My newest single, Heartbreaks, on Pravda Records features Paula Nelson is AVAILABLE NOW on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon, and all other major streaming platforms!!!
Click on the cover art to listen on Spotify!
Credits:
Allen Hill –Vocals, Bass, Guitar, Songwriter, Co-Producer
Paula Nelson – Vocals
David Beebe – Drums, Whistle
Landis Armstrong – Guitar
Paul Beebe – Farfisa Organ
Recorded, mixed, and co-produced by John Bush at Cicada Studios, Austin, Texas
Additional recording by Paul Beebe at Beebe Gunn Studios, Houston, Texas
Allen Hill’s latest, rockin’ and rollin’ composition and performance, on Pravda Records, Downtown Saturday Night, hits all of the streaming platforms you know and many you probably don’t know bright and early on Friday, November 25, 2022!
The single release party is at the Continental Club Houston on Saturday, November 26 at 8 pm. Allen and band play All Over The Map and Mark Riddell presents his solo debut, Corporeal Pilot!
My brand new single for Pravda Records is a power pop nugget that celebrates loving, laughing, living, and dreaming!
Click on the cover image to start streaming your first of many spins on your favorite streaming platform!
Published by Samovar Groovathon Music, BMI
Credits: Allen Hill – Vocals, Guitars Eric C. Hughes – Drums Paul Beebe – Bass
Recorded and mixed at Beebe Gunn Studios by Paul Beebe in scenic midtown Houston, Texas Mastered by Greg Reierson at Rare Form Mastering in Minneapolis, MN
Credits:
Allen Hill – Vocals, Guitar
Jim Henkel – Guitars, B3
Landis Armstrong – Guitar
Hunter Perrin – Slide Guitar
Eric C. Hughes – Drums
Mark Riddell – Bass
Tomas Escalante – Vocals
Recorded and Mixed by Paul Beebe at Beebe Gunn Studios in Houston, Texas
Mastered by Jim Wilson Mastering in Longmont, Colorado
Saturday, April 4 = Continental Club Crawfish Boil at 4 pm is
Bio
When Allen Hill, Houston’s Minister of Fun, enters a room, he brings the party with him — particularly with his world-renowned Allen Oldies Band, which has been covering tunes from the ’60s hit parade since 1996.
Now the unstoppable performer, whose ridiculously fun shows can run upward of five hours, is releasing his dream rock ’n’ roll record, “All Over the Map,” out Friday, September 6.
“I poured so much of myself into these tunes. It’s a radical shift,” says Hill, who sings and plays guitar, bass, piano, and surfboard on his debut solo disc. “Don’t worry, I’m still all about OLDIES FOREVER, but I am also having a blast pursuing a different artistic direction.”
Unlike the ’60s platters of The Allen Oldies Band, the new album’s 13 original tracks reflect a “1970s rock ’n’ roll roadhouse groove.” From the first single, the romping-and-rolling “2 Gigs and a 1 Way Ticket to Amsterdam,” to the dancing shoes-ready “Fanny Pack,” and the heartfelt “Fall Out of Love,” the album offers an eclectic mix honed by decades of exploring diverse styles. Given Hill’s musical history, the turn in direction makes sense.
Early on Allen, a voracious fan of The Who and other rock staples of ’70s FM radio, fronted a “super high-octane classic rock band,” whose setlist included tracks by Creedence Clearwater Revival, Allman Brothers and Lynyrd Skynyrd.
“I learned a lot through that band — about how to treat older material,” says Hill. “It was a key part of developing The Allen Oldies Band. When you sing songs that are part of people’s lives you have to mean it.”
Recording his own songs is unfamiliar territory for Hill, who has built his career playing hits popularized by others. “I’ve always loved performing great songs that move hips, heads, and hearts — whoever wrote them,” he says. “It took 30-plus years of pursuing my craft to get to the moment of creation.”
“2 Gigs and 1 Way Ticket to Amsterdam,” the first single, out Friday, August 2, was inspired by his two-month trip to Europe in the summer 2018. “There was nothing on the schedule, other than the gigs and seeing The Rolling Stones in Berlin” he says. “It was a totally magical trip and super necessary.”
