A New Bio For Billy

Just wanted to post this new bio that Keith Carman wrote for me. If you'd like Keith to write your bio please contact me and I will pass on his contact info. I thought he did a really great job :)

Billy The Kid

Life tends to give us what we want...but never how we expect it.

Witness phenomenal Vancouver, B.C. singer/songwriter Billy The Kid. Culled from the same passionate ambrosia that spawned musical greats such as Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Billy Bragg and Elvis Costello, this golden throat has been accosting the world of music for years with her refined craftsmanship, bold musical talent, extraordinary songs and overt beauty—aesthetically and aurally—epitomized on latest EP The Lost Cause (Lost Records).

As The Kid will admit however, while initial goals of success were envisioned as a collective, Life had other plans in store. Recognizing her innate abilities, it prodded her towards independence and therefore greatness.

“My parents put me in piano lessons at eight. I hated it,” she notes, admitting that despite a sour introduction to music compounded by her difficult early life as a foster child who left home at 12, creativity quickly took over her life. “I've been playing solo for as long as I can remember. I started learning to play guitar in the corridors of my high school and my first show was around 16 years old. I had a band but any time the band couldn't show up, I'd still take the gig. Any chance to play, I'd take it.”

Grasping those opportunities eventually thrust Billy The Kid into many unexpected spotlights. From punk rocker to pianist, folk crooner and eventually label owner (founding Lost Records in order to support poignant underground music), all of these experiences culminate in the striking and powerful experience that is The Lost Cause, a call-to-arms for individual thinking, personal pride and refusal to relent.

“I've always liked all sorts of music and I've always played all sorts of music,” she notes about her musical diversity. “I grew up in punk but always loved roots and folk. Songs, really. Any song with a story or a life of it's own were always my favourites. I'll still put out rock music and write songs on pianos because at the end of the day, they're all songs, aren't they? That's the thing about The Lost Cause and those whom adhere to it. It's about finding your own way regardless of what others may think.”

Contextually, The Lost Cause is founded on The Kid's desire to stay rooted, natural and sincere. Compelled by her struggles as a genuine artist constantly confronted by masked jackals both personally and professionally, The Kid never finds herself with a lack of inspiration, deeming The Lost Cause to be culled from one particular emotion:

“Honesty,” she declares bluntly. “I write a lot about hard times. There seems to be a lot of inspiration for that these days. There is a lot of music out there that is made to make money. It doesn't really stand up for much. I strive to stand up for what I believe in; don't really care about what musicians are 'supposed to do' in order to succeed.”

“My hope is that this thirst for honesty is what attracts our supporters,” she continues. “People are smart. They know they're being advertised to and music is just the soundtrack to the pop star commodity which takes away all credibility. I'm independent through and through. I believe in throwing out the map and finding my own way.”

Considering that The Lost Cause was produced by Raine Maida (Our Lady Peace, Kelly Clarkson, Hillary Duff, Avril Lavigne) and boasts a vast array of legendary talent including pianist Garth Hudson (The Band, Bob Dylan), drummer Randy Cooke (Ringo Starr/Dave Stewart), guitarist Ben Peeler (Jacob Dylan/The Wallflowers) and harmonica player Stan Behrens (Ruth Brown, The Four Tops) it's safe to say that Billy The Kid was never off course.

In fact, amassing accolades faster than one can keep count, The Lost Cause is becoming a blueprint of its own for heartfelt music: attaining the Number One position on Much Loud's charts, The Kid being hand-picked to perform as a part of the legendary Warped Tour, featured Indie Spotlight/Folk Music Spotlight on iTunes Canada, an MSN Sympatico Indiscover Featured Artist, nominated for XM Radio's The Verge Artist of the Year, holding the top two positions on Earshot's college listings, radio and television support, winner of three Georgia Straight Reader's Choice Awards and more. The Lost Cause has certainly found itself at the top of the musical Mecca.

Still, with The Kid's congenital musicality, professionalism and spirit comes a healthy dose of humility. Gracious, she is thankful for The Lost Cause's distinctions yet refuses to let them throw her off balance. Instead, they prompt her to sets sights even stronger on the ultimate goal: creating the music in whatever fashion Life has in store.

“The main goal always has been and always will be to just keep on keeping on,” she smiles. “I'm here to spread the Gospel of The Lost Cause; make music for whomever will lend their ears to listen.”

Billy on the Hour

Billy will be performing on The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos May 19th.

Tickets are still available at http://www.cbc.ca/thehour/tickets.html

The show will air at a later date.

Live performances in BC and Ontario are being added daily at the shows page and at http://www.myspace.com/billythekid

How To: Vegan

Got a great question from an old friend, thought I'd post it seeing as it's something that comes up every now and again...

