My Story

Riley Hill took up the guitar at a very young age growing up in the suburban outcrop of Shawnee, just adjacent to Kansas City, Kansas. He took lessons off and on throughout childhood but his love of music was a constant. It wasn’t until Riley moved to Northern California in the spring of 2007 that he would find a welcoming musical community and the direction and guidance that he needed to become a performer.

After recording his first album (“The New Stumptown Rounders”) in 2009, Riley began playing local clubs and venues across the bay area and eventually touring with bands like “The Cherry Pickers” and “One Grass Two Grass”. In 2019, Riley joined the newly formed “Electric Tumbleweed” with One Grass bandmates Bud Dillard, Rhyne Erde along with bassist Scotty Brown. Riley has played at many festivals across the west coast including Northwest String Summit, Hangtown Ball, The Hogfarm Hideaway and bluegrass festivals like the CBA’s Grass Valley Father’s day festival. He has played alongside notable figures like David Nelson (New Riders of the Purple Sage) and Peter Rowan (Old and In the Way, Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys). He has played countless pubs, honky tonks and dive bars and larger venues like the Great American Music Hall and Mcnear’s Mystic Theater in Petaluma.

Riley Hill has been teaching music as well for over ten years. He is proficient in several styles of acoustic and electric guitar playing including bluegrass flatpicking, country chicken picking, jazz, rock and blues. He has taught private lessons on and off while occasionally teaching workshops at the Grass Valley Father’s day bluegrass festival and west Sonoma County’s Every Folk Festival.