PHOTOS - Pre-1978

Byron Hill at the piano, December 26, 1954, Decatur, GA. "It all starts somewhere." -BH. Photo by Don Naylor.

Byron Hill, circa 1975. "I played a Martin D-18 then, but it was one of those made during the bad years for that model. I never knew how bad it played or sounded until I moved to Nashville and started laying my hands on some of the vintage Martin stuff the session guys played". -BH

Byron Hill, in home studio in Winston-Salem, NC. circa 1974. "Electric guitar for me was just a studio tool. I've rarely used one live." -BH

Byron Hill jammin' at a costume party in Winston-Salem, NC. circa 1975. Greg Saylor on accordion on the left. "I'm playing my buddy Jerry Blevins' old Gibson Hummingbird, which was later sold to Greg Saylor, then sold again into the wild blue yonder". -BH

Byron Hill, in home studio in Winston-Salem, NC. circa 1974.

The trio Red Cloud, 1975. (L to R: Byron Hill, Bruce Doub, Myra Holder). Photo by John Vincent (we think).

The trio Red Cloud, promo photo 1975. (L to R: Byron Hill, Bruce Doub, Myra Holder). Photo by John Vincent (we think).

The trio Red Cloud, promo photo 1975. (L to R: Bruce Doub, Myra Holder, Byron Hill). Photo by John Vincent (we think). "That's a Kay Archtop in the photo. My very first guitar, and one I had converted to a slide guitar by raising the strings. I'd run it through the PA, crank it up, and drag that slide all over the neck with ear-screeching reckless abandon. The guitar now hangs on my living room wall." -BH

"I remember in the winter of 1973, I had dropped out of college for a while, and went to work at Hanes Dye & Finishing Company, a huge, cavernous post Civil War era textile mill in my hometown. Early one very cold and dark winter morning, Dad was driving me to work. We had the radio on. A new recording by Charlie Rich came on. It was 'The Most Beautiful Girl in the World'. I think both of us reached for the volume knob at the same time to turn it up. I had never heard such a lush and haunting melody on Country radio. It absolutely gave us both goose bumps. What a song! For some reason I have always remembered that moment. Great songs have always effected me that way...I can always remember where I was the first time I heard them." -BH

Byron Hill, at home in Winston-Salem, NC. circa 1976. "I used to actually write the music notes out for all my songs and send in my own hand-written lead sheets to the Copyright Office. Crazy! I was already making regular trips to Nashville about this time, and learning quickly that all those hand-written lead sheets were a waste of time!" -BH