Four strings and a favourite chocolate bar: that's all James Hill – “possibly the best ukulele player in the world” (Waikato Times) – and Anne Janelle – “a cellist of true beauty” (Ottawa Citizen) – had in common when they first met. It was more than enough. Today, they're an award-winning, “utterly world-class” singer-songwriter-ukulele-cello duo (Paul Symes, The Blacksheep Inn).
Hill has made a career as one of Canada's "premiere roots musicians" (The Scene), an award-winning ukulele player who "gives the ukulele its dignity back without ever taking himself too seriously" (Songlines). However, "if you thought James Hill was simply the ukulele wunderkind, his latest album will convince you that he is also a great songwriter" (Penguin Eggs). The Old Silo sees him charting a course into deeper, rockier waters with Plaskett at the helm. The album has an edginess and swagger unlike anything Hill has ever recorded: the thundering baritone ukulele riff in She's Still Got It wouldn't be out of place on a Black Keys album and the grinding slide ukulele in Tie One On would make Jack White proud.