What is the Life of a Musician?

Many people arrive at this blog after searching Google and asking, "What is it like being a musician?"
This is in fact one of the reasons I started the blog in the first place.
As I haven't posted for a while it seemed a good idea to summarise the last few months, which will in turn answer the question of life for this particular musician.


The latest album, 'Standing on Air,' which can be found on iTunes, Amazon, and hard copies from our website has been doing very well, with Robin performing some of the tracks in concert on a regular basis, particularly, 'Fantastic Mr Felix,' and 'Jacaranda'.

He is also working on a single which will be released in the very near future.
This has been an exciting project and I look forward to letting you all hear it.
However, writing, arranging and then recording a song is a time consuming process and one that has had to be fitted in between long journeys, jet lag and trying to spend some time with the family.
But, when next home for more than a few days, Robin hopes to complete the single and even film the video.
Watch this space for further news.


As I have said, musicians generally have to travel, often extensively, and this has certainly been the case for Robin.
In the last three months alone he has visited Spain, France, Italy, Gibraltar, Portugal, USA, Turkey, Russia, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Greece, Hawaii, American Samoa, Fiji, Tenerife and Morocco.
Many of these he has actually been to on more than one occasion.

Sadly Robin rarely performs in the UK, with only one concert, held on the River Thames with Soprano, Izzy Cooper, back in August.

So as you can see, musicians need to be prepared to travel, practically every time they go to work, and sometimes that travel can be long and arduous.
But, having said that, just in the last few months Robin as performed the music he loves to approximately 10,000+ people.
That in itself is an amazing figure and one that surprised me when I decided to roughly work it out.

But the audiences are also what makes it worthwhile.
Being away from home and family for extended periods of time is difficult but the reward of applause after a successful concert certainly helps.

But where is he now?
Actually he is in Chile hoping that his luggage catches up with him before his first concert....

Robin Hill on MySpace

I have finally finished the new site that I have mentioned a couple of times.
We have now launched our MySpace page.
For those unfamiliar with MySpace, it is a social networking website, which offers interactive, personal profiles, music, videos and blogs.
For all musicians it is an essential marketing tool and you ignore it at your peril.
With millions of users, and more daily hits than Google, the potential to keep in touch with, and to expand your fan base, is huge.

Consequently I have been working on this for a little while, and now, at last it is ready.
In only a few days our list of friends has been growing, and will hopefully continue to do so.

So, go over and have a look.
Feel free to leave a comment or message, or,'click' on any of the friends we have already made, so you can have a look at their pages.
As it is interactive, the content will be constantly changing, so it's worth regularly visiting.
Also, for those of you who have been following this blog for nearly two years now, but as yet haven't seen what I look like, all is revealed...well not quite all..

Just click this link: MySpace:Robin Hill and have fun!

Interview in 'Lancashire Magazine' Plus Robin Hill's Travel Tip

For anyone able to get hold of a copy of 'Lancashire magazine', March edition, you will see a familiar face on the front cover, and a lengthy interview with one Robin Hill.
Angela Kelly talks to Robin about his musical career to date. I wasn't actually in when this interview took place, but it appears to have gone well, as the article covers a great deal of ground, and makes for very interesting reading.

It did cause some mirth in our house though, both children were very amused to hear their Dad described as 'quietly-spoken', not something they are familiar with. Also, son number two was delighted that their ages had been muddled up, and he was now 10.
Age is all important to small children.
Whilst son number one had been relegated to the meagre age of 5. But he wasn't too phased, he has had enough publicity in his own right, and had his age miss printed enough times, not to be bothered about it.

There are even some very nice photographs which show the distinctive markings on Robin's beautiful Miguel Rodriguez, guitar.

News from Crystal Symphony.
Well, the pressure is now off Robin as he performed his final concert, of this trip, last night.
More details when I get them.
I do know that Robin did go into Acapulco yesterday. He allowed himself a little time to relax as he really likes the harbour, and town beyond.
One problem everyone faces when travelling abroad, wherever they are, is being inundated with local men, woman and children, trying to take you places you don't want to go, or sell you things you don't want to buy.
They go to the trouble of learning standard phrases, in many languages, and it is often difficult to extricate yourself from the situation without appearing rude.
Well, Robin has devised a cunning new method.

