Page 34 - the NOISE October 2015

porchlight on! picking with deb hilton
DEB HILTON OF THE PORCHLIGHTS
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Some of my favorite songs, Friend of the Devil, for one, were introduced to me through the live performances of formerly Flagstaff-based duo The Porchlights. On warm summer days at the Campus Coffee Bean I would listen to Deb Hilton and Wild Billy Kneebone as they played guitar and laced the air with their harmonies. This October the duo returns to Flagstaff, teaming up with Flagstaff musicians Ron James and Roger Smith as the Porchlights go electric this October.
Before making the trip out to Flagstaff, Ms. Hilton talks to me about the Porchlights, and her life as a musician.
She first became interested in music as a child. “My mom had a baby grand piano in the kitchen, my dad had a drum set in the basement, both of my brothers played the clarinet and I picked up the flute, my first instrument, in the fourth grade,” she recalls. “When we weren’t playing music, mom would love to put on Simon and Garfunkel, or Janis Joplin. When dad picked out the music, he’d hand me a big box of his old 45’s from the ‘50s. I’d play DJ and would love to spin tunes like “Rockin’ Robin” and “Splish, Splash,” and my parents would dance together in the living room. Those were my first memories where I fell in love with the music.”
When she was a teenager, Ms. Hilton’s mother bought her an acoustic guitar. That gift came with music lessons for an entire year. “I learned and practiced and held onto that guitar and brought it with me when I moved out of Southington, Connecticut and took a train all the way to Flagstaff by myself,” Ms. Hilton shares. I was 21 and so scared and so excited all at the same time. I had no idea what Flagstaff had for me, I just needed to leave my hometown and the West always captivated my imagination.”
In Flagstaff, Ms. Hilton found the open mic scene, and began performing at open mics soon after moving to town. “There was an open mic almost every night of the week in those days and it was a tight community of players,” she remembers. “Performing music is nothing like I thought it would be. It certainly wasn’t anything like the music videos I watched on MTV. I was nervous, but I was a natural born show-off and the stage has always attracted me. I thought I wanted to be an actress when I was young, but I could never land any speaking rolls in plays, they always put me in the chorus, which I resented at the time. Once I finally got a taste of the stage, it fed me, it still feeds me in so many ways, on so many different levels, and I need it to live. If I couldn’t do this, if I couldn’t live my passion, I really don’t want to be on this planet. It sounds harsh, but it’s my truth.”
Brad Munn’s“Pretty Good Open Mic,”at Charly’s Ms. Hilton describes as“a catlyst to my writing songs.” ShemetBillyKneeboneatanopenmicandhebegantobackheruponthebassduring sets. “We quickly became friends and when I played him a demo tape I had made, he said, ‘I’ll produce your album if you want.’ I happily agreed and we began to write songs for our first album called The Porchlights,” she says of the beginning of the Porchlights. “We loved writing and recording together and decided to form a band and start booking some gigs around town. We played many years in Flagstaff with a lot of different players; it’s always been the most fun I experience, playing music with other people, especially in front of an audience. “
Ms. Hilton describes the timing of Billy Kneebone joining the Porchlights as a turning point when the band really began to come into it’s own. They began writing music, recording, and playing a lot of gigs. “We played out as a five-piece electric band and we also had a string band version of the band, a more bluegrassy sound featuring Aaron Tyler on mandolin, Frank Dedera on banjo and Tim Hogan on bass,” she says. “That combination of players could really burn the house down which was an eye-opener for me of how much power a group of musicians could wield on stage. Being a young and comparatively inexperienced player, being in the middle of
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that tidal wave of sound and energy was riveting for me and also very addicting. Kneebone and I have always played as a duo throughout our history of forming bands. It’s always been us, two acoustic guitars, vocals, songs and jams.”
In 2004 the Porchlights began touring New Mexico and Colorado. “We loved the Colorado water and mountains and since we were basically “touring musicians” at that point, we figured wecanliveanywherewewantandkeepthemusicgoing,”Ms.Hiltonshares. “Wemovedupto Dolores, Colorado in 2007. We had been a couple since 2000, something that just happened organically from spending so much time together, playing music and writing together.”
Ms. Hilton says that the Porchlights come back to Flagstaff often to visit friends and play local venues. She tells me of the music scene in Colorado. “I have found the music scene in Southwest Colorado to be full of musicians that are very supportive of each other, very excited about the whole experience of getting up on stage,” she describes. “For such a small populace, there are a lot of bands up here and venues available to these groups in every little mountain town. For a short while Kneebone and I joined a blues band and I found that really stretched my mind in ways it just wouldn’t have because I’m not big on the blues. But once I had to learn all of these blues songs (I was the rhythm guitarist in that band, Kneebone on lead guitar), I really liked where my mind was taking me. I started writing some blues songs, just naturally. I even bought a Robert Cray tape, and I was surprised that I really loved it. I’m wearing out my copy of I Was Warned.”
In April 2014, Ms. Hilton and Mr. Kneebone pondered the idea of getting another band together. “We called on Ron James, a master drummer and Roger Smith on the bass guitar,”she says. “In 2005 Ron sat in on a gig with us and we instantly clicked into each other rhythmically and I knew it would be a good match to have him again and Roger Smith who I haven’t played with before April but I’ve been a big fan of his style for years, seeing him in bands like The Spokes and Flying South. Adding Ron and Roger to what Kneebone and I have created turns The Porchlights sound into an electric rockin’ and groovin’ dance band and we love it!”
“The thing that drew me to this project was the freedom of being able to soar with an extremely talented and solid rhythm section behind me all night,” Ms. Hilton continues. “As a duo with Kneebone, I am the rhythm section and I have a lot of responsibility to keep it locked in. When Ron and Roger are behind us laying it down and holding it down, it gives me free range to explore my guitar more and find new rhythms which is a very exciting place for me to be, musically.”
The Porchlights come back to Flagstaff to perform for one electric weekend on Friday, October 16 at the Gopher Hole and Saturday, October 16 at Flagstaff Brewing Company. The duo will perform an acoustic set on Sunday, October 18 at Altitude’s Bar and Grill from 3PM- 6PM. Music from one of their six recorded albums can be heard on their website, but take it from a decade-old fan and go listen to them live and in person. Porchlights.20m.com
| Clair Anna Rose has been a fan of the Porchlights since before she ever sang onstage herself. editor@thenoise.us
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