—by Kristi Shade

Erin Hill is bringing a little theater to the harp… and a little harp to the theater. Find out what this truly one-of-a-kind harpist is all about.

I first met Erin Hill about seven years ago at a gig at the Plaza Hotel. Erin and I, along with about six other harpists, provided the ceremony music for a lavish New York City wedding. As we waited for guests to arrive, Erin looked over at me with her sparkly, enthusiastic, bright eyes and asked, “What tunes do you know? Let’s jam!” That spirit, spunk, and creativity has been a thread throughout her career. Described by Variety as “dauntingly versatile,” Erin is a harpist, singer, actor, songwriter, and self-described sci-fi geek. All of these facets of her personality seem to feed into each other to create Erin Hill, the Psychedelic Harp Girl. I met up with Erin at her Queens, N.Y., home to take a peek into her quirky, magical, musical world.

Harp Column: Erin, you are a harpist, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, actor—did I leave anything out? How would you describe yourself?
Erin Hill: Well, I think you did a good job just then. [Laughs] It’s funny, at one point in my life, I was just acting and it was taking all my time. Because when you are in a Broadway show, you are doing eight shows a week and you have only one day off—and it’s Monday. What gigs happen on Monday? You just can’t do any gigs. So after I did three [Tony Award-Winning] Broadway shows as an actor, I turned down two more Broadway shows because I could see this future where I did one Broadway show after another in supporting roles—it may have been different if I had been a star—and at the end of that, I just would have been in a bunch of Broadway shows and that wasn’t going to make me happy because I wasn’t doing music—my own music, definitely—and I wasn’t getting to do harp. Singing, writing songs, and playing the harp are my three favorite things in this life. And I do love acting, but not as much as my three favorite things. So, that’s why I left my agent and made the move to music. I still do an acting gig, usually once a year. I just did some indie films. And last year I did A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Classic Stage Company with Bebe Neuwirth and Christina Ricci. Oh, that was so much fun, and we were all double cast so I got to play not only First Fairy but also a mechanical. They also put harp into Midsummer for the fairy song. It was just me playing the harp and singing the song while Bebe and the other fairies danced and rose petals fell.

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HC: Wow, so your worlds kind of collided for this.
EH: Yeah!

HC: Well it sounds like they really lucked out in casting you—had they not found you they would have not incorporated all of these elements, including the harp, into your character.
EH: Yeah, it would have been all recorded music. The director said, “I cast Erin in this show and knew she was also a wonderful harpist, so I realized I would be a fool to not use that!”

HC: Wow! Tell me a bit about your background with the harp—where did you grow up, where did you study?
EH: Well, I am from Kentuckiana.

HC: And, what exactly is that?
EH: [Laughs] It’s Louisville, Ky., and right across the river is southern Indiana. I started harp when I was eight years old. I had been playing piano since before I could walk—I was banging on the piano. My grandma, she plays piano by ear, so she has a piano, and then my parents got me into lessons. So one day when I was eight years old, my mom took me to my piano teacher’s house and there was a harp in the living room. It was love at first sight. I will never forget–I had never seen anything so magical and beautiful and I went over to it and I was practically drooling! I wanted it more than anything. I was totally serious and was gigging by the time I was 10. I studied with Elaine Cook. A wonderful, wonderful teacher.

HC: And did you go to school for music?
EH: I had a double major in music and theater.

HC: So, what brought you to New York?
EH: I got an acting agent. [Laughs] I did a theater showcase coming out of college, and I got an agent and an offer out of it so I came here and that’s when I was concentrating on acting. I was doing the acting because, it just…happened.

HC: I think you are intriguing to a lot of harpists who maybe grow up thinking there is only one path for the harp. It is enticing to see that you have carved your own niche. How have you created this niche for yourself in the harp world?
EH: Well, from the time I was little, I always loved rock ‘n’ roll and pop songs. I was always singing them and playing them on the piano, so it was only natural that I started playing them on the harp. And I just started making up my own arrangements of songs that I heard on the radio or on albums that I got. I also play by ear, so I remember when I was 14 and playing at a Louisville hotel and someone would come up to me and say “Hey, do you know…” and I would say, “Sure!” And I would figure it out. And singing and playing, I did that on the piano, so why not on the harp!

