Tosha Hill: Forty Miles
Tosha Hill loves writing songs and the stories she tells about their creation are nearly as delightful as the tunes themselves. Whether it’s the tale of having to write a song on a ukulele instead of a guitar because there wasn’t enough room in the car on a family trip to Missouri, or a song written while on the Natchez Trace on the way to visit a family member in the hospital in Tupelo (she got better), or the time she wrote a song while on a road trip to Atlanta to see an Emmylou Harris show; Tosha knows how to set the scene for the genesis of her songs.
She is an Alabama girl from the Muscle Shoals area and her powerful voice carries some of the soulful magic that seems to emanate from that particular stretch of the Tennessee River. Tosha is working her way up the Nashville songwriting food chain and already has penned tunes with John Oates (of Hall & Oates fame) and Hall of Famer Brenda Lee (another wonderful story about that session!). Nashville studio players back the tracks on the record, but onstage she is joined by her brother Josh on guitar and Caleb on percussion. Her debut EP Forty Miles is a 5-song selection from an already large catalog of self-written tunes, many with the help of her daddy, Billy.
The title track is built around the opening line “Forty miles west of Little Rock / Not a penny to my name.” The narrator is a girl who has left a bad situation and is on her way to a new beginning with optimism. It’s an upbeat song despite the depressing imagery and is an excellent example of the Tosha Hill “sound”: acoustic guitar-based Americana backed with tasty electric guitar behind sincere lyrics.
“Anna” is a story song about two sisters and a no-good son of a sheriff in Nevada. Who doesn’t love a good murder ballad? This one features a stark acoustic guitar and string backing. “Roll On, Big Handsome Man” picks up the tempo with a rollicking beat and irresistible “Roll Daddy, Roll” singalong chorus. The inevitable Emmylou Harris comparisons are best made on “Babe” where Tosha’s crystal-clear vocals embrace the song much like that other legendary singer from Alabama. The bluegrass-tinged “John” is the story of Tosha’s grandparents from tiny Waterloo in north Alabama.
Tosha’s original plan was to release this EP last fall but she felt the time wasn’t right considering the political turmoil and the uncertainty of COVID-19. The project was delayed until this spring with a digital release and now the CD version of the package has been unveiled. A full-length album is planned for this fall or early spring 2022 and in the meantime, Tosha is still playing small songwriter gigs around Nashville. After more people hear the talent of Tosha Hill, I expect those shows will start getting further from home.
Find out more about Tosha here:
