Nathan Wilson - keyboards and vocals
Aaron Katz - drums and vocals
Joseph Farrell - guitars and vocals
John Leccese - basses and vocals
The Percy Hill of the 21st century took shape in the year A.D. 1998, when founding members Farrell and Wilson recruited fellow University of New Hampshire-ers Katz and Leccese to round out the legacy they had begun to create in 1993 as one of the top jazz/rock/jam outfits to emerge from New England.
The four met in 1991 while studying jazz at the University and played together in myriad combinations before fate intervened.
Aaron Katz, already being spoken of as one of the best songwriters of the newer generation, brought with him a stable of over 90 minutely crafted, ultra melodic tunes with provocative lyrics drenched in colorful imagery and unforgettable hooks to fit tongue and groove with the already substantial and significant Wilson/ Farrell repertoire, while John Leccese’s hypnotic bubble-bass sured up the bottom end. The result is essentially a great song oriented white soul group with fully realized improvisational tendencies, closer to what Entertainment Weekly Magazine calls "the scene’s answer to Steely Dan."
After touring for the first half of ‘98, the band entered the studio in August to record their "already . . . classic" 1999 release Color in Bloom, which went on to win the Studio Album of the Year award at the First Annual 2000 Jambands.com "Jammy" awards, and has garnered nothing short of nationwide critical acclaim, being called "the most tightly focused, addictively listenable and downright accessible studio album made by and for the preppie-stoner cult to date."
Two years of relentless touring in support of CIB ensued, and the band brought the music to the Left Coast and everywhere in between, topping off at well over 300 shows before catching a much needed breather in mid 2000. The band continues to tour consistently throughout New England and the east coast, and along the way has shared bills and stages with a diverse array of artists ranging from Wilson Pickett to John Scofield to The Samples to They Might Be Giants.
In terms of sound, substance and spirit, Percy Hill is put on a level with Sting, Paul Simon, Stevie Wonder and the aforementioned Dan; some of the greatest, most enduring and most popular artists of our time. That’s quite a company to keep. Percy Hill’s talent brought them there, and is sure to keep them there for a long time to come.
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