This Week

This Friday I'm backing up my Dad for a show at Crazy Wisdom Tea Room, with special guest, Natalie Palms.8:30 starting time, with no cover. 114 S. Main St. in Ann Arbor.

Hope to see you!

Billy on 107.1 FM

Billy will be playing a few songs on Music & Mocha with Martin Bandyke on Ann Arbor's 107.1 FM -- Friday morning, Nov. 9 at 9:00 AM. DJ Martin Bandyke broadcasts his show from different Espresso Royale locations every Friday; coffee or lattes are $1.07 during the broadcast!

This Friday he will be at the Carpenter Rd. Espresso Royale. (2871 Carpenter Rd.) So tune it in, listen online, or better yet, stop by! http://www.annarbors107one.com/index.php?fuseaction=home.display&id=1358

Billy King at The Ark!

Billy playing "Autumn and You" at The Ark on November 1. He opened for the Bluehouse, a two-piece female band from Australia. See the rest of Billy's set at http://billykingdom.com/press/.

Don't forget

This Thursday (Nov 1), at the Ark, opening for Bluehouse!

Interview with Billy in the Ann Arbor News

Video shot by Roger Lelievre during the interview at Carr Park in Manchester
See the interview in the Sunday issue of the Ann Arbor News, October 28, 2007 or check it out at Mlive.com

Singing "I Don't Write Love Songs" at Holler Fest

Here I am performing the song that won the Great Lakes Songwriting contest for 2007.



Billy King sings "I Don't Write Love Songs" from kking on Vimeo.

Really cool!

My song "I don't write love songs" has been selected as the grand prize winner of the "great lakes songwriting contest!" Check out the site, so many great songs, I'm very honored.

Big news!

I will be opening for Bluehouse at The Ark! in Ann Arbor Nov 1. Very cool. I have some more big news but I can't say yet....hope you don't hate suspense as much as I do!

Hollerfest

Well the first ever Hollerfest was an absolute success. Such great energy, we'll definitely have to do it again. Check out the video.

Review!

From the Ann Arbor Observer

Coming up:

Sept 22, Hollerfest

Sept 29, Crazy Wisdom tea room, 8:30

Oct 6, community Farm of Ann Arbor. 7:30

Holler Fest, Sept 22!

Celebrating Frog Holler Farm 35 year anniversary. Schedule and lineup coming soon, stay tuned.

Riverfolk

Had a great time at Riverfolk. Hope to see you there again next year.

Singing with Natalie on the main stage!

Show dates

August 4, Riverfolk Music festival, Traditional tent, 2:45pm.

Riverfolk is a wonderful music and arts festival right in my back yard! Great to have something like this in lower Michigan. Check out the website: http://www.riverfolkfestival.org

December 29, Crazy Wisdom Tearoom, 8:30.

more shows in the works, it's been a busy summer!

Ann Arbor Art Fair 107.1 stage

Billy King and the Idylls at Downtown Home and Garden benefit for Avalon Housing. (camera phone shot)

An update/Catching up

It's been a little over two years since my Dad and I finished the new recording room our barn. After years of recording out of a tiny travel trailer this dedicated creative space is a huge improvement for me and I can't wait to see if it's reflected in my recording. I spent the winter of 2006 reworking and remixing unreleased material that had been accumulating for awhile and released the appropriately titled "Overdue". As a result, Overdue is a extreme mix of songs, some newer and some from when I was really young. I feel kind of bad pawning off Overdue as a new CD but it will have to do for now. I spent the winter of 2007 laying down guide tracks for what I hope to be my next truly new release. It was very exciting to actually start recording new material but also a little frustrating that the pace was much slower than I would like. I seem to be able to write much faster than I can record and am getting pretty overwhelmed with songs and ideas. It might be that I need to get some help to speed up the process. I'm so accustomed to doing everything myself in the studio though and haven't gotten up the nerve to abandon that approach yet. Still, I think it needs to happen.

After finishing "Overdue" I started thinking about playing live again and approached an old musical buddy Kip Godwin about putting something together. He was into it, rounded up some of his friends and I starting throwing every song I could think of at them! We even brought back some of the old King Brothers material! Speaking of which, my plan is to release a King Brothers box set later this year. Hearing that stuff again for the first time in awhile I can't figure out how we did that as kids with no help at all! Looking forward to getting it back in to circulation.

More later! -billy

Bio

Billy King’s musical pedigree goes back to the early 90’s when he played in and around Ann Arbor with his younger brother, Kenny. The King Brothers were a precocious pre-teen act, launched when they released a cassette of Elvis covers. This gained them invites to open for the WCBN Bash as well as to a variety of venues from the Annie Awards to the Art Fair to the Ark. The brothers soon graduated from Elvis covers to original material and became known as a band whose “talent and hipness are world-class.” (Alan Goldsmith, Current).

Drawing on this musical legacy that now goes back almost twenty years, Billy has never stopped writing and recording, and now returns to live performing with a five-piece band and an original music catalog of over 100 songs. The lyrics are simple, direct, and fresh; the music is upbeat, catchy folk/pop, supported by Billy’s virtuoso guitar playing, with “rows of slashing hooks stacked neatly atop carefully constructed arrangements.” (Beverly Paterson, Twist and Shake).

Billy, either solo or with his band, the Idylls, delivers a refreshing combination of youthful exuberance combined with musical maturity. It’s genuine good energy pop music and it leaves you with a smile!