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Tignall's David Hilley to perform on cruise ship David Hilley, son of David and Nancy Hilley of Tignall, has signed a 41/2 month contract to perform aboard the Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines ship "Vision Of The Seas." Beginning Friday, September 1, he and his group, "Prime Time," will begin with three seven-day cruises to Alaska, departing from Seattle and porting in Juneau, Skagway, Icy Strait Point, and Tracy Arm Fjord to include both Vancouver and Victoria, British Columbia. After Alaska, they will take part in a "repositioning" cruise to Los Angeles, California. From there, they will travel weekly to the Mexican Riviera porting in Cabo San Lucas, Puerto Vallarta, and Mazatlan. The contract will conclude on January 15, 2007. Hilley and his wife, Peggy, and their daughter, Savannah, currently reside in Ocala, Florida, after moving from Palm Beach in 2002. Peggy will soon be retiring from her career in law enforcement. Savannah is a second grade honor-roll student at First Assembly Christian School in Ocala. Hilley first showed an interest in music when his parents noticed him cutting his teeth on the wooden edge of their RCA console stereo when he was in diapers. "They still have that stereo and the bite-marks are still there," he says. He learned his first chord on the 6-string guitar, on his sixth birthday, then moved to bass guitar when he was eight years old, inspired by his fathers' interest in the instrument. His first experience performing for a crowd was at Mallorysville Baptist Church in his early teens when he would accompany noted pianists Sarah Edna Caldwell, Linda Aycock, and Debbie Burton. In 1981, at age 16, he joined "Down South," the premier local country band of that day featuring keyboardist Mike Guin, percussionist David Cosby, and guitarist Jeff Fanning. He is a graduate of Wilkes Academy and a United States Air Force veteran having served at Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas, Nevada. Hilley also worked in radio beginning at WLOV in Washington, continuing at WWRK in Elberton with Mel Stovall, at WNGC in Athens, and finally at WDDK in Greensboro. From 1994 to 1996, he toured with recording artist Paul Webb in Nashville, Tenn. One way or another, he has stayed in front of a microphone. Although he will spend a considerable amount of time away from his family, he considers his upcoming work with Royal Caribbean an exciting challenge. "Peggy and Savannah are as excited as I am. It's a great feeling to have such familial support. An opportunity to play music for a living for 45 minutes a night usually never happens, and moreover, to have that chance twice in a lifetime is almost unheard of. It's quite a blessing," he said.
Upon completion of this initial performance contract, Hilley will have six weeks down-time. Then it's off to Hawaii!
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