Billy Hill and the Hillbillies

Krazy Kirk and the Hillbillies
Billy Hill and the Hillbillies at the Golden Horseshoe Saloon around 1999.
Background information
Also known as	Billy Hill and the Hillbillies
Origin	Anaheim, California
Genres	Country, bluegrass
Years active	1986 (1986)–2014 (2014)
Website	https://www.jansworld.net/krazy-kirk-main-page.html
Members	Kirk Wall Dennis Fetchet Rick Storey Anders Swanson
Past members	John Marshall Duane Michaels Mario Hidalgo Evan Marshall Arshag Chookoorian John David John Eaden

Krazy Kirk and the Hillbillies is a musical/variety group that performs at Knott's Berry Farm. Prior to 2014, they performed for 21 years at Disneyland in Anaheim, California as Billy Hill and the Hillbillies. The group performs a bluegrass country-music-centered show along with classic rock and rap (performed in a country and bluegrass style), and have released some of their music on CDs.

The group had four original members, all using the stage name of Billy Hill, who performed from August 5, 1992 until November 1994. The original members are:

Mario was later replaced before the opening inside the Golden Horseshoe Saloon on December 18, 1994 by Evan Marshall (mandolin), who left the band in 2003.

Billy Hill and the Hillbillies plays music from all genres in a folk/bluegrass style while interacting with audiences. The roster consists of a regular rotation of 10 to 12 musicians, with Wall generally serving as the lead singer while playing fiddle and guitar.

Wall, who got his start in show business as a comedian, said he geared his jokes to adults in the crowd more than the children. "The kids might not get the jokes," Wall said, "but they at least get a kick out of seeing their mom and dad crack up." A sometime Elvis impersonator, Wall noted that Disney did not prohibit him, or any other Disney musician, from pursuing side projects. One such show took place in Buffalo, New York in 1997 as part of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra's TGIF series. According to Mary Kunz of Buffalo News, the group performed classical pieces together with the orchestra which "proved how much bluegrass and classical music have in common". After intermission, Hill and the Hillbillies re-emerged dressed in overalls, "like some kind of Appalachian Marx Brothers", and performed another hour of country standards including "Hey Good Lookin'", "Tennessee Waltz", and "Orange Blossom Special".