11 Sep 2014
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Horseshoes & Hand Grenades…It’s Out!!!

It has been a very exciting week of New Album Release-related stuff. I can’t believe all the great feedback and reviews. Thank you everyone who took the time to send a message, repost or retweet about the album and share the videos and the links. I posted this on Facebook a few days ago but thought I would put it up here as well in case anyone missed it. Thank you again, from the bottom of my heart…

If you’ve been hanging around here awhile, you know how much work went in to the pre-order campaigns for the last two albums, “Ours” and “Stars, Exploding”. For the first time in my whole life, I had some help in the form of a label when it came to recording. That label is Xtra Mile. For the first time in my life, I’m a little nervous…Whereas in the past, we have (you people on here and myself) collectively financed the recording process, Xtra Mile took a gamble on me and now it’s up to us to show them they made the right decision. I hope to keep working with them for a long time, and the only way to ensure that is if you guys buy this thing. So please, if you feel the urge or ever wanted to help, buy this album! Buy multiple copies and give them to people even haha. Share the songs, share the links and videos and keep being the team players you’ve been for me since day one. Now is not the time to take it easy. We gotta work harder than ever. Cause it’s not just us anymore…there’s a whole family involved. Help us help one another, and please, keep buying music.
Thank you.

If you still need a copy (or fancy buying a copy for a friend or gift), here are the links:
iTunes: http://smarturl.it/BillyTheKid-iTunes

Physical: http://www.xtramilerecordings.com/Shop/DownloadDetails?rid=XMR_RE_146

Amazon:http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00KXLFY8E/ref=redir_mdp_mobile?keywords=billy+the+kid+horseshoes&qid=1403102114&ref_=sr_1_1&sr=8-1&tag=smarturl-gb-21

22 Jul 2014
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Tour Dates in UK + North American Tour with Billy Bragg + New Single

Soooo…

This is a big one for me. If you ever told me I would be going on tour with Billy Bragg I would never believe you. But…here it is. I’m a huge fan and have been for a long, long time. Also excited to see UK fans and friends again so soon after the tour with Chuck Ragan and Northcote. For more information click here.

Here’s the next single from the new album. It’s called “Phone Bills”.

For more information on the shows including ticket links click here: http://www.facebook.com/billythekid

UK/EUROPE DATES

AUGUST 2014

27 Berlin @ Ramones Museum

29 Bristol @ Birdcage

31 Leeds @ Brundell

SEPTEMBER 2014

01 Manchester @ The Castle

03 London @ Black Heart

SUPPORTING BILLY BRAGG

SEPTEMBER 2014

12 Chicago @ City Winery, USA

15 Cleveland @ Music Box Supper Club, USA

17 New York @ City Winery, USA

18 New York @ City Winery, USA

19 Riverhead, NY @ Suffolk Theatre, USA

20 Bellow Falls, VT @ Bellow Falls Opera House, USA

22 Portland, ME @ Port City Music Hall, USA

23 Fredericton, NB @ The Playhouse, Canada

24 Charlottetown, PE @ PEI Brewing Company, Canada

25 Halifax, NS @ Rebecca Cohn Auditorium, Canada

27 St John’s, NL @ Cochrane United Church, Canada

CANADIAN TOUR

OCTOBER

1 – Toronto, ON @ The Cave

 

10 May 2014
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This Is the End.

I love painting so much. I love it more than anything right now.

Yes, even music.

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately.

I think maybe it is because it’s instant gratification. All the things I love about music, painting gives me every day. It used to be that a concert would give me this feeling, this instant happiness. Sometimes now it just feels like a “show” (which is what a lot of people call it). I don’t really consider myself a “performer”. I know some people who would tell me that I’m in the wrong line or work, or I don’t take my job seriously. It’s just who I am. I’m just being honest with you.

I’ve spent a lot of time in my life assessing music and what it means to me. Every time you get knocked down, especially as you get older, you have to look around and take stock, ask yourself some important questions and decide if you can keep going like this.

Every time I ask myself these questions, I learn a little more. About myself, what I truly value, what the whole thing means to me…stuff like that. I realize that it’s the excitement of Making that keeps me around. The creating. The writing. Recording. It doesn’t matter what job I have or what else is going on in my life, I will always do these things.

Sometimes aspects of it get in the way. It’s ok, then I just stop. I really like to write, I think because it activates the part of my brain that says “You are learning something” or “You are making something”. When outside influences get involved and projects get put on hold, my brain goes through this anxious state of confusion before it just…moves on.

It’s ok, it’s just time to learn something else. Make something else. That is where my happiness comes from. In the making.

So much in music is so drawn out. If it were up to me I’d make a couple albums a year. Unfortunately, that is not in the budget. Sometimes people ask me about “Writer’s Block”. I think it’s a sign that you should not write. I don’t worry about it anymore…I know that the writing will come back. It’s almost like it’s linked to the doing and the learning. When it gets stalled, I fumble around until I get a fix. We are all just poor passing facts. We are all just drug addicts.

So I started painting.

I’m working on “Nine” right now, the ninth in the Numbered Series, which means that nine months ago I started painting. Wow! It sure has been fun.

Right now we are going through a blitz of painting before I leave for tour and then I am going to stop. Not painting, I’m not going to stop painting. Not music, I’m not going to stop music. I’m simply going to stop putting paintings on eBay for you to bid on.

Why? Because I’m making a section on this site where all my paintings will live and if someone wants to buy them, great. So far I have not kept one of my paintings. I consider them all a part of me Learning and Making. I wouldn’t say I have mastered the learning and the making of paintings, but I certainly learned something about myself. I learned that I love painting. I love it so much. More than anything right now. So much so that I would like for it to be my job. Well, at least one of them.

So this is the end. This is the end of me trying to be a painter and the beginning of me, being a painter. I love painting so much I’m going to really give it a shot. If you get a chance, try and get your hands on a painting while they are up for auction because after this, I’m deciding the price mwa hahahaha 😉

Love you,

Billy