Hill Records: The future of Arkansas music, launching emerging talents

Battle of the Bands event sponsored by Hill Records on November 17. Photo by Lawrence Anca.

By Addie Jones

Nestled within the University of Arkansas halls is a hidden sonic gym, the vibrant office of Hill Records. This small, indie student-run record label is a launchpad for emerging talents in the Northwest Arkansas entertainment scene and a pathway to achieving dreams. With quirky decor and staff signatures lining the space’s wooden walls, this place is a nest of opportunity for those looking to make their musical mark.

Music is essential to the university experience, especially in Northwest Arkansas, where local arts vastly contribute to the area’s rich culture. When walking across campus, it is nearly impossible to avoid seeing students with headphones or earbuds gently nodding their heads to their tunes of choice. From dancers to choral performers to actors and beyond, many students find solace in the act of creation, and with Hill Records, people have a chance to transition into the industry fully.

Hill Records is a student-run record label and entertainment project at the University of Arkansas. According to their website, “this cutting-edge initiative combines music industry pedagogy, experiential learning, and audio research into integrated, cross-disciplinary projects.”

Ted Hammig & the Campaign performing at Hill Records sponsored event Battle of the Bands. Photo by Lawrence Anca.

At the helm of the initiative is President Drew Bethell, a senior marketing major with a management minor, who works to recruit and direct the rest of the officers while consistently working to seek new talent. She assumed this role in June after joining the label earlier this year as vice president of photography and videography.

“This year, the motivation of the entire team is unreal,” Bethell said. “There’s so much music that we’re passionate about right now.”

Hill Records had many accomplishments this year; they released an EP, submitted an album for Grammy nominations, expanded their team and completely revamped their social media accounts.

Submitting an album to the Grammy Awards for their consideration was a long time coming and something they are deeply proud of. The “Schola Cantorum” project features the choral works of Florence Price, an Arkansas-born pianist and America’s first significant Black composer.

For their day-to-day endeavors, Hill Records provides support to a team of ten talented artists from all over the state: Foxpaw, H3EADCANON, Pat Ryan Key, Luke Howard, Midnight South, Adam Posnak, Kwanza, YRLY, Richard Neff and Nub Wub.

Battle of the Bands flyer. Photo by Lawrence Anca.

Ellie Rhoades, a senior advertising and public relations major, serves as the Vice-President of Booking. With her job, she is the liaison between the record label and all venues and managers they book their artists with. Rhoades is especially proud of working on the label’s latest EP: “Rain Check.”

“Rain Check” is a compilation of four songs from contributing artists Malibu Moon, Drew Hutson Rogers, Gawain Engholm and Mary Margaret Lankford. The project is a collection of diverse yet similarly themed works that represent the hard work of Hill Records and the performers.

“Rain Check is essentially a passion project for our label,” Rhoades said. “We all put so much love into selecting the songs and doing all of the background work to get it off its feet.”

Bethell said the development of this EP was an uncommon but completely natural progression.

“Rain Check was kind of an accident in a way,” Bethell said. “We started off collecting the music and not really having a vision of what that was going to be like, if the music would fit in one category or not, and it really doesn’t. I think every single artist and every song brings something different to the table. It’s really become more about coincidences. All of the songs have a corresponding theme based on missed opportunities.”

Currently, Hill Records is doing a call for submissions, encouraging all artists to send their music by Dec. 8. Recordings are selected solely on artistic merit, and artists selected for inclusion receive a five-year exclusive license agreement for the use of the recording. Hill Records works to promote the artists by allowing them to perform at selected live events and serving them through social media marketing, booking, management, artistic direction and media promotion.

Hill Records works to promote the artists by allowing them to perform at selected live events and serving them through social media marketing, booking, management, artistic direction and media promotion. Photo by Lawrence Anca.

“The students are really where the backbone is for a lot of things, the influence that they bring to the table.,” Bethell said. “We want to put out as much new music as we possibly can. The grip that university students hold on the music industry, especially in NWA is incomparable to any driving force.”

Bethell said that as students return to their homes across the state or nation, they take the music of Fayetteville and surrounding areas with them. Whether they realize it or not, the music of where you live carries with you and defines moments in your life.

Hill Records is already working on its next EP and other projects, committed to its goal of collaboration and empowering the potential of emerging artists.

“I feel that music unites all sorts of people in so many different ways,” Rhoades said. “It doesn’t matter who you are or where you are from, we can all connect on songs and artists.”