HC: You’ve never really let the stereotype of harpists hold you back, you have created your own path and you’ve always done your own thing–I think that’s really inspiring.
EH: Oh, good. Yeah, and the way I was raised, was “You are just as good as anyone, don’t let anybody tell you what you can’t do. You can do anything!” And that just kind of informed everything else. So hey, if I love a song, I will just do it! And I also love classical! It’s transporting! I remember when I made my debut with the Louisville Orchestra when I was 12—it was thrilling! And also, being from Kentucky, I love country music and jazz, so I like to play that on the harp.

HC: It’s fun to see someone play that kind of music on the harp!
EH: I remember when I saw Park Stickney play a jazz gig, it’s one thing I will never forget. I was slightly worried that I was physically doing things that were not kosher when I played the harp. And then I saw Park and I said, “Wahoo! I no longer have any worries! I’m going to move however I want to move!” I like to be uninhibited.

HC: From where do you draw your inspiration for composing?
EH: Well, I used to just write love songs, like everybody else. I’ve always been a science fiction geek. My dad had a great science fiction collection—magazines, Ray Bradbury, Philip K. Dick—and I just love Star Trek. I am a huge Trekkie. That is a consuming passion for me. At one point I was playing in a band, doing my original love songs (on the album Frost as Desired, by Erin Hill). It was guitar based—I played on guitar and would do only one song on the harp per gig. Then I could just bring a tiny harp, so it made it easy! I was doing a gig, and a friend said, “You know, girls with guitars are a dime a dozen, and I’ve never seen anyone rock out and be a front woman singing and playing the harp like you. And that’s what you should be doing.” It was an epiphany! I realized that not only did I agree with him, but also that’s what I wanted to do! I think what had kept me from doing it was the logistics of bringing a harp into a rock ‘n’ roll club. And I finally just decided, okay this is going to be a huge pain, but I am going to do it. So from that point on, I started writing all my songs on the harp. Deciding to do that and being freed up and throwing caution to the wind, I decided, while I’m at it, I’m going to write songs about whatever I want to write about. And what do I want to write about? Science fiction! And science! It’s just so great! I love The Twilight Zone, I love reading sci-fi short stories. So, musically, these songs are the equivalent of short stories.

HC: It’s captivating–it gives your songs more meaning and depth to them.
EH: It’s certainly different!

HC: As someone who does not know much about science fiction, can you tell me what “Dragon*Con” is and how you were a part of it in 2012?
EH: Dragon*Con is the world’s largest science fiction convention, and it’s held every Labor Day in Atlanta. I have two sci-fi music videos [Lookout Science and Giant Mushrooms]. A fan of mine said, “Did you know that Dragon*Con has an Independent Film Festival?” I submitted both of my videos and they were accepted and they invited my band to play! I brought my three-quarters-size electric Camac harp named V’ger, a Star Trek reference.

HC: Tell me a bit about your group, Erin Hill and Her Psychedelic Harp. How did the group come to be, what is the instrumentation, and who are the other musicians in the group?
EH: The band consists of bass and drums and my husband, Mike Nolan, on pedal steel. The harp and pedal steel are a really interesting combination. I believe they are the only instruments that use pedals to change the pitch of a note, so it’s really interesting how they weave together. And I know pedal steel is normally found in country music but of course, when we’re rehearsing my mantra is “no country!” Bass and drums was a no brainer. I was playing the guitar and I substituted the guitar with the harp. And what I am with the harp, is the lead guitar and the rhythm guitar both, it’s awesome! The cello [cellist Leigh Stuart] is a nice flavor to add. I also have my backup singers Liz Holtan and Carol Crittenden. The reason I made up the band name—when it was just little me, I thought, “How do I stand out in a list of names like in a phone book?” So my idea was, as people are deciding who to see at a music festival or what album to buy and they see “psychedelic harp”–well, I will certainly stand out! I wanted to have harp in the title but also an adjective since everyone thinks the harp is just classical. So that’s where the name came from.

