Compared with a country music mecca like Nashville, Baltimore's country scene might seem almost nonexistent.
But for local honky-tonk singer/songwriter Arty Hill, that's not necessarily a bad thing.
"In Nashville, you're working in the shadow of modern country music - which is pop music - and it's a big shadow to be working in," Hill said. "Here, there are no boundaries. We can do whatever we want. I get to do honky-tonk at Rams Head Live. That's pretty awesome when you think about it. There's nobody in Baltimore shoving Toby Keith down people's throats."
Hill tips his 10-gallon hat to classic country from decades past, when stars like Hank Williams and Red Foley ruled the airwaves. The music on Hill's handful of albums has a swing and shuffle that's hard to find in pop country these days. And in the past few years, people have started to take notice.
"Bar of Gold," Hill's first release on the Boston-based label Cow Island Music, debuted at No. 1 on the Freeform American Roots chart and stayed at the top for two months. Automaker Ford is pre-loading "Church on Saturday Night," a song from Hill's latest album, "Montgomery On My Mind: The Hank EP," into stereo sets in new Ford F-150 trucks in Texas. And Hill has gravitated to a group of local Americana artists such as singer/songwriter Caleb Stine, who regularly perform together.
Saturday, as Hill gleefully noted, they'll be at Rams Head Live, a venue that predominantly showcases rock, indie rock and hip-hop.
"These artists are amazing," said Sarah Sample, the club's director of marketing. "It's something you don't see us do a lot. But we're always looking for what's new and interesting coming out of Baltimore because we like to promote things that are innately Baltimore."
Hill isn't just writing music for folks with cowboy hats, he said. He wants to make music that would fit in George Jones' set list 30 years ago but also sounds contemporary.
Many country singers from the 1950s through the 1970s made references to old cars, old trucks, wagon wheels and the like in their music. Hill would rather write songs about emotions. That way, his music won't sound dated 10 or 20 years from now, he hopes.
"If you're telling a story about the way something makes you feel, it could be 10 years from now, and the song could still be relevant," he said. "By doing that, I'm trying to reach as many people as possible."
Born in Cambridge, Hill played bass in a dance band on the Eastern Shore in his teens. About once a month, his group would play jazz standards, waltzes, fox trots and the occasional country tune at American Legion halls and other such venues. Hill learned how to swing, which is essential for playing country music, he said.
The Shore, however, wasn't the best place to see live country, he said.
"There were not a lot of country players around," he said. "It was like trying to find some endangered species."
Hill relocated to Baltimore in the early 1990s, and recorded a couple of solo albums before signing with Cow Island Music. After the moderate but promising reception of "Bar of Gold," Hill wanted to release a series of EPs that celebrated the music of his favorite country singers. He opted to start with the legendary Hank Williams.
Three years ago, Hill thought there was a limited market for his kind of music. Since then, he has begun to see a more diverse group of fans at his shows. There are still old-school honky-tonk lovers, but there are also younger listeners who are interested in Hill's take on traditional country, he said.
"The longer I do it, the more people come to the shows," he said. "Frankly, that really surprises me. I did not think it would work out in Baltimore as well as it has."
If you go
The Balt Country Festival, featuring Arty Hill, Caleb Stine, Junestar and Van Meter, is Saturday at Rams Head Live, 20 Market Place in Power Plant Live. Doors open at 6 p.m. $15. All ages. Call 410-244-1131 or go to ramsheadlive.com.