Hey there,
I just wanted to ask you something because I know that you're vegan and I don't know anyone else who is. The forums on the internet aren't very helpful.
Anyway, I'll just explain briefly ... about 10 yrs ago, I became vegetarian for a couple of years. I was obviously doing something wrong because I became really scrawny and people were worried about me. Anyway, I started eating meat regularly again a couple years ago, but there was one day when I just couldn't anymore. About a year ago, I thought it should be all or nothing - I should be part of the solution and not the problem. So, I've been trying to be vegan off an on for the past year, but it never lasts.
I'm a martial artist, and I'm always hungry ... ALL the time - every two hours, I'm starving. Sometimes, I literally double what I eat and this will only sustain me for maybe half an hour longer than usual. I just hate being hungry all the time and I can't eat all of the time because there is no time between the classes I teach or assist, or train in.
So basically, my question is, was there ever a time that you were always starving being vegan, and if so, what did you do to overcome this? Does it just go away eventually? I'm so sorry to bother you ... I will go to a dietitian, but I thought I'd ask you first. I'd appreciate any advice.

Thanks!


Hi there! Great to hear from you :) And happy for your questions! I feel like after being vegan for 14 years (and vegetarian for 16), I can help! Hehe. If you ever have any questions, please don't hesitate.

Much like yourself, I consider myself an "active" person (well, when I'm not stuck in a van on tour lol). My absolute hero is a guy named Brendan Brazier who started the line of Vega supplements, bars and oils. The fact that you're always hungry is a good thing. There have been times when my body literally *is* starving, from a literal lack of sustenance. A couple things I would recommend after being a sickly vegan, an unhealthy vegan, a fat vegan and finally, an aware vegan:

Get some Vega protein powder. I like the berry one...I just throw it in water and shake and it helps with achy muscles/recovery as well as delivers 100-150 per cent of your daily recommended vitamins and minerals AND MORE. Awesome right? It's also great in smoothies with frozen berries, maybe a banana...whatever you like!
Then I'd pick up the vega omega oil (or any comparable brand). It's an oil filled with anti-oxidants, omega 3, 6 and 9s and more. I put it on salad, stir fry, in soup....everything!!! You can even take it by itself. It's not awesome on it's own but basically there is zero places a vegan gets healthy brain skin and hair fat so this stuff is kinda it!

Another thing I do is use coconut oil to cook in. You'll be amazed. Did you know olive oil, which most people use for cooking, actually turns in to a carcinogen when heated??? It also has the lowest burn temperature. Cooking with coconut oil Is a sincere treat.

Other than that I would say just focus on eating some type of protein (nuts, tofu, seitan, fake meat, edamame, leafy greens like spinach) and some type of healthy fat (uncooked olive oil, coconut oil, nuts, avocado) as often as you can and it should help. Protein and fat give you that "full" feeling...otherwise you're just eating fruit and veggies and wasting away lol.

For recipe ideas I follow a lot of Vegans on Twitter and try my best to eat a balance of hearty, healthy food. One good thing about being Vegan is the massive quantity of food we have to eat to equal what a normal person would scarf down in a single burger ;)

I also have a lot of recipe books filled with ideas that I've been relying on for over a decade. How It All Vegan was one of the first I ever got and I still go back to it.
Good luck you little ninja! :D

Super Sweet Show

Super Sweet Show in L.A.

Friday, May 7th
9pm
Hotel Cafe
http://www.hotelcafe.com
1623 North Cahuenga Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90028-6201
(323) 461-2040

Billy the Kid performing at the Verge XM udring SXSW in Austin

Live in Toronto On An Old Time-y Piano

Live at the Verge for SXSW in Austin

Tuppence

A Very Jerky Blog

Hey there.

Haven't written in awhile. I feel as if i have less and less to say haha. I mean, not to sound like a chump, but my life is pretty boring. How is it I can be in a different city every night and it feels routine??? There's something wrong with me...

Every day starts the same: Wake up, get coffee. Then, drive for 1 to ten hours. This is where the boring comes in. I forgot my iPod this leg of the tour so I have been living off the kindness of others...got a mixed CD made for me by Matt Brenner (who also so kindly let me borrow his guitar for the Edge Nu Music Night at the Horseshoe and a radio thing at York University...thank you Matt!) My manager Todd Arkell from Cool Planet Management made me a mixed CD too (what manager does that? Mine! He also bought me Road Crackers, aka Crackers For The Road). Blair, the guitar player in my band for some of the Ontario dates donated, by far, my favourite CD of LIFE.

