Reverend Leon & The Repenters

Nine Questions with Ricky Hill

Posted on April 20, 2012 by Trevor Rogers




Name: Ricky Hill

Birthplace: McKinney, Texas

Currently residing: Princeton, Texas

Musical past and present in one rambling run-on sentence: When I’m 14 I give up my dream of being a race car driver, sell my go-cart for $300 and buy a homemade bass guitar and worn out Fender Bassman amp (wish I still had that amp!) from our church youth director, teach myself to play and start banging around in garage bands until high school ends when I decide playing bass is boring, so I start singing for a cover band, the guys are 40ish and I’m 19 but they are cool with it because I am young, blond and energetic, I’m cool with is because I get to drink beer, play the guitarist Goldtop Les Paul and get paid a little, a year + later I then decide playing other people’s music sucks even worse than playing bass so I go back to bass and hook up with childhood friend Dave Williams (late of Drowning Pool) over the next 7 years we play in 3 bands together Crazy Jane, Mr Luvdog and Fugly, Fugly gets a record deal and promptly implodes, I am distraught and quit music for good, or so I think, 2 years later a former Fugly bandmate talks me into joining Vibrosound, an Emo band, I like the songs and again I am playing bass but also get to sing a lot, so it’s ok, but doesn’t go anywhere so just as always I become bored and quit, but this time knowing I’m not done with music I am then approached by a friend about starting a new band where I am the lead singer, we write some weird hybrid pop/punk/country/southern rock stuff, call ourselves The Atoms and start playing shows, the music is interesting but not always good, after 2 years we split up, then a year or so later get back together, then add some new members, write some new songs, then lose another member, add another member, rename the band Reverend Leon & The Repenters, the music is really good this time and I like being Reverend Leon, so we record a new EP in 2011, release it in 2012 and just like that…here we are today.

Website: www.revleonandtherepenters.com

1. Who are some of your favourite composers, musicians and bands from the past and present?

Tom Petty

Cheap Trick

The Ramones

The Clash

Van Halen

Janes Addiction

Ryan Adams

Foo Fighters

Lemon Heads

Hayden

Beck

2. Is there a particular song or musical passage that never fails to move you emotionally?

Stem, by Hayden. The entire song is only 1:47 seconds, but I think it may be one of the best love songs ever written. If you’ve never heard it go find it and listen to it. And just about anything by Cheap Trick, who my wife turned me on to years ago, those songs still remind me of when we were first dating.

3. How would you describe your perfect day?

On a beach with my wife, toes in the sand, cold beer, and nothing but the sound of the ocean. Maybe I’ll play a little guitar and write some music too. Can this be every day please?

4. What would your friends say they appreciate the most about you?

I really have no idea…maybe that I’m ok with whoever or whatever you are, you don’t have to change to be my friend.

5. What is your most valued material possession?

Anything related to my son’s childhood. I hold on to those things like gold. I would rather lose a guitar than one of his kindergarten finger paintings. Everything else is pretty much just stuff.

6. Who were you, or would you be nervous to meet?

No one. I have never been starstruck. The only time I ever really get nervous is when I have to perform in front of close friends and family. I hate to let them down.

7. If you could blink your eyes and be in a favourite place right now, where would that place be?

See answer to question 3. Maybe there will be Mexican food involved, which I can pay for in Pesos! Is it wrong that I keep blinking. I don’t think this question is working right, I am still in front of the computer.

Please report this problem to the help desk.

8. Is there something you would like to do more of in the future?

Spend time with my family, record more records, write more songs, play more shows, run more races, travel more…enjoy life! Basically everything I don’t seem to have enough time for right now.

9. Where would you like to find yourself in ten years?

In ten years I hope I am in the process of selling most everything I own, packing up the few things I keep and looking for a little house on the beach somewhere where my wife and i can just relax and enjoy getting old. I can dream right! - Trevor Rogers

They've played in downtown Dallas. Some have been through band fallouts, "hired guns" for groups that just didn't have it.

But now, Reverend Leon & the Repenters are where they always wanted to be: the country 'burbs.

"We kind of made a choice that we were going to move out and play a little more regionally, out toward the suburbs and rural areas," said Ricky Hill, lead singer for the band that recently released its first record. "That's really where our true fan base lies."

About two years ago, Hill — "Reverend Leon" — and five other area musicians gelled under a new banner of southern-style rock. He and longtime band mates, Frisco guitarist Frank Smiley and Dallas drummer Rob Lewis, were tired of The Atoms, their on-and-off-again band for three years running.

Enter Plano resident and bass guitarist Steve Tertel, and Hill's longtime Princeton friends, Scotty and Lisa Gibson. Musical talent meshed with maturity.

"This is the most drama-free group that any of us have ever been in," Lewis said. "Everybody's already been through whatever it was we were going to go through, so now it's just about making music we enjoy."

