writing from Dresden in East Germany. We played here last night, and the night before that in Berlin. We are having a great time…seeing very beautiful countryside and the cities are incredible. Our hotel in East Berlin was across the street from one of the last places where the original Belin Wall is still up. Even though it came down in 1989, the memory of it is still very present in the city and the art. The crowds have been great so far. Lots of people at the shows, and very receptive to Jack and me. We did get a single heckler in Berlin though and to hear the heckle in a German accent was something special. The rest of the crowd rallied behind us though and called out for an encore after we finished. And then Jack and I killed him. That’s all for now. Keep the emails coming…
Winter 2005 Tour Journal Entry: 1
jack and i are in duisburg germany today. our first show was last night in utrecht, netherlands. very fun and the venue folk were as nice as can be. all the workers were volunteering just for the love of music…just like playing in los angeles, except not at all the same. we are missing our families, but having fun with eleni mandell and her band. just getting to know everyone at this point, but everyone is very cool… we also miss mike and jim (the missing quartet members) and we were listed on tonight’s show as the full quartet. won’t everyone be surprised. jack and i are sounding good though and the crowd response last night was excellent. the european speed of life is really suitable to touring…a bit slower and fun. great coffee, beer, and the good news about netherlands, weed…luckily my parents aren’t reading this. ok, all for now. thanks for everyone’s support so far.
Third Full-Length Album “Tercero” released in Europe
The Quartet’s third full-length album, “Tercero,” was released in Europe on February 7th, 2005 on Trocadero Records. It is a digipak CD with full liner notes and lyrics. UPDATE: It is no longer available in stores but can be purchased through our shop. You can also hear select songs via this site here.
“Tercero” Review by Maurice Dielemans of Kinda Muzik
Sid Hillman: he comes from Los Angeles, is the nephew of the legendary Chris Hillman from The Byrds (and also The Flying Burrito Brothers and The Desert Rose Band) and years ago he once sent me a package containing the untitled debut from his band, The Sid Hillman Quartet. But Sid Hillman does not try to recreate the psychedelic country rock and the safe bluegrass music of his rich uncle.
Although there is usually no living to be made from autumnal, gloomy manmade music – just ask Robert Fisher from Willard Conspiracy – he nonetheless seems to have found his niche with the new release from The Sid Hillman Quartet, called simply Tercero. The record is produced by the folks at Trocadero, who are getting the new year off to a start straight away with a number of strong releases including fantastic records from Kelly Pardekooper, Eleni Mandell and Angel Dean %26 Sue Garner.
Tercero from The Sid Hillman Quartet is also recommended, and this time we are not served up easy-listening pop songs. There is therefore little point in discussing the numbers one by one. It must also be said that it is only after having listened to this several times over that the melancholy singing of Sid Hillman and the unilateral tracks on the dark Tercero make room for solemn country noir. But let’s be honest: true growth records like Tercero are often also the best and achieve the most.
Maurice Dielemans
Kinda Muzik