He wrote the title and hook first. “Doug Sahm was great about writing tunes about cool locations — such as ‘Mendocino’ and ‘Meet Me in Stockholm’ — so I definitely jumped in with that approach,” he says. “Once I banged out the chorus on the guitar, the rest of the sections fell into place.”
You can’t resist boogying to the exuberant “Fanny Pack,” written in NOLA after a college pal’s days-long birthday bash. “It’s a back-to-school hit!” Hill declares. “It’s preposterous and funny.” And catchy too.
When it comes to teachers, Hill counts Sahm, Tommy Roe and The Who’s John Entwistle among them, even though he never worked with any of them. “You can have people whom you don’t know as your mentors,” he says. “John was a huge influence on my playing bass. Roe sparked a love for sparkly pop songs.”
“Sahm’s influence was his spirit,” says Hill, who does an annual tribute to Doug Sahm with his musical cohort David Beebe. “He played anything — jazz, tejano music, rock and roll. He was a musician’s musician.”
Hill has worked with many of the artists he admires as a back-up band. “I’ve learned so much about songwriting as part of The Allen Oldies Band and working with greats, like Chuck Berry, Archie Bell, Andre Williams, Wanda Jackson, Barbara Lynn and Roy Head, that I was finally ready to make the leap as an original artist” says Hill. Bell makes a guest appearance on the track, “Soul Travels.” “When he was in the studio, I couldn’t believe it.”
He didn’t have to leave his own Houston neighborhood to record “All Over the Map” — his friend and David Beebe’s brother, Paul Beebe owns Beebe Gunn Studio, nearby. “It was a blast bringing in great buddies and players like Pete Gordon, aka Polish Pete, on piano, and Jason Barker from Banana Blender Surprise on lead guitar to make it a celebration of the friendships we’ve all made through rock and roll,” says Hill. Banana Blender Surprise was a post-college, food-obsessed, original rock, blues, funk band that became a Texas cult fave. Other great buddies who play on the album include Eric C. Hughes, Landis Armstrong, and Jim Henkel from The Allen Oldies Band, vocal wizard Tomas Escalante, Felipe Galvan from Los Skarnales, and Matt Graham from Swimwear Department.
For more than two decades, The Allen Oldies Band has become a South by Southwest must-see. Since 2000, it’s opened Mojo Nixon’s annual daytime fest at the Continental Club, performing as fans scarfed down jalapeño pancakes at 9:30 a.m. In 2005, The Allen Oldies Band played a 5½-hour set at Maxwell’s in Hoboken. “Allen Hill…a dervish in constant motion, working the crowd and testifying to the power of old-time rock ’n’ roll to soothe your soul,” wrote The New York Times.
For the last seven years, Hill’s tooted the tuba with Polish Pete’s Polka Band, which, during World Series fever in 2017, released the “The Altuve Polka,” to honor the Houston Astros’ MVP second baseman Jose Altuve. After the Astros won the championship, more than one million polka-loving fans partied — and polka’d — to the song as the band played it from a float in the victory parade.
Hill isn’t just flipping the switch in music. After decades of playing surf tunes, he’s actually taken up surfing, as referenced in “Surfer’s Sunset,” taking lessons in Galveston, Texas.
“What’s the feeling of surfing and catching the last wave out?” he asks. “If you do it right, you get to ride on top of the world and how awesome is that?”
~ Mary Huhn ~
“All Over the Map with Allen Hill” track listing:
2 Gigs and a 1 Way Ticket to Amsterdam
What If?
Fall Out of Love?
