We watched 1/3rd of Winters Hill perform at Country On The Coast last weekend so we just had to send them this interview. Here is what they had to say.....
Q - How long have you been writing and performing country music?
A - Winters Hill started in the Summer of 2012. After setting ourselves a goal of playing at our local festival (Wickham Festival) we’ve gone on to play the main stage twice! We never in a million years thought we’d play the main stage. Playing country music was something that came natural and not something we set out to do.
Q - If you could invite the people who have influenced you in your music career to a dinner party, who would you invite?
A - It would have to be a pretty big table! Brian Fallon from the Gaslight Anthem, Bruce Springsteen, Jason Isbell...the list goes on.
Q - If you were to take one well known song and put your own country twist on it, which song would you choose?
A - We took part in a BBC music TV show a couple of years ago, we had to play a cover song as part of it. We thought we’d put a country twist on the the furthest thing from country we could think of. We put our own spin on Cindy Laupers ‘Girls just wanna have fun.’ Surprisingly it worked! We still play it now.
Q - If you had the chance of performing anywhere in the world, Where would your dream venue be?
A - I always look at Red Rocks in Colorado as the ultimate goal. It looks absolutely incredible, I can only imagine what the acoustics are like.
Q - What excites you about the British country scene?
A - It’s exciting because it’s new and fresh. Artists are stepping away from the well know country clichè and putting their own influences into their music. It’s almost reminiscent of when UK hip hop took off, people soon realise you don’t have to be from the U.S to make exciting music specific to a genre.
Q - The British country music scene is growing fast. Each artist having their own take on what country music is to them. How do feel that our music stands up against the music coming out of America at the moment?
A - I feel honoured to be thought of as UK Country. Our music has a country style to it, but doesn’t fit the usual ‘country’ mould. Music can mean one thing to someone, and something totally different to another. That’s the beauty of music. As a songwriter, making the listeners perceive songs in different ways is what I aim to do. Their are some incredible songwriters in the UK at the moment making the future of UK country very exciting.
Q - Where do you see British country music in 5 years time?
A - The way UK hip hop has evolved in the U.K. I believe UK country will evolve in the same way. 10 years ago, UK hip hop was an underground genre that would never be heard in the mainstream. With artists like Stormzy headlining Glastonbury, UK country has a long way to go to get to that stage, but I believe it will go the same way.
Q - Do you think you will be more accepted in 5 years, when you say you are a British country music artist?
A - Throughout our career in music we have met so many awesome and supportive people. We have played mainstream festivals (Boardmasters, Isle of Wight festival) where we never thought our music would be accepted. We were proved wrong. As U.K. country music grows, people will realise it is not all about the clichés associated with country music.
Where can we find you on social media?
www.facebook.com/wintershillband
Instagram: Winters_hill
Photo Credit - Ian Morrall - Forever British Country