Musician
Podcast guestBeth Norris Hill
Singer known as Megabeth, fronting Sugar Buzz, the Megabeth Project and a Queensryche tribute, and singing with Trilogy.
Beth Norris Hill, known on stage as Megabeth, is a singer in the Twin Cities cover and tribute scene. She sings in Sugar Buzz, a party band she has been with for over a decade, leads the Megabeth Project, sings in a Queensryche tribute, and performs with Trilogy, including Pink Floyd's The Great Gig in the Sky. Beth started as a dancer and choir singer, then competed in karaoke internationally before answering an ad to audition for Sugar Buzz. The open jams pushed her into heavier music, and the nickname Megabeth came from that shift. She also records original projects, including symphonic metal with Rise Above Instinct.
On the Minnesota Music Note
Fun facts from the interview
- Beth named herself Megabeth in a jam group chat as she started singing heavier music, and it stuck when Mad Mike started using it on stage.
- The Megabeth Project, Rock on the Edge, plays recognizable songs that cover bands rarely do, like Saigon Kick, Halestorm's Freak Like Me, Dream Theater's Pull Me Under and Def Leppard's Stage Fright.
- The Megabeth Project lineup includes John Gensmer of Rival 5 on drums and Matt Leonetti on keys and guitar.
- The Megabeth Project's first show was opening for a Metallica tribute at Bogart's in August, booked the day the band shot its promo video there.
- The Megabeth Project played the Dog House on January 9 with the Rush tribute Exit Stage Right.
- Sugar Buzz has played Vikings games, Canterbury Park and the Medina.
- With Trilogy she has played the Fitzgerald Theater and the Medina.
- She calls The Great Gig in the Sky the hardest song she has ever learned.
- She records with Blue Rain and wrote the lyrics and melody for their song Autumn Highways.
- She sang on Rise Above Instinct's symphonic metal album, recorded remotely for the Indiana project.
- She competed in duets at the KWC karaoke world championships in Finland in 2017.
- In November 2019 she was grand champion of an international karaoke competition in Stockholm, Sweden.
- Queensryche guitarist Mike Stone wore her tribute band's shirt on tour after meeting her at one of their Minnesota shows in July.
- She recommended sound engineer Rick Dobbelmann as a future guest.
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