Derby Hill - Derby Hill

Derby Hill

Derby Hill
self-released; 2025

​By ​Dino DiMuro​​​

Derby Hill is a folk-Americana artist from Detroit with a new EP titled Derby Hill. That sounds like a pseudonym and it may well be, as Spotify lists the songwriter as one Steven John Simoncic, but I'm happy to use his stage name going forward. Hill's music blends elements of folk, country, roots and rock, and his songs "delve into the struggles and triumphs of everyday life, weaving together tales of survival, loss and hope in a raw and personal manner." Hill's influences include Steve Earle, Leonard Cohen and John Prine. Recording was said to take place in "Chicago's basements and hall closets."

"Restless and Forgiven" introduces the resonator guitar, pedal steel and drawbar organ that will be the foundation for most of these songs. My immediate and enduring impression is that Hill has the same kind of gritty, honest voice as songwriter Paul Williams, while the songs themselves also recall the mastery of Williams' enduring classics like "Rainy Days and Mondays." This track is a jangly medium-tempo rocker with a mix of riffing acoustics, deep electrics, violin and a roomful of vocal harmonies. Playing these songs for the first time, it's clear that Hill has an affinity for ear worms, and that includes this track with its closing chants of "Oooh, La La!"

"Red Honey Wine" doubles down on the melancholic, pleading pedal steel with even more beautiful harmonies on the top and baroque guitar and mandolin melodies framing the track. This is an interesting song in that it feels like an extended introduction to an impending rocker, but nary a kick drum nor beat ever gets in the way of the vocals and guitars. 

"Come Back Home" has a simple shuffle beat, allowing lots of air for the lead vocal and opening piano. Here's another ear worm with a catchy chorus that name-checks The Rolling Stones. Great lyrics throughout including this couplet: "I'm a little superstitious, I've got Jesus in the kitchen / just in case we need a hand." With "Anything's Possible Here" it's even more evident that Hill's got a female co-singer who adds high parts and harmonies and smooths out any rough edges in Hill's voice. For me this track encompasses all of Hill's strengths in one package, with compelling verses and a lovely chorus built from a descending ladder of rhyming words: "You're still unstoppable / I'm still excitable / We can be heroes / 'cos anything's possible here." The final track "In a Matter of Moments" seems to take bits from each preceding song, thus sounding familiar but every bit as captivating and hypnotic as the rest. When you have song constructions this good, you start to take them for granted!

A fine EP, self-contained and consistent and definitely worth checking out!

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