The Hiders

As of Tuesday the 18th of October Two Thousand and Eleven  5:13PM

"Twilight drops her curtain down, and pins it with a star."

It's been nearly four months since our last message in a bottle. Time may seem to move fast for you but here on the S.S.Hiderton time moves painfully slow. Where to begin? When the crew has the time and energy and aren't busy wrestling giant squid, examining cyclopian albino shark or simply nursing our divine punishment with it's ironic cure "pelos de la misma chancha"we have managed to capture some recordings. Delia P. has felt left out as we hash out the mundane details but has kept busy with her imaginary "Theater of Know".  Sweet Kev. has completed and released his own musings titled "Goodbye Gemini" ( I suspect some reference to a futuristic 'paradox twin' existing in a universe where light speed is actually possible...sigh, if only )...I'm sure it has reached what I would guess to be the shores of the Bahamas and is surely delighting it's inhabitants. Brian seems to have moved from one virtual reality to another; this is larger and down the boulevard and he shares it with an attractive student of law named Ginger ( Ha! As if a woman could understand law ) Meanwhile greasy Earl has left his Smurf village to rot and has joined your humble captain in the arid deserts of yesteryear taking on the personas of T.W.Grizz and Sonny J. Sumo blowing away suckers for gold and glory; Grizz with his shotgun and me with my golden president's revolver. When the crew is all asleep I pen musings of my own. An epic play about an autistic child, a disfigured priest and a rake. 

As of Saturday the 25th of June Two Thousand and Eleven One 0 Three AM::

Despite the rain the cave is dry and afloat; The crew is steady but I sense restlessness. Despite the crews hard work and our new fangled recording contraptions I admit to still having what the crew has coined " Mic Fever " ( perhaps it's scurvy setting in; too much port and lack of fresh fruit ) Still, we are determined to press onward. Plans to document an adaptation of 'China Doll' and the results thereof ( for a transmission led by a most amiable Spaniard ) should prove to be useful as we begin the recordings for our forthcoming ( and Fourth ) LP. In other news Kevin is paddling to Ft.Wayne to trade with the Amish at something called 'Gearfest' Delia is leaving the accursed 'Black House' Glen's Smurf village is fully rebuilt and more Smurfy than ever and Brian made some wonderful Chicken Wings.

Yr Faithful Captain.

PS. 

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PSS. Send more port

2010- The Hiders release their third album, the nearly 80 minute 'Four Letter Town' self-produced and recorded in Cincinnati. The recording started in February 2009 in the the bands home studio 'The Batcave' and extended into the apartments and home studios of Billy Alletzhauser and Kevin Carlisle and into Ultrasuede studios. The record features current and former members of the band  ( Michael Horrigan, Tony Franklin, Beth Harris, Glen May and Kevin Carlisle ) and some special guests like Tyler Ramsey,John Curley, Ali Edwards, Dave Gilligan and Sylvia Mitchell. Throughout line-up changes The Hiders continue to deliver stellar live shows and write and perform new songs; their new years resoultion...new album in 2011!

The exact beginning of The Hiders is hard to trace. As lead guitarist for the Ass Ponys and Ruby Vileos, Billy Alletzhauser still needed an outlet for his songwriting. Alletzhauser began hosting informal jams with some of his idols on the Cincinnati scene, Eddie Cunningham, Dave Gilligan, Ma Crow, Niki Dakota, Ali Edwards, Chuck Cleaver, Jeff Roberson and more would meet at Alletzhausers and trade songs and covers. A semi-steady group formed organically somewhat centered around Alletzhauser's tunes and played around casually as The Hiders ( a name coined by Cleaver and Gilligan, it's roots from a 1975 episode of 'Gunsmoke' ). It wasn't until around 2004 a more formal version emerged after Alletzhauser's "dismissal" from Ass Ponys ( who reunited with their ex-guitarist then broke up mere months later ). The original formal line-up was Todd Drake, Beth Harris, Victor Strunk, Toby Ellis, Dave Gilligan and occasionally Tyler Ramsey ( Band of Horses ). This was the group that recorded 'Valentine' in 2006 with Nashville Producer/Engineer Brad Jones. The Bulk of the record was tracked live in February, and the whole thing was tracked and mixed in about 7 days. Something special emerged and in certain terms the record was an immediate success. The Hiders were pushed to the forefront of the Cincinnati music scene. The record also made it's way around the "industry" and soon The Hiders were being featured on World Cafe as an "Artist to Watch" and receiving serious nibbles from a fair amount of great record labels...but no bites. A couple of years of touring, trying, writing, playing , struggling ensued...members came and went. A new core emerged, drummer and longtime friend Tony Franklin, bassist and former Afghan Whig Michael Horrigan joined Billy and Beth. More peripheral Hiders came and went but it was these four who returned to Brad Jones and Nashville exactly two years later to record what would be 'Penny Harvest Field' This time 10 tracks were used from the Nashville sessions, which also featured Jones on some keyboard and guitar and Nashville session man Fats Kaplin on pedal steel, banjo and violin. Two tracks were added from Cincinnati sessions 'I Still Do' was recorded by longtime friend ( and another former Afghan Whig! ) John Curley ( with friend Brad Meinerding doing some guitar ) and 'Dumbos Feather' which featured violinist and friend Sylvia Mitchell ( a player in the cincinnati symphony! ) Penny Harvest Field was released in May 2008. The Hiders also recently ( with the help of Nettwerk records ) had "Plastic Flowers" placed on the soundtrack of the 2009 film "Adam" The Hiders and Billy Alletzhauser also scored and composed original muisc for the documentary "Conviction:the true story of Clarence Elkins" by Mike West. Alletzhauser and friend / songwriter Todd almond scored the film "WTC View" by Brian Sloan