
Interview by Scott Preston
The Hiders are composed of an all-star indie line up. Singer-songwriter-guitarist Bill Alletzhauser is a former member of Ohio alt-country group The Ass Ponys. Beth Harris once turned down a university scholarship for vocal music. Michael Horrigan has played in groups The Love Cowboys and The Afghan Whigs. Tony Franklin is one of the most talented jazz, rock, and blues drummers in Cincinnati.
The Hiders will be holding a CD release party for the debut of their 2nd studio cd “Penny Harvest Field” on May 9, 2008 at The Southgate House in Newport, KY. Singer/Songwriter Kim Taylor will be opening the show.
Cincy Groove: So is the new cd “Penny Harvest Field” ready for the people?
Billy Alletzhauser: We are taking care of some final tweaks here and there. We recorded 12 songs in Nashville at Alex The Great studios and plan on using 10 of them on the cd. We also recorded 2 songs here in Cincinnati at Ultrasuede studios/the BatCave by John Curley and myself. So the cd will have 12 songs. We are getting it mastered next week and taking care of the artwork.
Cincy Groove: Do you have any people play on the cd outside of The Hiders?
Billy Alletzhauser: We ended up using this guy in Nashville who is kind of a multi instrumentalist. His name is Fats Kaplin. He ended up playing pedal steel guitar, banjo, and fiddle on the record. It worked out well. There were some people from Cincinnati that were supposed to play on the record. But they were going to come down to Nashville in Feb of 2007 when we had that huge snow and ice storm. So that didn’t work out. But it was ok because Fats was there and he played 3 different instruments on 5 different songs. He did it all in about 4 hours.
Cincy Groove: Who do you consider some of your influences?
Billy Alletzhauser: Everything from Kris Kristofferson to Minor Threat. A lot of punk stuff has been a major influence on me. I think it still is in a way.
Cincy Groove: Do you remember the name of the first band you were ever in?
Billy Alletzhauser: I guess the first band that I was in that played out was called Rover. We were just like 14 at the time.
Cincy Groove: It seems each band you have been in has had its own unique sound. Almost each was in a different genre.
Billy Alletzhauser: It did kind of happen that way, but it was unintentional. Its all kind of the same to me in a way. When you are younger you seem to be defined by what you like. You also seem to be more eager to pin things down. Anymore I don’t even think of music in terms of different styles. It just comes down to whether I like it or not. I don’t understand how people can generalize one genre of music, by saying “I don’t like country or I don’t like reggae.”
Cincy Groove: What was your last full time day job?
Billy Alletzhauser: Well right now I do some free lance graphic design work. But the last day job I had was doing some stained glass work for an antique store. Repaired old windows and things like that.
Cincy Groove: So how did everyone in The Hiders end up getting together?
Billy Alletzhauser: Well the drummer and I , Tony Franklin, were in a band called Grinch in the late 1980’s. We have always stayed in touch but have always had different projects going on. After our last record, we started to get a little busier and our drummer at the time was having a hard time doing all the things we wanted to do. Then Tony stepped in to play drums. The bass player Michael Horrigan, I have known from playing in bands for a long time. He used to be in The Love Cowboys and the Afghan Whigs. Michael had been living in Detroit and was looking for a change. Our bass player at the time was kind of in the same situation as our drummer. Just having time and energy constraints so Michael stepped in. Beth sings with us and plays guitar. She and I met about 7 years ago at an Ensemble Theater production. That’s our core group right now.
The Hiders:
Bill Alletzhauser – guitar and vocals
Tony Franklin – drums
Michael Horrigan – bass
Beth Harris – guitar and vocals
Upcoming The Hiders tour dates:
for complete show details visit www.thehiders.com
April 22nd, 2008 Northside Tavern Cincinnati, OH
April 26th, 2008 The Comet Cincinnati, OH
May 9th, 2008 Southgate House Newport KY ‘Penny Harvest Field’ CD releasew/Kim Taylor
May 17th, 2008 Southgate House Newport KY
May 31st, 2008 Canal Street Tavern Dayton OH
June 28th, 2008 Northside Tavern Cincinnati OH