From Andy Zipf and all of us here at ITH, may you be safe, warm, loved, and well fed.
Free Download of Andy’s version of Silent Night (Mp3)

So, Into the Hill readers, you are still here, still reading, still listening, still watching. And we thank you for that. If you’re new to The Hill then welcome, and we hope you’ll join us on our journey.

As our About page says, ITH is built upon community, creation, and a passion for good art. In other words, our intent is to find out what good art is through community and creation. We feel that our job is to provide you with quality content from independent artists in the various artistic disciplines, from music to film - and maybe a little in between. But we don’t want to just say, “alright folks, this dude is rad” or “this chick rocks,” or, on the other hand, “these guys suck” or “this film totally blows.” No, we want to learn about art and discernment and discretion. We want to explore, to study, to learn. That’s what we hope you will do along with us.

With that in mind we have a slew of new features, including the following: Read the rest of this entry »

Hey folks!

Here at Into the Hill we believe that art is best explored when done so in the wider context of community. In other words, through your eyes, and thus your insights, I can more fully understand and explore what makes excellent art, what makes for poor art, and how that art is applicable to our lives — or not. That’s why we call ourselves “the ITH community.” The thing is, you see, that we also consider you, our readers, a part of this community.

With that principle in mind, we offer you an opportunity to take part, to speak out, and to voice your own opinions, insights, and discoveries in the world of independent art.

This is all you have to do:

Send me, David Kern, an email (david@intothehill.com) in which you promote an artist or a work of art that you believe the other members of the ITH community would enjoy. If you have a cousin who is in a totally rad jazzy/folk band down in Shreveport, LA and you think they deserve to have a voice, then write up a one to two paragraph review wherein you distill to the rest of us why they are so rad and why we should listen to their music. Same goes for your best friend’s alt-country solo album and your boyfriend’s brother’s punk band from Wichita. Heck, if you think your little sister’s piano recital deserves to be heard, then let us know. Or, if you think you deserve to be heard, let us know! Read the rest of this entry »