Dusty Hill
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| Dusty Hill | |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Joseph Michael Hill |
| Also known as | "Duster", "The Dust" |
| Born | May 19, 1949 (age 61) |
| Origin | Dallas, Texas, USA |
| Genres | Hard rock, blues-rock, rock, Blues |
| Occupations | Entertainer, Bassist, Singer, Songwriter |
| Instruments | Bass guitar keyboard Vocals |
| Years active | 1969 – present |
| Labels | Rhino/WEA, RCA, Warner Bros., London |
| Associated acts | ZZ Top, el willy & the wolves, The Warlocks, The Cellar Dwellers, The American Blues |
| Notable instruments | |
| Fender Precision, Dean"sheep wool"Explorer |
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Joseph Michael "Dusty" Hill (born May 19, 1949) is the bassist and vocalist with the American rock group ZZ Top. Hill is noted for his solid, unadorned bass playing, "leather-lung" vocal stylings and his love of Elvis Presley.
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[edit] History
Hill was born in Dallas, Texas and grew up in the Lakewood neighborhood of East Dallas. He attended Woodrow Wilson High School.
Hill landed membership with ZZ Top in late 1969, joining drummer Frank Beard (with whom Hill had played in the bands American Blues, the Warlocks, and the Cellar Dwellers) and Moving Sidewalks' guitarist/vocalist Billy Gibbons.
Dusty Hill's on-screen appearances in "Back To The Future III", "Mother Goose's Rockin' Rhyme", "WWE's RAW",and "Deadwood" were bolstered by appearing as himself in the 11th season episode of King of the Hill, "Hank Gets Dusted", in which Hank Hill is said to be a cousin of Dusty's.
Hill's characteristic grin, wit, and quick-on-the-trigger staccato stylings lay the strident underpinning to ZZ Top's powerhouse brand of blues rock. On special occasions, Hill joins in with bandmate, Billy F Gibbons, lending his tasty talents creating additions to Gibbons' famed Hollywood appearances where the two entertainers frequently make their guest chef rounds about town.
[edit] Musical equipment
Preferring the Fender bass-guitar, Hill also uses many different basses and amplifiers in different combos, and maintains a large collection of vintage as well as custom basses by noted luthier, John Bolin of Bolin Guitars USA. Hill is noted for designing simple and non complicated basses with a single pickup with a single volume knob, with the sometime rare addition including a specially powered knob for tone control.[1][2]
[edit] Bass guitars
"Since I play in a three-piece group, my job is not to play too much, but you still have to play all the time. I've always loved Thelonius Monk and that style of playing as he moved around on the keyboard in a mesmerizing manner. The zz style maintains a hard-edge low register, preferring staying way down, there in a low register for a solid foundation, then move in and around with extra sauce. With the songs on 'Eliminator', it's all about time, tuning, and simplicity. That's the badboy tuff-stuff... that's enjoyable"
- Vintage Fender Telecaster Bass - Only used during recordings.
- Fender Precision Bass
- Custom Fender Telecaster Bass - Fitted with custom wound DiMarzio pickups.
- Custom reversed Telecaster Bass
- Custom Telecaster Bass - With reversed headstock.
- Dean (Gibson Explorer-style) custom bass - Covered in white sheep wool, with spinning unit.[3]
- Custom reversed Precision Bass
- Bolin Guitars custom - White hollowbody bass.
- Dean Z
- Danelectro Longhorn
- Fender Jazz Bass
- James Trussart SteelCaster
- 044, 063, 080 and 102 gauge strings
[edit] Effects
"My sound is big, heavy, and a bit distorted because it has to overlap the guitar. Someone once asked me to describe my tone, and I said it was like a rhino farting in a trash can. What I meant is it’s raw, but you’ve got to have the tone in there."
- SansAmp Bass DI
- Two Groove Tubes Speaker Emulators
- Two Peavey Autograph II EQ's
[edit] Amplifiers
- Three Marshall JCM900 100 watt heads
- Six Custom Creme cabinets - With 4x12" Celestion speakers.
[edit] Discography
[edit] American Blues albums
- American Blues
- American Blues 'Is Here' (1968)
- Do Their Thing (1969)
[edit] ZZ Top albums
- ZZ Top's First Album (1971)
- Rio Grande Mud (1972)
- Tres Hombres (1973)
- Fandango! (1975)
- Tejas (1977)
- Degüello (1979)
- El Loco (1981)
- Eliminator (1983)
- Afterburner (1985)
- Recycler (1990)
- Antenna (1994)
- Rhythmeen (1996)
- XXX (1999)
- Mescalero (2003)
