Quiet loner

Matt Hill is a singer, songwriter and entertainer.

His recording and live work as ‘quiet loner’ has won him accolades, including Americana UK album of the year 2004 for his debut LP “secret ruler of the world”.  Much of the critical praise for that album focussed on Hill’s abilities as a songwriter, particular his lyrics and wordplay. Inspired by the storytelling traditions of folk and country music Hill’s songs also have a distinctly British lyrical bite.  As Quiet Loner he sings songs about love, loss, infidelity, suicide, attempted murder, capital punishment, the database state, terrorism, religion, war, fallen angels, the secret rulers of the world and the redemptive power of country music.

In the past few years he has toured around the UK and his past support act stripes include Lambchop, Joe Pernice, Neko Case, Chris Mills and Lonesome Bob.  Quiet Loner is an accomplished raconteur and powerful live performer delivering a show that is emotional, often funny, usually political, occasionally angry, sometimes satirical but nearly always gentle and human.

In early 2009 he embarked on a monthly residency at The Gladstone venue in London. Entitled ‘Quiet loner’s Journey to the Netherworld‘ the evening has been described as “country-folk cabaret” and is part acoustic night part 1970s TV variety show. Another ongoing project is “Quiet loner under surveillance” – an hour long mixture of music, reportage and comedy that was debuted in Manchester in 2009 as part of the Loiterers Resistance Movement’s CCTV Cabaret and was also performed at 2009’s Shambala Festival.

As a songwriter two of his songs have been covered by Manchester band Anna Kashfi. His recent songwriting projects have included songs for an album project by former Velocette singer Sarah Bleach and an ongoing collaboration with lyricist Sean Hannam, that has led to “The property of a lady” their crack at a theme song for the next James Bond film.

His forthcoming second album is a stark and honest collection of performances recorded live in a studio during the recent cold snap. It has been produced by Mat Martin (Kirsty Mcgee Hobopop Collective) and features contributions from longtime collaborator Alan Cook, drummer Roy Dodds and Inge Thomson (Harem Scarum). It will be released later in 2010.