If you haven't heard of Billyboe yet, you're probably living under a rock. With such hits as 'The Underwear Song' and 'The Pier', Billyboe's warm southern charm is undeniable. His most recent show at Cockatoo's Night Club on LeatherNight showcased his true artistry in his signature American Country way. Dressed in a black leather suit reminiscent of the old school stunt car daredevil's and a red cowboy hat, the first few strums of his guitar set the scene for the show-- a lyrical tapestry that took his audience and beloved friends and fans on a journey through Oklahoma Americana and his life in the big city of Los Santos.
Billyboe's set was an hour long, but fans demanded more, and Billyboe's encore song was a heartfelt and teary-eyed tribute to love and loss. Once the show was done, Billyboe took time to greet his fans (returning and new), among them the DDMC (Devil's Disciples Motorcyle Club), who have their own song recently written by him.
While Billyboe is a truly busy man, (as you'll see in the interview below) he managed to spare time to speak to us and illuminate some of his future plans.
LSD: So, I heard you got a show coming up on the 27th?
BB: Yeah, yeah, we've kinda been puttin' the pieces together the past few days, we're goin' to do it at Pearl's, it's going to be a meal and drink included, and uh, it's gonna be real nice. [Like I said a second ago], I'm trying to get Jason Tanners, but we're still putting that piece together.
LSD: So are you signed yet with anybody, or are you just collaborating where you can?
BB: I'm mainly just collaborating where I can, you know, I try to do independent-- I got like a whole thing goin' on, you know, like-- money that comes in basically goes out to collaborate and work on other things. I'm working on getting my business license, kinda startin just my own thing in general. It's called 'Stonefire Entertainment'. Basically it's going to have-- we're not going to sign anybody, or nothin, I just want to be able to do everything I'm doing under a business, you know. Lot more opportunities, and at this point, I've made like seventy grand-- I think I should, you know, get my business license.
LSD: I know you've got your music, are you looking to go further-- music videos, merchandise, anything like that?
BB: Yeah! So the business I was talking about, that's exactly why I'm doing it is to get into stuff like merchandise-- maybe t-shirts, lighters. I know I eventually want to have physical albums for sale as well- you know what I mean? Fliers- a figurine-- er, I don't know about that-- there's definitely lots of stuff I'll be looking into here in the future.
Billyboe seemed thoughtful as he considered what the future might hold. I mention briefly that I had noticed a couple others wearing his red hat, and it seemed to be his signature item-- maybe we'll see a hat with his logo in the future?
A fan at this time took a moment to come up and thank him again, congratulating him on his great show.
LSD: So I know you've got a few well known songs- I managed to hear The Underwear Song, which I really liked- and I believe I caught Pier, or Fishing with the Stars?
BB: So I actually played both of those tonight. Both are pretty popular songs as far as the numbers go.
LSD: You also have one about the DDMC, right?
BB: Yeah- yeah, that's one of my favorite songs, you know?
Another Fan approached him, congratulating on his show before stumbling off into the evening. There's no doubt that Billyboe is a superstar on the rise, at this point.
LSD: I got to hear it- I missed it tonight, but I got to hear it as soon as you debuted it on Twitter. Are there any others in the works, kind of a tribute for friends and family?
BB: You ca-- you know, I will let you know, that my album Boedak Stone is in the works. It should be coming out in the next-- week, two weeks or so?
LSD: Nice, nice!
BB: Yeah, that's comin' in the works, so I got 5 or 6 songs that uh- some of the songs y'all heard tonight are goin' to be on there, but I got 5 or 6 I'm not showin' anybody until that album comes out. The reason I said a few-- I don't know if it's going to be a few weeks, I want to try and get my business license and possibly get Zimports or McKenzie to help me make a physical album. That's really what I want to do before I release it, I'm not going to lie.
LSD: So I know you've got Pearl's coming up on the 27th, you did Cockatoo's tonight, what other recent shows have you done or is this your first big show?
BB: This is my first actually organized event, you know? Well, other than like, playing some shit out of my truck with karaoke. I will say, I think we've got something in the works were I'm going to be up here at Cockatoo's every Friday night.
LSD: So a regular gig here, then?
BB: It may not be how it was tonight, every time, but it's going to be something here every Friday.
LSD: That's really good, it looks like you've got a really good fanbase out here already.
BB: And that's why we're doing this, too, cause some of these people who have walked up to me tonight? I've never met them before in my life, brother, I'm not going to lie to you. I think doing this every Friday night is gonna definitely help a lot as far as building a fanbase and all.
LSD: So you've got a lot of different subjects in your music so far, is there anything specific that inspires you?
BB: You know, it's basically every-- what inspires me is the smiles of people here in Los Santos, so I stuck a couple strings on the guitar and make people smile, that makes me smile you know? Inspires me. I like to hear people laugh and smile. That's my thing, you know.
LSD: Kind of like the song you wrote, Smile.
BB: Yeah, that's the last song I wrote, actually. That was... 2 or 3 days ago.
LSD: So you've got very fresh material, then!
BB: I mean, I'm not goin' to lie to you, I usually try to get into the studio just about every day-- at least make 1 song each day. That's kind of how I build an album up, making a song each day, and after a month or so listen to all 30 and pick, like, 10 of them.
LSD: That's a lot, I definitely admire your dedication.
BB: As far as the way the songs come out, brother, like-- it may sound shocking to hear, but basically every song I've every recorded is a freestyle. An average song takes me 15 to 30 minutes to knock out and have a final version ready. So, somedays I go into the studio for an hour, and I might make 2 songs, you know? It depends on how the day goes, I guess or what the weather's like.
LSD: So you have a few collaborations out, I know a collab with Lil Pooh, right?
BB: Yeah, and we got one in the works with Jason Tanners.
He mentions briefly he has his portion done, and he's going to meet with him after the interview, in fact.
LSD: So is there anyone you haven't collaborated with that you really want to in the future?
BB: Piper Riggs. She's got this song called Summer of '95-- and that song's.. reminds me of back in the day when we used to skip school and go eat at the Taco Bell.
While Billyboe is a jovial and warm southern fella who, as he says, just wants to see people smile- the reason he first got into music is a bit of a somber tale. While we didn't discuss how he got started, he's no stranger to his humble beginnings and the entire biography can be seen on his own site, https://bit.ly/BillyboeWebsite.
For those who have gotten this far but have not yet heard Billyboe's talented work, you can find his music on the site as well. Do yourself a favor and have a listen-- or better, catch one of his upcoming shows on the 27th of August at Pearl's, or a future Friday gig at Cockatoo's.
You don't want to miss it, brother.
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