Since the Billy Blues Band had their premiere performance at February’s Fat Tuesday concert at the Riverside Hotel’s Sapphire Room in Boise, anxious fans have clamored for more shows from the outstanding local blues band. Now, they have several dates booked, including an upcoming date at Destination 112 in Nampa on Friday, April 27th.
Formed in February of 2017, the Billy Blues Band has been known for their wide variety of music that they cover with their full eight-piece ensemble. Bill Arnold, the founder of the Billy Blues Band, told the Boise Beat, “I wanted to put together a band because that was my retirement plan. I’ve been involved in music for a long time. I enjoy it a whole lot. Starting last February, I put together a group of people and slowly started refining and upgrading in terms of the quality of the music and quality of the musicians. We started practicing as an eight-member group in early December. That’s been my dream, to have two female vocalists. I think it provides a lot more depth and diversity to the music. For my vocals, it adds strength to them; with them I sound better. They need to be the primary up-front force for us. Becky Blake sings and Michele Eastland sings and plays the trumpet”.
Besides rhythm guitarist/singer Arnold, Blake and Eastland, the band consists of lead guitarist Dana DeVice, sax player John Paul Crank, bassist Terry Jones, drummer Brian Sweet and new member Jack Hale on keyboards. The instrumentation of the band allows them to not only provide renditions of contemporary blues tunes, but has a depth that allows them to recreate the sounds of the Motown, soul and blues rock styles. Bill Arnold mentioned that “Nobody’s really doing soul and Motown stuff. Michele really likes that so we’ll have some of that in there too. There’s a little bit of jazz in there too, but we want to make the jazz more bluesy. Michele wants to do Cry Me A River, which is a jazz song, so we’re working on that to make it more bluesy and I think we can do it. It just involves a little creativity. My favorite tune that we do is the Kenny Wayne Shepherd tune, The Dark Side of Love. We do a good version of Big Boss Man; Baby Please Don’t Go which is a classic that we do well. Becky wants to do Snake Farm and Michele wants to doVoodoo Woman”.
The Billy Blues Band isn’t just about covering great tunes however. As Bill said, “I’ve written one called Love Me Baby that is a slow blues song that we’ve done before that I think sounds really good”. More tunes are on the way for an expected recording date of May 16 when the Billy Blues Band will hit the studio to begin recording.
The Billy Blues Band really shines with their live performances. High energy, exciting performances are a hallmark of seeing Billy Blues live. It is not just a sit-down and listen concert however. Bill Arnold said, “I think the attraction is that it’s dance music—people around here really like dance music. I think our two female vocalists and their level of professionalism and their stage presence really helps a lot”. With their upcoming set of shows, there will be plenty of chances to not only enjoy the Billy Blues Band’s music, but to dance to them at several of the venues that they are playing at.
The show at Destination 112 should prove to be an exciting one. Between Bill Arnold’s singing and the powerhouse vocals of Michele and Becky, combined with the tremendous rhythm section, this will be a night that will keep you moving as you enjoy the diversity of the music. For a relatively new band, they have made a tremendous run out of the starting gate on the Boise music scene.
Upcoming dates for the Billy Blues Band include:
112 13thAvenue South
Nampa, ID
Friday, April 27, 7-10pm
12505 W. Chinden Blvd.
Boise, ID
Wednesday, May 9
Gazebo Concert Series
Heritage Park
185 E. State Street
Eagle, ID
Thursday, May 31, 6:30-9pm
8001 W. Fairview Avenue
Boise, ID
Sunday, June 10
The Riverside Hotel
2900 W. Chinden Blvd.
Boise, ID
Tuesday, June 26
The Market at Heritage Square
185 E. State Street
Eagle, ID
Saturday, September 15
More info about the Billy Blues Band and their upcoming shows can be found at their website or on their Facebook page.
Photo by Ed Simon for The Boise Beat. Videos by Ron Gardner, courtesy of Billy Blues Band