Fanny Pack
Road Trip
Since You’re Gone
Freedom and Happiness
Soul Travels featuring Archie Bell
Outer Space/Guitar Center
Marshall, The Martian Marshal
New Old Friend
I Want to See You Again
Surfer’s Sunset
Credits
Allen Hill – Vocals, Bass, Guitar, Wurlitzer, Surfboard
Eric C. Hughes – Drums, Percussion
Landis Armstrong – Guitar, Vocals
Jim Henkel – Guitar, Vocals, Farfisa, B3, Bass
Tomas Escalante – Vocals
Pete Gordon – Piano
Jason Barker – Guitar
Kenn “Skipper” Goodman – B3
Luba Dvorak – Guitar, Vocals
Felipe Galvan – Vocals, Percussion
Katie Rushing – Vocals
Fanny Pack Choir – Alison West, Ashley Cid, Matt Graham, Paul Beebe
Recorded and Mixed by Paul Beebe at Beebe Gunn Studios Houston, Texas
Mastered by Jim Wilson Mastering, Longmont, Colorado
Cover photo by Ashley Cid
Pencil Drawing by Erick Cruz
CD Layout by Earl B. Freedom aka Matt Eskey
Many thanks to all of you for everything you do and especially Joan and Henry Hill, Allison Mitschke, Cindy Bishop, Alison West, David Beebe, Eva Radke, Kristin Turcotte, Mark Riddell, John “Goodtime” Smith, Archie Bell, Roy Head, The Rehms, Charlotte Esnou, Mary Huhn, The Continental Clubs, The Allen Oldies Band, Banana Blender Surprise, The El Orbits, Polish Pete and The Polka? I Hardly Know Her Band, The Twang, New Duncan Imperials, Mojo Nixon, Hunter Perrin, The Blind Suns, Quinn Bishop, Natachee’s Supper and Punch, Double Trouble, Sig’s Lagoon, Cactus Music, Rockin’ Robin, KPFT, WFMU.
Eric C. Hughes thanks DW, Sabian, Vic Firth, Remo, Humes & Berg, Prologix, and Cympad.
This album celebrates the artist in everyone and the lives of Corbett Bishop, Charlie Knight, Andre Williams, Little Joe Washington, Chuck Berry, and Doug Sahm.
Allen Hill Discography
Albums
Send in the Crowns, Banana Blender Surprise, Secret Ingredient Records, 1994
Live at the Black Cat, Banana Blender Surprise, Secret Ingredient Records, 1994
No Shower Week, Banana Blender Surprise, Secret Ingredient Records, 1995
How to Play Bingo, The El Orbits, Secret Ingredient Records, 2000
Thrills Galore!, The El Toros, Freedom Records, 2002
Live and Delirious! on Jersey City’s WFMU FM, The Allen Oldies Band, Freedom Records, 2006
Paint the Town Brown, Banana Blender Surprise, Freedom Records, 2006
Big Robert Smith with The El Orbits & Friends, The El Orbits, Freedom Records, 2007
Ride The Wild Surf, The Allen Oldies Band, Freedom Records, 2008
All Over The Map with Allen Hill, Allen Hill, Pravda Records, 2019
2 Gigs and a 1 Way Ticket to Amsterdam, the single from Allen’s debut solo CD, All Over The Map with Allen Hill, is currently available on just about all online platforms including Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and Pandora.
When Allen Hill, Houston’s Minister of Fun, enters a room, he brings the party with him — particularly with his world-renowned Allen Oldies Band, which has been covering tunes from the ’60s hit parade since 1996.
Now the unstoppable performer, whose ridiculously fun shows can run upward of five hours, is releasing his dream rock ’n’ roll record, All Over the Map with Allen Hill, out Friday, September 6.
“I poured so much of myself into these tunes. It’s a radical shift,” says Hill, who sings and plays guitar, bass, piano, and surfboard on his debut solo disc. “Don’t worry, I’m still all about OLDIES FOREVER, but I am also having a blast pursuing a different artistic direction.”
“I’ve always loved performing great songs that move hips, heads, and hearts — whoever wrote them,” he says. “It took 30-plus years of pursuing my craft to get to the moment of creation.”
“2 Gigs and 1 Way Ticket to Amsterdam,” the first single, out Friday, August 2, was inspired by his two-month trip to Europe in the summer 2018. “There was nothing on the schedule, other than the gigs and seeing The Rolling Stones in Berlin” he says. “It was a totally magical trip and super necessary.”
He wrote the title and hook first. “Doug Sahm was great about writing tunes about cool locations — such as ‘Mendocino’ and ‘Meet Me in Stockholm’ — so I definitely jumped in with that approach,” he says. “Once I banged out the chorus on the guitar, the rest of the sections fell into place.”