As the locals corner him, and start offering everything, and anything he may desire, (and I mean anything...) Robin has taken to looking straight at them in a bemused way, shrugging his shoulders and gesticulating wildly, whilst muttering, "Mish mash mush," in as thick an accent as he can muster.
A path clears around him and he goes on his way.
I can imagine these poor people going home and 'Googling' 'Mish mash mush', in the hopes of finding the origin of this new language, so they can become fluent within a few days.
Good luck to them.

Cunard's Queens in New York

There has been little communication from the high seas today and we are now reduced to e mail.
However, I did talk to Robin late last night, and he was very impressed with Cunard's new ship, the Queen Victoria.
He thoroughly enjoyed the experience of standing on the deck, with Mozart playing gently around him, whilst he watched the QE2, which was alongside, and the Hudson Bridge in the background.
The QM2 was of course also there, and the celebration of this historic event, complete with fireworks, was fantastic.
You can read more about it in this article, 'Three Cunard Queen Ships Meet in Manhattan for Once-in-a-Lifetime Event'.

When we spoke, the QV had set sail and the QE2 was still with them, but I expect they have now gone separate ways.

I was rather amused to discover that someone found this site by a google search, 'Cunard Queen Victoria, Does it have irons in the rooms'?
Well, from my experience of Robin's many trips abroad, on various lines, I have never seen any evidence of there being an iron even in the same hemisphere, never mind in the room.
However, I suspect they do have them on board, and probably in each room, but that Robin hasn't quite worked out its function.....

He is there to work though and it's the first of his two concerts tomorrow.
So I would imagine that Robin is running through the first programme, and limbering up his fingers with some right and left hand exercises, to recover from the long journey.

Musicality and the Nature/Nurture Debate

It's the old nature/nurture debate.
Is musicality inherited or environmental?
Well, before we go any further, I haven't got all the answers...
However, in our not so random sample of 2 small children, there have already been some discoveries.
When son number one was a mere 8 years old, Robin was playing chords on the piano, and explaining major and minor to him.
In a moment of madness, Robin then said that if he could identify 10 chords correctly, in a row, then he would buy him a playstation game.
Robin felt sure his money was safe.

Not the case.
The tension mounted to unbelievable levels as son number one rattled through the answers, getting them all correct.
By the time we were on number 9, son number one could barely remain seated, and was almost passing out with excitement.
He got the 10th one right, and Robin's pocket, was considerably poorer.
But it wasn't all about the game.
Both son and parents were shocked at the speed that he had picked up the concept, and, to this day, continues to identify major and minor accurately.

But, is this just a skill that he learnt, albeit very quickly, or have some musical genes been passed down through Robin?
I suspect there's an element of both at play here.
The exposure our children have to all forms of music is probably much higher than most.
Even before birth they both got very excited at the sound of the piano. Whether the sound waves of the piano transverse the uterus more happily than those of the guitar, I wouldn't know.
But it's interesting.

Both boys have an excellent sense of rhythm and a substantial knowledge about music and composers.
The reason I have been thinking about this today, is that son number one came running out of school yesterday, brandishing a piece of paper and beaming from ear to ear.
The project in his music class had been to find out, and write up, all about a composer.
He chose Robin Hill, his dad....
I must say he did an excellent job, and visited this site three times, gathering information!
He was also very proud when all his school friends decided to 'Google' 'Robin Hill Guitar' and found that there are in fact many references to him.

Whether he, or son number two, will go on to be involved in music, remains to be seen.
It can be hard being the son of a musician, so much more is expected of you at the school concert, than the other children.
We, therefore, haven't forced the issue in any way.
We do however have some excellent footage of him conducting at a very young age, maybe 3 years old, and his timing is impeccable.
So, watch this space.....