We are The 3H Band.

The title comes from our last name is Hilker.

And for years it was the three of us.

Jordan, my son on bass, my other son, Luke on drums, and myself.

And so we wanted a simple name, one letter, one number.

But it's a lot of fun playing music with my brother since he was nine and myself starting at 11.

It's just, kind of a mind meld.

Almost.

I don't have to really ask him where he's going with a drum part.

Really cool to play music with him.

All the stuff that he writes, very creative and just has exposed us to a wide range of music.

We've always just thought instrumental music is the norm.

And then we found out it's not.

But we're not going to change now.

I've played for 60 years now.

Early on, I did the cover band stuff, but I got tired of trying to figure out what somebody else created.

How did it sound?

I said, you know what?

I admire these artists because of their creativity.

I'm going to do what they do.

I'm going to write my own music.

There's so many possibilities and that's what makes it fun.

They're creating in all those areas.

In my office, I have a Bob Ross Funko Pop!

Ten years ago, when I became a manager at my job, I was the first year.

It was very stressful.

So just to kind of de-stress, I'd watch “The Joy of Painting”.

So he's he's a favorite.

And Mr.

Rogers, of course.

And now having kids myself, we've done a lot of Sesame Street.

Definitely bands like Rush have inspired me a lot, just because of what Geddy Lee does on the bass in that band and the role that he plays.

A lot of the solo guitarists, too, Joe Satriani, that kind of plays into what we're doing.

And Steve Vai, I mean, we're we're not going that far with how technical those players are, but just that kind of arrangement and those song structures.

So yeah, I think we just bring a lot of different inspiration into the band and see how it works and how it plays off of each other.

You know, the song “Caravan” has some darker moods to it.

Things that remind me of bands like Opeth and, Porcupine Tree and other progressive metal bands that I like.

But we're not a metal band in in any sense, but it's still cool to see how that can kind of crossover.

Pursue your passion.

Creativity is such a blessing for me.

Find something you're passionate about that you love, that you can find some sense of fulfillment from some joy.

Give everything you've got to it.

It's just a really special thing that we've been able to do.

And, looking forward to more albums and and getting out and playing some shows and spreading the music to other people.

Hear more from the artists on this program on the Inland Sessions podcast, available now at ksps.org/podcasts.