It's Bob Dylan, at 20 years old, on an hour long radio program. Not only is it amazing to hear this talented young man at the age of 20 years old speaking of his 6 years traveling with a carnival (What!?!?!) and hanging out with Woody Guthrie, among others, but it's also entirely endearing because the host has a huge crush on him! It is hilarious. I've listened to it so many times I have almost burned a hole in it. At one point the interviewer asks: "Are you still going to wear that hat when you're rich and famous?" and Bob Dylan Says "I'm never going to be rich and famous".

Yesterday I had a day off and turned in to a slug. I left my hotel room once, to get coffee. I think my body is programmed to get up, get coffee, and drive, but when there is no where to drive I just slump back in to bed and go: "Oh..."

So ya. I was a waste of a human all day. It gave the snot in my head an opportunity to start leaking out. (ewwwww)

There's a bunch of fun videos that people have been posting on youtube so I've been favouriting them at http://www.youtube.com/billythekidofficial. If you have any of your own please let me know. Also did an interview with http://www.spinner.com yesterday amidst my "No Where To Drive" Depression. It's not up yet but if you want to know when it is I normally post those kinds of things over at http://www.twitter.com/billypettinger (not to mention a surplus of daily silliness).

I'm in Ottawa right now. I'm contemplating drinking way too much coffee for the second day in a row, mainly cause I have a whole day to kill. I'm still not ready to talk to people though lol...glad I have a few more hours haha! Yesterday was a good enough break that I actually was looking forward to seeing another human. Conversation, though....that will have to wait ;)

I realized yesterday that, given the opportunity, I could totally be one of those people who just wastes away in their hotel room. I could never understand that, up until now. You'd try to get ahold of me, I'd just ignore you...until finally someone would have to come and drag me out of bed and throw me in to a shower with all my clothes on, waking me from my stupor and shocking me back to the fold.

8 hours drive tomorrow. Then it's a constant state of doing stuff (whether it be playing, recording or writing sessions) until South By South West. Did I mention I'm playing 5 times? I never even applied for this thing cause I figured I'd never get accepted. And if I did, probably no one would care. But ya...5 times. So weird.

Alright well I think I figured out the key to blogging...if you just don't talk to anyone for like a whole day you actually have quite a bit to say haha. I feel like I do nothing but talk sometimes so the idea of telling the same stories but in writing gets daunting. (Hence, my disappearing for the past few weeks). Oh also I've traveled many a mile in the last month and it is starting to feel routine, and just feeling that makes me feel like a jerk. And I don't want anyone to know I'm a jerk haha. From Vancouver to Winnipeg to Courtenay to L.A. to Ontario and now on to Texas and back then over to Newfoundland. Just another day. Just another jerk-y batch of stories...
Signing off, for now,
Jerky McJerkerton

Billy the Kid at SXSW

Going to South By SouthWest?

Here's Billy's Schedule:

Wednesday, March 17 - Stephen F's - 11PM
Thursday, March 18 - urArtists party Chuggin Monkeyn Time TBD
Friday, March 19 - BMI Lunch 12:45PM
Friday, March 19 - Hyatt Regency - 6pm
Saturday, March 20 - Holiday Inn Austin Town Lake - 7PM

Billy On CBC

http://radio3.cbc.ca/#/bands/Billy-the-Kid

Billy in Toronto

Did you know my show at the Horseshoe February 23rd is the unofficial Canadian Music Week Volunteer Get Together?

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=292127596468&index=1

Kitchener and S.S. Marie Shows Added

Feb 26th - S.S. Marie - Loplops
March 13 - Kitchener - The Boathouse

For more information visit the Billy the Kid Shows page

We're #68!

http://www.earshot-online.com/charts/2010/January/top200.cfm

Biggest Fan Reviews Van Show

Todd says this doesn't count cause my mom wrote it. i say it counts times ten! :P

Well now. For those of you who missed it ...WOAH!

Billy was AWESOME tonight! She mesmerized the ENTIRE crowd from the moment she stepped onto the stage, playing her guitar, keyboard, harmonica (okay...mouth harp!) and singing her little heart out ... until she stepped off ... after the encore!

The club was filled with 'All Fans Billy' .. standing up to see & hear her...as she talked, laughed, told interesting & funny stories & joked with her fans! She had them ALL singing along ... A M A Z I N G!

The entire crowd sang "Happy Birthday" (led by an old friend from high school) to help 'ease the pain' of the rotten birthday she had on the road...(thanks to one very miserable lady "Marnie" at the Communitea Cafe ... that's enought about her ... don't ever go there!) It was a very touching moment...

