BACKGROUNDHer first instrument was the recorder, which Hilary took up at the age of 6. At 8, she was in the Brownies writing poetry and lyrics to songs. She was also in a choir. At 10 she was learning to play the piano. She took up the guitar after being given an old nylon strung six string. This was replaced, when at 13 years of age, she bought her second guitar for ?8. This was a new one, and had steel strings. By this time, Hilary had begun to write her own music. At 16 she co-founded a group and a year later, she sang two of her compositions on Radio London. At 18, she bought her third guitar, a superb 6-string Fender. Not very long after that, this guitar was responsible for Hilary meeting Bruce at a party. Two years later, they were married. During their marriage, although their growing family always came first, music was a constant factor, particularly music they could make of their own. So, many keyboards and devices were bought and sold over many years. Songs were being written, but they were never for the consumption of anyone outside the family. In due course, Bethany was born, and exactly a year later, so was their youngest son Asa. After it was confirmed that he was severely autistic, Hilary began to write prolifically. Possibly because of an emotional and traumatic trigger related to the diagnosis, possibly because she was now effectively housebound. Maybe it was because playing music creatively is a therapeutic release. Whatever. Bruce later bought three more keyboards, including something they'd never had before - a synth. He also re-equiped their computer based recording studio. The music was sounding too good to keep to themselves, and so was born their first album 'Innocent Eyes'.
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