HC: Your song “Stun,” from your band’s album Girl Inventor, is a nominee in the eclectic category for the 2013 Independent Music Awards (IMAs). Congrats!
EH: Thank you, we are very excited!

HC: Tell me about your involvement with Gridley
Records, the label your album is released on.
EH: I incorporated and made Gridley Records. It does have one claim to fame. I was in a Celtic group [Four Celtic Voices] and my record label produced the Celtic album and it hit number one on the Billboard World Chart.

HC: Wow! Well, as an accomplished Celtic harpist and vocalist, tell me about that part of your life. Do you still play a lot of Celtic harp?
EH: Oh, yes, just look at me! When I came out with red hair, my mom said, “She’s Erin Kathleen!” So it only made sense that the red-haired Erin Kathleen would play harp. And whenever I was out playing, people would come up to me and say (in a thick Irish accent), “Do you know Molly Malone?”

HC: And you better!
EH: Of course! I went home and I learned [Celtic tunes]. And my dad had a huge collection of Celtic music.

HC: A play that you wrote original music for recently was nominated for a Drama Desk award. How did that project come to be and what was your inspiration for the music?
EH: The play is called That Play: a Solo Macbeth. I did original music and sound design for it. My sister co-wrote and directed it, and I wrote and recorded the music—with plenty of harp, of course, which fit perfectly! In a Shakespearean setting, it worked great. They used my recorded music and effects for the play. It was very exciting!

HC: Once again, your worlds are so intertwined—it’s serendipitous!
EH: Yes, I am happy to be the ambassador to bring more harp to the theater. When I did Cabaret [in the original cast of the Sam Mendes/Rob Marshall revival] there was going to be no harp in the orchestra, but since they cast me, they put harp in a couple of songs where I wasn’t on stage and could play.

HC: Tell our HC readers what the Fab Faux is and how you are a part of them.
EH: The Fab Faux is a Beatles cover band, as you might imagine! It was started by Will Lee [bass player, David Letterman Show] and Jimmy Vivino [Conan O’Brien’s music director and guitarist]. The Fab Faux don’t dress up like The Beatles; it’s about the music. I met the drummer, Rich Pagano, when I was doing a show at New York Stage and Film with Cyndi Lauper (I was also playing harp in that show). Rich was the drummer in that, and at the first rehearsal he overheard me making some obscure reference to The Beatles (I love The Beatles!), and he ran over and we just started Beatles talk, like another language! And by the end of it, he said, you have to play with my band, The Fab Faux! And I’ve been playing with them ever since and I am a total die-hard Beatles head. There are four Beatles songs that used the harp—“Across the Universe,” “The Long and Winding Road,” “Good Night,” and “She’s Leaving Home”—if only there were more, but at least there are four! So I do those songs on harp, but I also play synthesizer, rhythm guitar, percussion, and back up vocals on some shows. But thank God the Beatles used harp!

HC: Tell me your most memorable or rewarding performance experience to date, if you can pick one!
EH: Yes, I can. Most rewarding was, in 2008, I toured with a-ha, the Norwegian band famous for the song “Take on Me.” We toured in Norway and the U.K. and we played Royal Albert Hall. I was singing backup and playing harp for them but I was also opening for them. So, I opened—just me and the harp. Royal Albert Hall, sold out, I got up there with my electric harp, spotlight on me and I played my 20-minute opening set and it was such a thrill. One of the songs I played was my arrangement of “Space Oddity” [by David Bowie], and if you can imagine the part with the hand claps, and if you can imagine a sold-out Royal Albert Hall clapping, completely unbidden. After that Royal Albert Hall solo performance I remember saying, “I hope that something this exciting happens to me again before I die, because, right now, this is the top.”

HC: Because where do you go from there?
EH: Exactly. I still have time to top it, we’ll see.

HC: I’ll think you’ll do it! Changing gears, what is a typical day like for you, if there is such a thing as a typical day?
EH: That’s the thing about being a musician; there is no typical day. Before I go to bed, I have to look at my calendar and say, what’s tomorrow? My ideal day is not having to wake up before noon and recording in the studio. I just love getting to record in my [home] studio.

