BILL HAYDEN
Cedar Lake, IN | Established. Jan 01, 2018 | SELF
Music
Press
Bill Hayden has been part of the Northwest Indiana music scene for the last 30 years. In recent years he was primarily a videographer, session player and live sound man.
This columnist first met Hayden when he was a hungry young songwriter independently releasing cassettes and later CDs of his own songs. It was with great anticipation I listened to “Eureka,” his first new collection of original music in over a decade.
The artist has landed in a happy place now - by his lake, with his new bride, and romping with his dogs -- but arriving there has not come without cost.
The 13 songs on "Eureka" convey the latest years of the artist's journey -- from dark to light -- from nearly losing his ability to make music because of an industrial accident, through a struggle to beat the odds, to coming through the storm while creating the most personal and powerful album of his career. While past albums focused more on exposing the writing talents of Bill Hayden, "Eureka" gives an equal if not greater emphasis on the musical skills of the artist.
This album really showcases his great piano skills in a format that is primarily built upon a piano, bass and drums foundation, with a bit of guitar and brass added to accent and complete. And yes, Hayden's vocals retain a gritty Midwest sound.
Highlights of the album are “Lonely Town,” a heartfelt song about struggling with a family member's addiction issues, a love song written for the artist’s own wedding ceremony called “Our Love Song” and the album’s first single and music video "Summertime,” which utilizes the pure vocal harmonies of legendary Northwest Indiana vocal group The Spaniels Forever.
For this collection of songs, Hayden is surrounded by friends and family, as he embraces the treasured gift bestowed on him by a Higher Power enabling him to continue playing his beloved piano. This collection of original music proves it has been a gift not wasted.
Look for Bill and the band to be touring in 2019. - NWI TIMES NEWS PAPER
Discography
Hometown Cafe, Steeltown, This Indecision is Final, Indiana Song (At all major online outlets) and EUREKA 2018 release. BAD CADILLAC Dance the Night Away album 2015
Photos
Feeling a bit camera shy
Bio
2018 ushers in EUREKA a new album of original music after 19 years away.
A near fatal injury in early 2016 and it was time. Hayden’s lengthy career was inspired after witnessing the explosive late 6o’s California scene where artist like the Doors, James Brown and Jimi Hendrix were changing the face of popular music. Having relocated to Indiana in the mid 70’s and embracing country and blues music which permeated the Midwest at the time.
Performing with a variety of bands over the years, this multi-instrumentalist found his niche as a song crafter. In 1977 Hayden recorded an original song with an independent label in Nashville, Music City Records. It was during this venture that the band got to jam with Waylon Jennings and was invited to play a jam session at the Grand Ol Opry, with some of the towns top studio musicians and songwriters.
It was 1978 when Bill joined his first road band. The Valerie Winters Band from Flint, Michigan. The group was managed by Artist Corp. of America. Years later Bill was recruited by the Crystal Clear River band from Alexandria, Minnesota managed by Van Zeeland Entertainment. After touring the U.S. and Canada in the mid 80’s with an Elvis Tribute band, Bill decided to concentrate on writing and recording.
After National club tours had seasoned Hayden to the rigors of the road and supplied him with vivid snapshots of rural Americana. He began contributing his creative talents on several regional album projects and working with different local artist, while putting the pieces of his puzzled musical life together. During this reflective time, his songwriting flourished. The creative flow of those productive years turned up on Hayden’s first solo album, critically-acclaimed 1993 release HOMETOWN CAFÉ.
NWI radio quickly embraced the heartfelt music and word about Hayden spread fast to neighboring Chicago, and windy city radio stations like WXRT and WLUP soon picked up on his music. A National advertising company contacted Bill to do a commercial jingle for Kentucky Fried Chicken on the strength of his WXRT exposure.
STEELTOWN, Hayden’s next album was buoyed by more than 446 plays on Chicagoland radio, according to reports from BMI Music. Over 1,200 copies of STEELTOWN were snatched up by the public, who related to Hayden’s”common man” approach to life through music. Hayden’s success on college radio with STEELTOWN prompted an invitation for him to perform in Bloomington, Indiana at a special all-star charity concert. Hayden was also featured on the front page of the Bloomington Herald News paper the next day.
Success for Bill Hayden seems eminent, as his newest material earned him the chance during the summer of 1995 to perform before key recording industry people at the prestigious Crossroads Music Showcase in Memphis, TN. A slot on the BEST OF THE REGION CD, which showcased the best of the Midwest’s unsigned artist followed. Hayden’s “Another Day” was one of the first tracks of the album to be jumped on by local radio.
Newest album, “This Indecision is Final”, which will again pay tribute to his home state.
While preparing for his new album “Indiana Song” , Hayden has fielded an offer to work with rising filmmaker Mike Norris (son of Chuck Norris) to score music for “Justice”, the latest action packed epic from the Norris stable. “Nothing is in stone yet, but things are looking real good that Mike and I will work together,” said Hayden.
In 2000, Bill started concentrating on film and video projects, still playing with regional bands, Heaven Tonight, Gruv6, Ernie Givens and the White Lies band. After producing concert and music videos over the course of ten years in 2010 Hayden began working with an up and coming group called Bad Cadillac.
In 2013 Bad Cadillac began working on an original album project called “Dance the Night Away”, Three of the songs on the album were written by Hayden, Blind Faith, When we were Young and The Ballad of Hank Daniels Jr.
Hayden also got the job of producing the bands video’s from the album, with the first video “Fade to Rust” garnering over 102,957 views on YouTube. “Please don’t Cry”, “Outlaw” and “My Reason” were the next songs to debut from that album with each over 100,000+ views. 2013 looks to be a very busy year for Bill Hayden and Bad Cadillac. Hayden continues to work with regional artist on projects and is writing as his creative juices flow.
Band Members
Links