It was incredibly awe-inspiring to witness Billy's skills & learn that she has mastered the art of taking hold of a crowd, coaxing them into the palm of her hand & keeping them there for the entire ride! Reminded me so much of Bim ... back in the day! (for those of you who don't know who Bim was ... well, ya missed out on that one too!) lol

New song about the love of her life, Randall, is truly a beauty!

So hey ... next time BE THERE .. you WILL NOT be disappointed!

Signed : Billy's #1 Fan ... her Momma! lol

Many thanks to 'Aunty Elizabeth' who made the trip in with me (on Skytrain no less!) and made it fun ... not nearly as scarey as I thought it would be ... hahaha...

New Review

"This is one rising star you don't want to miss."

http://backstagevancouver.com/?p=3432

Billy the Kid on The Radio

http://radiofalko.blogspot.com/

I love tour

Sometimes I feel like I live a week in a day.

Each day begins with waking up, most of the time well before I'd like to, and squeezing my bag and guitar back in to the '87 VW Golf my friend Aaron lent me for the West Coast portion of the tour.

Some days are the best days of my life. Some are a bit of a struggle. I just realized that what I'm doing, is actually kind of crazy!

I'm Touring, Canada, Alone, In January, In An '87 Golf.

Honestly, I wouldn't have it any other way :)

The last few days have been amazing...My man flew in to Nanton, AB and surprised me on my birthday! It has been incredible having him as a co-pilot (and pilot lol). He's so helpful, generous and thoughtful...I can't imagine life without him and it was such a treat to have a big strong good looking man help me carry things in to venues!

I had a ten hour drive and 4 hours of sleep when I arrived to Nanton on my "Birthday Eve". I got up to my room, an adorable old-timey suite at the top of the Auditorium Hotel, and couldn't figure out how to use the hundred year old heater. I slumped on to the bed in exhaustion and pulled the blankets over my head. Randy called. I proceeded to tell him how much I missed him, and how much I wished he were beside me. Then there was a knock on my door.

"hold on, I think there's someone at my door.."

I opened it, and there he was!!! :D

I jumped in to his arms and started bawling my eyes out. What a sweet sweet man. He flew from L.A. to Nanton to surprise me on my birthday. I got him for 3 more days until I had to drop him off at the Calgary airport to fly to Toronto and play with Chantal Kreviazuk. We had an amazing time driving around and going on a super fun road trip that just happened to consist of shows every night! :D

Randy used to play with Edwin from I Mother Earth and he just happened to be in Medicine Hat with ex-Our Lady Peace guitarist Mike Turner on a radio tour for their new band Crash Karma. It was pretty random when they walked in to the Derailed Pub, and even more random when we found out they'd eaten at the same Mucho Burrito we had....and Randy was the one who'd stolen the last of the mole sauce! :O Edwin was pissed lol

Last night I played the Olds Sportplex then raced over to Tracks Pub (where I'm playing tonight) to do a surprise couple of songs. This morning I was up early to do a few tunes at Rock 104.5. I'm really looking forward to the show tonight...the guys at Tracks are really awesome. If you're a band looking to play around Alberta, I'd highly recommend them.

Tomorrow it's a nice 9 hour drive to Kamloops, a radio interview at 6 then I play the Dirty Jersey.

I love tour :)

The Communitea Cafe in Canmore Ruined My Birthday

I just have to say, before I post this...my boyfriend is the best person ever.

And the people at Communitea Cafe in Canmore, RUINED my birthday.

My man wrote this, and is letting me post it.

If you are a musician, please tell your friends never to play here. It's all we have left as a communi"tea" lol!!

Here's what Randy has to say. Baby I love you :)



The moment we arrived to load in gear this evening we were made to feel like a major inconvenience. (by Marni)

At first i didn't quite understand why we were getting some obvious negativity, but as this story unfolds, it becomes crystal clear.

Our first hurdle, and it was like pulling teeth, was to agree upon where we could set up merch. As you know, on a night like this when the guarantee is minimal, the merch becomes the most important aspect of making this stop financially feasible.

It turns out, they'd not only sold to capacity, which is why they (Marni) outright refused to let us have a table by which to set the merch up for display, but they'd OVER sold there venue. There were audible rumblings in the audience like "why did they sell more tickets than they had seats for?".

We were instructed to set up merch on a part of their counter where they serve their tea... of course, there were people sitting directly in FRONT of that counter so the merch was completely obstructed as well, the area needed for either of us to stand behind the counter to tend to any customers was prioritized by their staff for their tea duties making it impossible to be directly behind the actual product...

