Interview with Steve Harris of Hillbilly Vegas. We want to thank Steve for taking time out of recovering from a tour bus accident to talk with us about their revisioning of “High Time For A Good Time”. We like both versions honestly as they amazingly fit either the country or the rock n roll. – Robert Jennings
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MM: First we heard about your tour bus accident. We are thankful it wasn’t any worse than it was. If you would touch upon the accident first, and your view on touring and at times the hardships listeners and fans of bands might not realize.
Steve Harris: First of all, we are very fortunate to have all walked away from that thing. A couple of us had some serious injuries that we are still recovering from but overall everything is getting back to normal. We lost the bus but that can and will be replaced. So just thankful for the outcome. As far as hardships, I think any occupation that requires travel has the same hardships. Being away from home and the ones you love is never easy.
MM: If you were to give life, as you have observed it so far, a note what would it be?
Steve Harris: Slow down…please slow down.
MM: Why did you decide this particular song, “High Time For A Good Time” would be your next release? Is this a kick-off to something like a party, tour, album?
Steve Harris: After having everything we loved suspended in 2020. We just wanted to breathe a huge sigh of relief when we were able to get back out and play live again. So it seemed appropriate. I think everyone would agree it’s high time for a good time.
MM: It certainly is a song about letting loose and letting go. Wasn’t this song used in a commercial or something like that originally? It seems to fit a beer ad?
Steve Harris: Yeah it was actually released first as a jingle for an energy drink and then as a music video. We had a lot of success with the ad and the video. But the song never got a proper release to the streaming services or radio so we wanted to see it get out there. It’s always been a favorite of ours.
MM: Who did you work with on production for this single both the country and rocker version?
Steve Harris: The first version of the ad and video was recorded and co-produced by Alex Gerst at Empire Sound in Dallas, TX. For the new freshened-up radio version we sent the tracks to our 7th member of the band Geraldo Dominelli in Vancouver, BC. Geraldo is an amazing talent. As a producer, mixer, and multi-instrumentalist. We asked him to give us a good reason to release it again and he did! He played the organ and added our buddy Todd Ronning from Bad Company to the track, which just made it explode.
MM: You had some great guest musicians on this track. When working with various guest musicians on your singles/albums do you ever find yourself watching the techniques they use while playing?
Steve Harris: We haven’t had a whole lot of guys that weren’t our friend’s guest on our tracks. So I really don’t pay much attention to what they’re doing. I kind of already know. I’m more of an assemble a great team type of guy and let them do their jobs.
MM: Any particular instrument you fancy most using when writing?
Steve Harris: Guitar is always the go-to when we write songs.
MM: With each song written, do you sense your writing abilities become easier, or is each time like its starting over point?
Steve Harris: I’d like to think I’m a lot better at it today than I was yesterday. But sometimes I go back and give an old song of ours a listen and think wow, I need to find that groove again. I’m not a guy who constantly writes. I like to write songs for a while, take a break and then not write for a while. I like to have a totally new lens to look through when I come back to write again after each break.
MM: Did the time of lockdown give you more time to write music?
Steve Harris: Yeah we actually wrote an entire album. We haven’t done that in years. We’ve been on EP’s and singles-only diet for a long time. So that part of being homebound was kind of fun.
MM: What’s coming up next Steve, what can we expect? Have tour dates and next releases been announced yet? And we would love to speak with you again soon.
Steve Harris: We’ve got a lot of options in front of us. The new album is almost done and we are excited to get our new music released. We are also cautiously optimistic about travel again that we will all truly return to normal at some point. Just waiting for the day. Great talking to you!
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