Recently I finished principal recording for what is to be my first ever “solo” album. That’s odd for me to think about, mainly because the stuff I write for 1916 was never intended to be anything other than an expression of myself. It just sort of happened to sound a lot like Irish punk. But over the years I’ve written probably over 500 songs. Most of them are (admittedly) probably shit…but many of them are pretty good I think. Songs that I would love to get out to the world, either through the vehicle of 1916 or some other band. Some of these songs sound a little mellow to be included in a new 1916 record…so I thought I’d put them together onto what I’m tentatively calling “Billy Herring 1”. Here’s the thing though. After listening to these songs over and over again, I’m finding myself wanting to add a little more energy to these tunes. So I’m pushing back the release of this new album by another month or so. I recorded the bass and some percussion with a nice guy who plays bass for Luke Bryan down here in Nashville. Like super nice dude. And everything sounds great from what we did. I just want to add more to it. The initial idea was to make a cd that would mimic one of my solo shows. But honestly, if I wanted to do that I’d just make a live album (which is something that’s getting to be more and more on my radar). I look at an album/record/tape as a work of art. Art that exists in that moment you are experiencing it and nothing more or less. So when you’re listening to the cd, why shouldn’t there be dynamic percussion and electric guitars? I’ll be working hard over the next month or so to get these things done so I can give you a piece of art that I’m totally happy with. Until then, I’m selling demo copies of these songs on a faux vinyl cd-r in a nice little package at my love shows and if I happen to have them on me if you see me haha.
Denverrrr!
Denver was such a good time. Exhausting from all the travel I had to do over the course of 48 hours…but a good time nonetheless. I went out there at the behest of my good friends Rob and Tina Rushing from Punk Rock Saves Lives (a music based wellness nonprofit that helps those in need whether they’re suffering from mental health crises or from awful things like cancer). The show was booked months ago and was to be on July 22-my birthday. My buddy Dylan Walshe and myself were both playing this event and we figured, pretty logically I thought, that we could book a tour around this one show to sort of justify the lengthy travel we had to do for it. But as the weeks drew on, we were unable to book a single show for the tour. So we resigned ourselves to play a one off show in Denver...but dammit, it was on my birthday and I was determined to have fun!
The show went well. I was a little bitchy from breaking a string just before the end of my set, and was therefore unable to play the “heavy hitter” closing songs I had planned on. But listen, I’m my own worst critic. Always have been. If I’m going to be doing these blog posts regularly, you’ll probably notice a healthy dose of self depricating thoughts coming from me. It’s my own way of laughing off my own insecurities…maybe…what the fuck I don’t know lol. Anyways! I thought I could have played a better set. And then Dylan goes on and totally crushes it! I was so jazzed to see everyone going nuts for Dylan. He’s a great guy with a very cool unique style of music that you don’t get to hear very often. To see him in this environment outside the confines of Nashville surrounded by enthusiastic music fans was amazing. Apart from the numerous bands that we saw, such as the amazing Dryer Fire, the always killer Reno Divorce, and dozens of others, I was glad to see some familiar faces in the crowd. Some friends from Utah that I’d met at our 1916 show in Nashville on St Patrick’s Day came out to see me play and it totally made my weekend. I even got to play a very special guitar they’d brought that had special significance to them. It was truly a great honor. Alright I feel like I’m rambling here now. I’m going to try to do one of these at least every week so I don’t try to stuff too much info into each blog post. Stay tuned for more info about the solo cd. It WILL be soon, i promise.
Moments after I turned 45. Let’s hope the next 45 are even more fun!
Billy
☘️
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