And that's what they did last summer, on their own dimes and direction. The band recorded "The Proposal" in just a few months, and in January released it to iTunes, Amazon and most other online download sites.

Until its studio time, Hill said the group played at "hipster clubs" in Deep Ellum, the music Mecca for the Dallas area. Self-description of their style screams against such venues.

"It's very poppy but it's got a country, southern feel to it," Hill said. "It's pretty manic and rock-a-billy at times, and all of it has a real southern twang to it."

One reviewer summed them up: "If Johnny Cash and Tom Petty had an illegitimate child that was babysat by Dee Dee Ramone" — a likening band members called "spot on." But with members' personal tastes ranging from metal to Blues, each song is its own.

"We've had the comment that every one of our songs sounds different," Tertel said. "You can always take something away from each and every song that's just a little bit different than the last one."

Love is captured "in some form or another" on the record's six songs, even "Bonnie and Clyde" and "Restraining Order." All members contribute to every song, they said, whether through lyrics, guitar riffs or inspiration.

"There are songs taken straight from my life, and there are some pulled out from thin air," said Hill, the band's lyricist. "It can depend just on your mood, what you've been through that day."

Together, the songs show how love prevails, much like band members have in finding their present collaboration.

"That's typical of a love story," Smiley said of the record's emotional ride. "You fall in love, have some ups and downs, but in the end, it all works out."

As does the band's name, which members said "came on a whim." All of the men in Hill's family except him are ministers, including his brother Chris, music minister at Community North Baptist Church in McKinney.

Hill's middle name is Leon, and "Frank and the Beans" was their next viable option. "So I became Reverend Leon and they became the Repenters," Hill said.

Their first show since the release is April 7 at the Blue Armadillo Winery in Princeton, the Rev's hometown. They plan to get back in the studio by next summer, this time for a full-length CD.

The band hopes to gain traction for that by booking gigs in the 'burbs and country. They'll at least feel right at home.

"We hope that people like what we do because that's where we live," Lewis said. "We think our audience will be more appreciative because we're bringing music right to their front door."

To listen to "The Proposal" for free, visit the band's MySpace page at www.myspace.com/revleonandtherepenters. Venues interested in booking a show can reach them through their Facebook page. - McKinney Courrier Gazzette

Reverend Leon and the Repenters may have started out as a rag-tag group of musicians who were originally just grabbing whatever gigs they could find with any bands that needed their assistance, but since coming together and forming their own group, it’s not hard to say they’ve quickly found a sound unique to themselves. “Bonnie and Clyde” features some rip-roaring guitar work that’s perfect for the band’s native Texas grounds, and features classic blues lyrics on getting over true love. - Our Vinyl TV

Reverend Leon and The Repenters is composed of members Richard Hill, Frank Smiley, Lisa Gibson, Scotty Gibson, Charles Pate and Matt Bethea. The band originates from Allen,Texas and has been making music together since 2011. Just one year later their debut EP entitled The Proposal was self released. Combining a unique blend from bluegrass, country, pop and rock the band creates a dirty southern pop sound. The six track EP provides a generous half hour of quality tunes. Get your dancing boots on and jam along to the swinging drum beats and guitar riffs of The Repenter's EP.

The six tracks are few, but generous in their entertainment value. Following in suit of other country hits, each track is uniquely titled and tells its own story. The EP kicks off with a hopeful, bright country pop song entitled "The Proposal”. One of the most enjoyable qualities of this song and many others are the male and female vocal harmonies.

It's almost if you could feel the positive energy through your headphones that this band radiates as they jam in the studio. The band may have a collective influence of sounds, but they create a unique off-country blend that is all their own. Not too twangy, not too sweet, their off-beat name accurately describes their musical mission.

I'm sure one of the most requested songs at the bar is the second track "Bonnie & Clyde". The song is a swinging , boot stomping good time. Crack a beer, grab your partner and and don't stop moving. "I Do" reverts to the country/pop genre while "Restraining Order" revolves around the topic that is in the title. The band closes with an upbeat, fast paced song entitled "Swing". The band delivers some solid instrumental action here.

The EP is far from perfect and is often predictable but all things considered they deliver.This six piece band compliments each other well, and their skilled instrumental play put the icing on the cake. Listening to The Proposal was a treat. Reverend Leon and The Repenters plans on releasing a full length album in 2015. Be prepared for more of their bluesy country sound, they are sure to be around for awhile! - The Equal Ground-Ted Rogen

Music at Dan's Silverleaf in Denton.

Nightlife in Texas means a local craft beer on a dimly lit patio, a rockin’ concert in a small venue, a glass of wine and conversation in a quiet wine bar, or an unforgettable late-night burger. Whatever you choose, these towns and cities across the state provide some of the best streets for nightlife. - Texas Highways