Hello friends and supporters of Irish traditional music!


I've been in the process of recording a solo album of uilleann piping and am in the final stages of editing and mixing. I have been working steadily on this project throughout the summer and will have a digital copy of the album available for downloading via Bandcamp and CD Baby by the middle of next month. However,  this will also become a physical documentation of my music in CD form, and that is where I need your help! As folks know, the costs of graphic design, physical printing, and CD manufacturing are all incredibly cost-intensive, and your generous contributions will help make this project a reality. My goal is $3500, and I have just a few months left before the targeted date.  


If this project is a success, it will co-inside with having a snapshot of my work in time for my attendance at the Northeast Tionol in East Durham, New York, where I have been asked as an instructor this year. A very high honor all around, as this event and the classes I've taken there have comprised the bulk of my piping education. In a way, I hope this will be a way of giving back to the countless musicians throughout the US whom I've befriended and have been influenced and nurtured by. 


I took up the uilleann pipes at the age of 11 in the Philadelphia area, and quickly fell in love with the instrument and the music of pipers both past and present. While the pipes are commonly used in ensemble settings and have been for the past 50 or so years, it is the solo capabilities of this unique and unparalleled instrument that I choose to present on recording. This project is a mixture of classic piping repertoire as well as tunes not normally associated with the instrument. In some cases, these tunes are being recorded on the pipes for the first time. The music of the Sliabh Luachra or The Rushy Mountain area of Cork, Kerry, and West Limerick has become strongly influential in my music over the past few years and I have included piping music there that was played around 150 years ago and collected by the veritable Canon James Goodman. Additionally, my Philadelphia and County Cavan lineage draws to mind the compositions of fiddler Ed Reavy, whose music I am quite familiar with and have a personal connection to. A few of his tunes will be featured on here, which bring back fond memories of hearing the stories behind the tunes from none other than Ed Reavy, Jr., whom I had the great honor of knowing when I was in my teens. 


In closing, I would like to reiterate the importance of this project for a personal benchmark as well as keeping the uilleann pipes alive in my new hometown of San Francisco, which has had Irish music coursing through its veins since the early part of the last century, especially piping. Hopefully, this will be a win-win for all involved: my music is presented to the public, and my supporters will have a copy of my music, plus a host of other rewards at various contribution levels. I want to also give huge thanks to the small but mighty production team I've been working with, and to a few friends who have heard sneak peeks of the musical development of this project and have given me the best guidance I could ever ask for. 


Very sincerely,


Timothy Hill