MATT HILL

I'm currently finishing up a 17 track song cycle called The Book of Ours. It's all based on medieval illuminated manuscripts. Years ago the wealthy used to commission these posh books and songs about themselves and how holy they were…

WHISPER TO ME ALONE

Last year I worked on a project with arts organisation arthur + martha. We worked in partnership with two Manchester homelessness support charities -  The Booth Centre and Back on Track - and created artwork with…

Print magazines are sadly falling away and whilst I use online sources myself - and there are many excellent online music magazines - there is a special place in my heart for the printed word.

So I was delighted to…

On June 28th 2020 I did my first livestream concert to launch my Savage Pilgrims album.  (Just press play above to watch it) Since lockdown began I've seen a lot of people do live-streaming with a really mixed…

"So you had better do as you are told 
You better listen to the radio"
Radio Radio ELVIS COSTELLO 

In a world where we are constantly assaulted by visual stimulus through adverts, social media and TV I've been pleasantly surprised…

For many years now I've been singing a song I wrote based on Arthur Conan Doyle's poem 'Bendy's Sermon'. Last year I appeared on BBC TV's Flog it! to sing the song during a segment they did about Bendigo's life…

We Shall Overcome is a movement of musicians and community organisers who are angry about the human costs of austerity policies but who want to do something practical to help those affected. I was one of the people who helped…

Inspired by Joe Pernice’s series Barely Manilow these are cover versions of songs by country music's gentle giant Don Williams. 

Don of the day #1 : Come early morning 

Listening to Don can make me feel calm and centred or…

To mark my 50th birthday in March I have decided, after almost twenty years, to drop the Quiet Loner name and revert to releasing music and performing under my own name Matt Hill. 

It feels like the right time…

Looking back on 2019 I’ve done fewer gigs than I normally play, but there have been some real highlights. I’ve picked ten things of note that happened this year. Nine were really great, the tenth is not so good, but…

A musician reflects on living with Semi-circular/Superior Canal Dehiscence Syndrome (SCDS)

A few years ago I started to notice a change in my hearing. Weird stuff started happening. One day I realised the strange scratching noise I kept hearing was…

Glasgow Songwriting festival is an annual event celebrating the art of songwriting. Around 40 songwriters of all abilities gather for twelve hours of songwriting workshops led by four experienced tutors who for 2019 were Boo Hewerdine, Carol Laula, Emma Pollock…

About two years ago I filmed an episode of BBC TV’s ‘Flog it!’, to be honest I was beginning to think it would never see the light of day, but it finally aired on BBC One recently.

I was asked…

THE PEOPLE’S VOTE – From Peterloo to Brexit
A song cycle with Quiet Loner and Tracey Browne

Singer-songwriters Matt Hill (Quiet Loner) and Tracey Browne present an evening of live music about the fight for people’s votes.

Beginning with Peterloo…

A Quiet Loner song from ‘Battle for the Ballot’ featured this week on a BBC Radio 4 documentary.

Encounters with Victoria presented by Lucy Worsley explores Victoria’s reign and this weeks episode featured the Chartist rising and an incident when…

Last year I did some songwriting sessions at various prisons across the North West. Part of that work was for a project called ‘Changing Stories’ run by a Manchester based charity called TiPP (Theatre in Prison & Probabation).

I’m fascinated…

Quiet Loner at Barking Folk Festival
Saturday 8 June.
3pm to 9.30pm in the Abbey Ruins.

I’m delighted to playing at this year’s Barking Folk Festival – a family festival celebrating the best in English and World folk music and…

When I decided to become a full time musician I knew it wouldn't be as simple as just turning up doing some gigs and selling some albums. But when I look back at 2018 I don't think I could have…

“You see the trouble but you don’t understand my struggle.”

A new collaboration between people who have experienced homelessness and local artists will be shown at the People’s History Museum on Monday 11 June 2018 as part of Manchester…

I curate and host a regular music night called the Defiance Sessions celebrating music with something to say. The gigs take place in Glossop, Derbyshire and are all about songwriting that challenges an audience, songs with a conscience, stories of…

From March through to June this year I’ll be working with arts organisation Arthur + Martha as a ‘guest artist’ on a project called Panorama.

A couple of weeks ago I started working with people who have lived experience of…