HC: What projects are you currently working on or most excited about?
EH: Well, I’m recording this week with Jewel on her second Christmas album, which I’m really excited about.

HC: Does she write the parts for you?
EH: No, Joe Mardin [the producer] wrote the arrangements. I also want to do some albums of my arrangements of pop songs. One of my favorite things to do when recording is to not prepare at all. So, I usually don’t ask for any parts or any MP3s. It makes me so happy to just show up and hear a song and just jam to it. That’s my favorite thing to do. I recently did that with a film score. Paul Brill had me come in and play on some tracks. And I got to just show up and improv. It was so great! I always say, “Hey man, don’t write me a part unless you really feel strongly about it, because I will just play around and we will have fun and try different things.” Sometimes you play something and they don’t have any suggestions and say, “That’s just perfect.” That’s fun. When I did South Pacific [national tour as harpist and rehearsal pianist], I thought, “Wow that’s a big book, and I have to learn it?”

HC: You thought, “Can’t I just improvise the whole show?”
EH: [Laughs and nods]

HC: Tell me about your work as an actor and how that has influenced your work as a harpist/musician and vice versa.
EH: When I’m doing a [harp] performance, it’s me, but I’m also playing the part of a rock ‘n’ roll star. So you’re interacting with the audience and just being comfortable in front of an audience. That’s a huge thing that acting can give you. I remember when I was doing Cabaretin Studio 54 and I had been away from the show for a bit and I was doing a movement and I realized “I don’t know what move comes next” and I thought, who cares and did some attitude to the audience and turned around. Before I was an experienced actor, that moment could have been terrifying! But instead I thought, “Hey, it ain’t brain surgery; no one is getting hurt.” That can apply to music–when you’re doing a song and you forget some part of it, there are worse things. When I do solos on the harp, I don’t always have it written out and sometimes it’s brilliant and other times it can totally fall flat. And I’m comfortable with that risk because I think it’s worth it.

HC: You played at the Ritz-Carlton on Central Park South for many years as their harpist, tell me about that.
EH: I loved it. Sometimes I would be on my way to the Ritz and I would hear a song on the radio and I would think, I’m going to try that song today! And people would come up and request funny things and the only thing I would try to avoid was the rare occasion when they would ask for classical. I would say, “Hm, what’s your favorite pop song instead?” Can you believe people would actually come up and request “Canon in D?” I mean come on!

HC: [Laughs] You would say, “I’ve never heard of that song!”
EH: Yes, “I don’t know it, sorry!” It was great; people got to know me there. Some of the arrangements I do now were because people requested them there.

HC: Do you have any funny stories from the Ritz?
EH: Well, I used to wear a wedding ring. In the winter of course, rings are looser than in the summer. So I was playing one time and I played something vigorously and my wedding ring flew across the room and rolled under a well-dressed older lady. It was under her skirt! I had to go over and say, “Excuse me, I think my wedding ring is under your skirt!” And ever since then I have never worn my wedding ring. It’s much better this way, unfettered.

One fun thing that happened, Aretha Franklin came in to have tea with Jennifer Hudson. I knew they were there, so I subtly (maybe not so subtly) started playing “You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman.” Jennifer Hudson stood up and sang the song with me playing. That was fun.

HC: Amazing, what a moment! What kind of harp do you play?
EH: With the Fab Faux, I have always played my Cunningham harp with a Dusty Strings pickup system. I have two of them and use them mainly for Celtic and Fab Faux gigs. And then, of course, my Camac, V’ger. I also have a new harp that is arriving from Camac. It is a DHC 36-string electric carbon fiber harp in silver sparkle! I’m so excited. “Sparkly” is what I’m calling this new harp for now.

HC: Is there any inspiration or advice that you want to leave the readers with? For young harpists or really any harpists?
EH: I would say to young harpists, if there is a song you want to learn or work on, do it. Of course all of us, in order to be proper harpists, must learn classically, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t also play whatever song catches your fancy. Whether it’s a Katy Perry song or a jazz song, you can learn it! •