photo by Connor Hochbein
The seven-member folk band The Hills and The Rivers, busk in the streets of Pittsburgh Sat. Oct. 17.
An audience began to form on East Carson Street on a Saturday afternoon while a seven-member street folk band known as The Hills and The Rivers was performing.
As the band continued to play their melodies in the street, also known as busking, pedestrians formed into a semi circle transforming the street into the band’s own personal stage, several of them dropping donations into an open guitar case after cheering and applauding.
“I think that some people view busking as a lower echelon of playing music, but it’s not,” violinist Chris Fazio said. “It’s a valuable venue. In the street anyone can hear you, maybe even people that don’t want to hear you. It’s not that we prefer busking in comparison to shows. We’ve just had experiences busking where we’ve had a larger audience, or we’ve made more money, or even had more fun than some shows.”
The Hills and The Rivers is a band composed of brother and sister musicians from surrounding Pittsburgh communities, ranging from Hazelwood to Lawrenceville, who have joined together to busk in the streets, play local venues and tour across the country.
Street folk is essentially a combination of musical genres like folk, bluegrass, and indie while being performed in a public venue. With influences like the Pogues and Neutral Milk Hotel, the band’s music has an earthy and rustic feel with modernized lyrics. Although the band is active in the music scene by recording their music and playing live shows, the band focuses their talent into performing their music in densely populated areas for all to hear.
Lead vocalist and guitarist, Isaac Hill, formed the band about two years ago with his three siblings, Heidi, Ian and Collin. Eventually, other members like Chris Fazio, violinist, and James Bristol, stand up bass, joined the ranks of The Hills and The Rivers. The band now has seven members on a consistent basis, with some additions sporadically.
“While we are a band, I love that some of our friends can join and perform with us,” percussionist Faith Hershey said. “It’s about the experience of performing with different people.”
The band has a surplus of instruments in their songs that separate them from typical bands. Instruments like violins, a stand up bass, trumpet, flute, a variety of different drums, and even a sing saw can be heard in their music. A saw is an instrument played with a bow to produce an ominous and eccentric sound.
The same band members do not always play the same instruments. For example, in some songs Fazio will play his violin. In others, he will switch to trumpet to try and change the tone of the music.
While the concept of busking is integrated into this band’s performing style, Hill commented on the dynamic of performing with his siblings and how that’s affected their relationship.
“When you consistently play with a group of people, there can be problems or misunderstandings that can arise,” Hill said. “It happens in all bands. The only difference is we’ve been through everything together. Sure, we could break up as band mates, but we are never going to break up as brother and sister.”
The Hills and The Rivers recently went on tour this past summer with their sister band, Cousin Boneless. The two folk bands journeyed from Brooklyn to Philly and back to Pittsburgh, playing a variety of venues throughout the journey.
While on tour, The Hills and The Rivers had a combined total of 15 people busking on the street. Since the bands have a similar genre of music, it’s never been too difficult for the two bands to combine their creative talents and perform together.
The Hills and The Rivers plan to keep writing and recording music for years to come, and to perhaps be noticed by some higher recognition in the music industry. However, fame and fortune is not what this band desires.
“We just want to keep making music, for ourselves and for our fans,” Hill said.
The band performed at an event called the Folk Bananza at the Board Walk in Hazelwood Oct. 23. To hear some of the band’s music visit https://thehillsandtherivers.bandcamp.com/. The Hills and The Rivers can be found on Facebook.
