordion buttons, which are on the front.
The ...
players.
He was particularly influenced by his uncle,
Padraig A Chnoic, (Paddy Hill).
He lived in a house which was the last house in the area to hold the traditional
Irish house dance, where musicians were always welcomed; particularly towards the end of the year when farm work was done. It was at these events that he learned his early tunes, rather than from the radio, books or records.
Hill started playing at nine and listened extensively to
Willie Clancy,
Paddy Canny
Paddy Canny (1919 – 28 June 2008) was an Irish fiddle player. In a career that spanned over six decades, Canny was instrumental in popularizing Irish traditional music, both in Ireland and internationally. He gained initial fame in the la ...
,
Peter O'Loughlin,
Paddy Murphy, and
Micky Hanrahan
Micky or Mickie can be a given name, but it is most often a nickname for Michael or non-Anglo Saxon equivalents, such as "Mikhail". People with the name include:
Men
* Micky Adams (born 1961), English football manager and former player
* Micky Ari ...
. Much of the music in his later repertoire comes from the music he learned as a child from those players. Hill wanted to be play the
uilleann pipes
The uilleann pipes ( or , ) are the characteristic national bagpipe of Ireland. Earlier known in English as "union pipes", their current name is a partial translation of the Irish language terms (literally, "pipes of the elbow"), from their ...
, but pipes were not readily available; the pipes were to influence his style of concertina playing.
The concertina which Noel Hill took up had initially been purchased for his brother.
Musical career
Hill has been a professional concertinist since the late 1970s. He joined up with Tony Linnane, Tony Callanan and
Kieran Hanrahan
Kieran Hanrahan (born 1957) is an Irish radio host and musician. Born in Ennis, County Clare, he began playing traditional Irish music on the tenor banjo at the age of fourteen. Over the years, Hanrahan has helped to found a number of tradition ...
to form the group
. They recorded one album. Hanrahan and Callanan then left to form
Stockton's Wing. His most celebrated album is ''Noel Hill and Tony Linnane'' (1979) with Tony Linnane (fiddle),
Matt Molloy
Matt Molloy (born 12 January 1947) is an Irish musician, from a region known for producing talented flautists. As a child, he began playing the flute and won the All-Ireland Flute Championship at nineteen. Considered one of the most brilliant ...
(flute),
Alec Finn
Alexander J. Phinn (4 June 1944 – 16 November 2018), known professionally as Alec Finn, was a British-born traditional musician who is famous for his unique style of accompaniment on the bouzouki.
He was best known for founding De Dannan in 1974 ...
(bouzouki and mando-cello) and
Micheal O'Domhnaill (church harmonium). Inchiquin continued with Noel, Tony and Barry Moore (Luka Bloom) and toured Germany.
The Pogues
The Pogues were an English or Anglo-Irish Celtic punk band fronted by Shane MacGowan and others, founded in Kings Cross, London in 1982, as "Pogue Mahone" – the anglicisation of the Irish Gaelic ''póg mo thóin'', meaning "kiss my arse". T ...
wrote the tune "Planxty Noel Hill" in response to his criticism of their band during a radio interview; the tune appeared on their 1986 ''
Poguetry in Motion
''Poguetry in Motion'' is an EP by The Pogues, released on Stiff Records in the UK on 24 February 1986, and in the US & Canada on MCA Records. It was the band's first single to make the UK Top 40, peaking at number 29 and the first Pogues rec ...
'' EP.
Hill has toured worldwide including Europe, United States, Canada, China, Hong Kong, and Australia. He teaches concertina at the Noel Hill Irish Concertina Schools in Ireland and throughout the United States. He now lives with his two children in Connemara in the
Irish-speaking region of southwest County Galway.
In 2008 Hill's career suffered a setback when he sustained major injuries during an assault in a pub bathroom at the hands of a construction labourer, purportedly over a payment dispute that was under litigation. Hill suffered multiple facial fractures, spent three weeks in hospital, and required extensive surgeries and rehabilitation. During trial testimony in 2015, Hill stated that his ability to perform the concertina had been permanently impaired by the attack, requiring that he only play for short periods of time and use medication and acupuncture therapy in order to perform.
Discography
Solo
* ''The Irish Concertina'' (1982); voted the "Irish Folk Album of the Year" in 1988
* ''The Irish Concertina Two'' (2005)
* ''The Irish Concertina 3: Live in New York'' (2017)
With Inchiquin
* ''Inchiquin'' (1976)
With Tony Linnane
* ''Noel Hill & Tony Linnane'' (
Tara, 1979)
With Tony MacMahon
* ''I gCnoc Na Graí (In Knocknagree)'' (1985)
With Tony Mac Mahon and Iarla Ó Lionáird
* ''Aislingí Ceoil - Music Of Dreams'' (1993)
As session musician
*
Mairéad Ní Dhómhnaill, ''
Mairéad Ní Dhómhnaill'' (1976)
* Christy Moore, ''
The Iron Behind the Velvet
''The Iron Behind the Velvet'' is an album recorded by Christy Moore in 1978, after the first breakup of Planxty. It was produced jointly by Brian Masterson and Moore, and recorded and mixed at Lombard and Keystone Studios, Dublin.Sleeve notes f ...
'' (1978)
* Paul Brady, ''
Welcome Here Kind Stranger
''Welcome Here Kind Stranger'' is a 1978 in music, 1978 album by Paul Brady. After leaving The Johnstons, Brady toured with Planxty until they disbanded in 1975, and recorded a duo album with Andy Irvine (musician), Andy Irvine in 1976.
''Welcome ...
'' (1978)
* Mick Hanly, ''As I Went Over Blackwater'' (1980)
* Planxty, ''
The Woman I Loved So Well
''The Woman I Loved So Well'' is the fifth studio album by Planxty. Like their previous album, '' After The Break'', the album was recorded at Windmill Lane Studios and released by Tara Records. Co-produced by band member Dónal Lunny and engin ...
'' (1980)
* Iarla Ó Lionáird, ''I Could Read the Sky'' (2000)
* Paul Brady, ''The Missing Liberty Tapes'' (2001)
* Paddy Glackin and Micheál Ó Domhnaill, ''Athchuairt/Reprise'' (2001)
Anthologies
* ''The 4th. Irish Folk Festival'' (1977)
* ''The Green Fields of America'' (1979)
* ''H - Block'' (1981)
* ''Treasury of Irish Song, Vol. 2'' (1995)
* ''Treasury of Irish Song, Vol. 3'' (1995)
* ''BLASTA! - The Irish Traditional Music Special'' (1997)
* ''Anglo International'' (2006)
* ''Experience Ireland'' (2007)
* ''All in Good Time: Traditional Irish Folk, Jigs and Reels'' (2012)
References
Further reading
* Long, Harry (2005). "Noel Hill." In ''The Waltons Guide to Irish Music'', p. 183, Waltons.
* Wallis, Geoff, & Sue Wilson (2001). "Noel Hill." In ''The Rough Guide to Irish Music'', pp. 519–521, Penguin Group.
* Wallis, Geoff (2005). "Raining concertinas." ''Return to Camden Town'' magazine.
External links
*
"Raining Concertinas" (Interview with Geoff Wallis)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hill, Noel
Concertina players
Musicians from County Clare
Irish folk musicians
1958 births
Living people
Planxty members
Claddagh Records artists