There’s no doubt about it, watching Steve Hill play is mesmerising. Like most hot-shot axe-slingers, he started off playing guitar in a blues band at home in Canada, although he can get a tune or a rhythm out of almost anything that can be plucked, blown or hit. When he went solo, he went all the way, eventually jettisoning the band completely, going on stage and playing everything himself, literally. He has a separate pickup under the lower strings of his guitar, which routes through an octaver to a bass amp, so he thumbs the bass notes while picking the guitar at the same time. He plays a kick drum, a snare and a hi-hat with his feet, and plays another hi-hat and a crash cymbal with a drumstick fixed to his guitar headstock. Various other percussion instruments are fixed to parts of his kit or his body; a maraca, a tambourine, a can full of coins taped to his foot. Oh, and he has a harmonica frame round his neck too. He has released several CDs of this incredible solo work, but you still won’t believe it until you see it.