So, to sum it up... we had to stand off to the side for most of the time...getting dirty looks from their staff (by Marni) while trying desperately to reach over a counter to tend to audience members who loved billy.

Billy 'was' offered food. The offer was 'before or after'. She chose after.
Wrong choice.
The same woman (Marni) who was blatantly put off by the fact that we were there was so insanely busy selling alcohol that it would've been impossible for her to break away from her beloved cash register. Case in point, when i asked her (Marni) to unlock the office where our cases were stored, she delegated that to one of her friends who was an audience member there to do even that.

The accoms r a mute point. If billy had of been on her own, the 'spare' room would've been fine. Although, before she found out i surprised her and showed up, she was happy about this gig saying "at least i get to play to a full house, get 50 bucks, sell some merch, and i get my own hotel room. All 4 of those points seemed to be things she was sure were part of the deal.

The show.
Billy's banter had the audience laughing out loud, cheering, clapping etc...
They were all singing in unison to the chorus of "just tryin to get by"...

Does this sound anything like an audience's reaction to an artist who's energy wasn't good?

That was a quote from Marni. Directly. Spoken to me in front of the sound guy in the back kitchen.
She actually said, "If i'd thought her energy was good, I would've considered paying her something"...

We were all packed up.
I told Billy to go wait in the car, and i'd settle up.
I approached Miss Negativity (Marni), who I'd i'd been desperately been trying to kill with kindness all night with no success, and asked her if I could get Billy's fee.

She was, of course at the time, at her cash register, and instructed me to "hang on a moment".

Approx 25 mins went by as i watched her have friendly discussions with the only 3 people left in the bar. I sat there. In full view. Remember. Full house. Packed bar from the moment the doors opened until the last note of the main act.

50 dollars.

There i sat patiently.
Chairs were being stacked on tables, no-one from the audience was left in the bar now.

Enter billy to see me sitting there.

She asks, "what's going on?".
I say "I have absolutely no clue, but it's painfully obvious that i'm being blatantly ignored at this point".

Now I actually have to go looking for Marni.
Found her in that back kitchen having a conversation with the sound guy,
I had to actually interrupt them to say, "Hey, it's billy's bday today (which Marni knew), would it be ok to settle up so i can let her celebrate it in some other way other than sitting out in a cold car waiting for 50 dollars?"

It's then that Marni decides to tell me that there was never a 50 dollar figure discussed. It's then, for the 2nd time (1st being when we were trying to set up merch) that she reminds me that she had sold out and didn't need billy and that she was doing a favor for the agent.

Without belaboring the point of my decades in the music business, this was definitely the most rude insulting example of a artist being horribly treated I'd ever encountered.

Dear Marni,
I'm embarrassed for you that you work at an establishment called "communtea".
Plz get a job in the back of a warehouse somewhere, where you don't have to encounter any other humans.
Plz get out of the people business.
You're just not cut out for this sort of thing.
You know.
People.
That thing.

Saskatchetario

I'm in Grayson, SK.

No offence to the people of Grayson, or rural Saskatchewan, but I didn't know this place existed.

There's so much to small town Canada that I had no idea about. I was pumping gas and a random local from Grenfell smiled and waved at me. I was at a 4 way stop in Regina and even though I was on the left, and had come to a complete stop way after the guy to my right, I was waved through a stop sign by an adorable elderly gentleman. The lineup at the bank moves a little slower, and it takes awhile to get a latte but overall, things are a-okay around these parts ;)

i wish everyone could keep a small town in their heart. this worls would be so much kinder. A little slower, but kinder.

I love being on tour. It is the best thing in the universe ever. I love how every night is so different. And you're so tired but you gotta persevere and get to the next show, and then kill it. Or, at least try.

i guess since we last talked i've played in Saskatoon, Winnipeg and Regina. I am just amazed at how much of a difference people and their "moods" play on people's reality. All it takes is one grumpy sound guy, waitress or promoter and my whole day is thrown off haha. Thankfully, Winnipeg had just the right combination of awesome promoter, sound guy and staff. They treated me so great and the Park Theatre is just an amazing venue. Saskatoon was great cause I got to see my ol pal Ryan Drabble, who surprised me when he ended up being the sound guy. Then there's the Canadian touring staple of Regina, Nathan and Crystal. If you're brave enough to tour Canada, there are a few things you're bound to run in to if you become a repeat offender...one of those things is running in to some of the Canadian tour staples such as Drabble and Nathan and Crystal. Pretty much every time I'm in Saskatchetario I end up staying with these amazing people and not only do they put ya up for the night, but they offer to feed ya and send ya off with a care package lol.

K, I think I should hang out with the locals of Grayson and try to make some friends ;)

Billy