My focus as a booking agent and performer is always to apply my experience, skills, and talents to make each event that I work on a spectacular success. As a performer that has entertained and delighted audiences for over three decades, I’ve observed, from center stage, what creates excitement at a party and learned how to create lifelong memories. As a matchmaker between private party hosts and top notch party bands, I utilize all of these insights to help you make your parties pure magic and tons of FUN!
I am extremely humbled, appreciative, and honored with the Houston Press‘s recognition of my impact in this fine city of Houston, Texas.
ALLEN HILL: Houston’s King of the Oldies also runs one of the city’s more indispensable booking agencies, whether you’re getting married soon or just need lively tunes for your next corporate shindig. Disguised as manic, if natty, rock and roll jesters, his Allen Oldies Band are actually pop archaeologists without peer. CHRIS GRAY, HOUSTON PRESS
Auctions, silent, live, and big board, are great ways to raise more money during fundraisers. Great auctions are built on powerful CONNECTIONS between the buyer (your donor) and the seller (your fine organization). As an entertainer, I am constantly looking for ways to build rapport and strengthen the connection between the audiences and the performers—and an auctioneer is a performer.
Here are my top tips to make more money from your auction and for your cause by setting up the auctioneer and your guests for success:
1. Always sell your organization rather than selling a bargain. Your organization does great work to empower people and help our community. Your service is powered by money and caring people. If your donors were solely motivated by bargains they’d eat fast food or rice and beans rather than paying $500 (or more) to attend your gala. Your donors believe in your organization and are attending to provide financial support to you. Remember all of your donors contributions are based on your great work!
2. Always say THANK YOU and appreciate every single bidder that wants to give you money!
3. Don’t publish market value of auction items! You are not a retail store. Auctions are a competition between two or more buyers that want the same item. Showing people that they can buy the auction item for $2,500 at the store means they won’t pay more to buy it from you, even though the money they spend with you goes to your programs!
4. Just because you like selling something doesn’t mean someone else wants to buy it! Everyone loves puppies, but not everyone is willing to make a lifelong commitment to a dog you have picked for them.
5. No one buys an auction item because it is a valuable item—they only buy it if they want it.
6. Invest in a professional auctioneer! A professional auctioneer practices and improves their craft every day. They are personally motivated to maximize the proceeds from your auction! They know how to build rapport with your donors and create competition to drive bids. A professional auctioneer can pay for themselves by generating higher returns on one or two auction items.
Your CEO, board chair, or superstar volunteer might be gregarious and incredibly successful at work, but that doesn’t always mean that person can step into the auctioneer role. Let them contribute by bidding, mingling with donors, sharing their passion for your mission, and encouraging others to bid.
7. More auction items do not automatically mean more money. Too many items overwhelm guests, and similar items dilute the value of each one.
8. Make sure you have good spotters and cues for live auctions. Spotters are a key part of the experience. Give them cowbells, whistles, or something else that makes noise when you get a new bid. This helps the auctioneer and creates excitement.
9. Order of live auction items is key. The first item should not be the most expensive or most difficult item to sell, but a warm-up that will attract plenty of bidding, allow donors to test the waters, and give the auctioneer time to build rapport with the audience.
10. Always ask for money to support your services after the live auction. Some people call these paddles up or service sales. I’ve seen health care providers ask everyone in the audience for $100 to provide mammograms, $500 to help pay the light bill, or $3,000 to provide a single scholarship. This raises money while connecting donors to exactly what you do.
Participation is key on this one. 10 people donating $100 is generally easier than finding one person to donate $1,000, so start with the lower-dollar options that give more people the ability to participate. Of course, if you can find 10 people to donate $1,000 at once, GO FOR IT!!!! Did I mention that these items are 100% margin and are already part of your daily activities?
11. Smile and have FUN!
12. Pre-sell – don’t wait until the night of the gala to let your donors know what you are offering! Send a mass email or just pick up the phone and call a few donors about auction items you think they will want. The longer your donors have to think about winning a particular auction item, the more they will bid competitively to make sure they win.
Have a great auction and thank you for the great work you do improving our community.
