THE BILLY LORD STORY 

 

Two wheels, one guitar, and the open road...

 

After spending almost a year riding a Harley cross country with a
guitar strapped to his back, Billy Lord is set to become the breakout
star of 2015 and an American icon…

11,774 miles, 50 acoustic shows, and 20 new songs later, Billy has an
epic new album and TV show, National Anthem, ready for release
in 2015.

Billy, whose vocal and musical stylings have drawn comparisons from
Bob Seger to Eric Church to Bruce Springsteen, is a New York City country rock musician experiencing what can best be described as a meteoric rise on the American music scene….

 

#1 on the NY rock charts, #22 in the US, and #30 in the world (Reverbnation artist chart rankings 1-28-15)

Seamlessly weaving songs between pop, rock and country, Billy’s aptly
titled debut album American Music was heralded as "one of the best new
releases of 2012.." and earned him an opening gig with
platinum-selling artist Uncle Kracker. The album's first single, On a
Summer Night, gained Billy national radio play and 2013 EOTM Award
nominations for Best Country Song and Best Country Music video. Billy
closed out the EOTM Awards show at the Pacific Design Center in
Hollywood with a live performance that drew rave reviews.

American Music also launched the single Fighting Back, an aggressive
adrenaline-fueled anthem based on Billy’s own personal battles. The
song struck a heavy chord with listeners and earned him radio play on
some of the biggest rock radio stations in the country, including New
York’s Z100 and Providence, RI’s Home of Rock n Roll, 94 HJY.  With
Fighting Back playing on the radio, Billy rose from one of the city’s
working homeless - singing his songs in parks and subway platforms -
to one of the most talked about new artists in the city scene
seemingly overnight.

Fighting Back was named Best Rock Song of 2012 by voters on Twitter
@YouTubeRisingStar and eventually earned Billy a featured artist honor
from Z100 radio.  By early 2013, Billy had his own station on Pandora.
Not one to rest on his early success, Billy set out on a motorcycle in
February of 2013 with his guitar and a mission to write a great
American rock album that would stand proudly alongside the classic albums that have been his inspiration. Billy earned gas and food money by playing songs wherever he could; from small bars to street corners, often sleeping outside on picnic tables, in gas station bathrooms or in the laundry rooms of hotels. During the cross country journey, Billy found songs for his follow-up album in the people and places he encountered along the way. In the middle ofhis epic ride, Billy was asked to return home to play a concert in his hometown on the eve of 4th of July. Billy's performance drew a record setting crowd to the venue, estimated at over 5,000 adoring fans. Upon his return, Billy was approached by Ellen Rakieten and Relativity Entertainment and flew to Hollywood to develop a TV show based on the journey and the making of the album from the road.

On the cusp of super stardom, Billy has worked harder than ever on the
songs for National Anthem, working with acclaimed producer Lu Rubino.
The new CD, set to release in February 2015, will feature 13 new songs,
including the single Steal the Evening Sky, a duet with another rising
star, Carly Jo Jackson. The official Itunes release will include a digital booklet with pictures and maps from Billy's cross country journey, along with journal entries chronicling the stories behind the songs on the album.
Album cover art is being painted by Orlando artist, Maureen Robinson.
A Billy Lord "Freedom" model guitar is also in development, to be
manufactured by the Vargas Guitar Company.

A 2015 National Anthem tour is in the works and dates will be posted at www.reverbnation.com/billylord

 

The fall before the rise…

 

The story behind Billy Lord’s growth as a singer and songwriter is
much more than meets the eye. Before his time living out of a guitar
case, Billy lived a life more common... working in middle management,
supporting a family, and living the typical suburban "American dream." In
2009, Billy’s life, like many Americans at that time, came apart at
the seams; victim to the harsh new realities of a post-banking crisis
economy. In a year’s time, his 15-year career came to an abrupt end,
the new home he was building was lost, and his savings and investments
dissolved, along with his marriage.

To make ends meet for his family, Billy took on several odd jobs,
including night shifts unloading trucks. Unable to afford an apartment
of his own, Billy used the early morning hours after work and before
sunrise teaching himself to play the guitar (a guitar that had been
sitting in his closet untouched for more than a dozen years) and
started writing songs. Two years after losing everything, Billy left
his odd jobs to follow his passion for music and raised enough money
through a Kickstarter fundraiser to record his debut album, American
Music. Good Riddance, a song that condemns his own behavior, written
through the eyes of an ex, was the first song he wrote. It serves as
the album’s opening track.

American Music is a compilation of musical styles with acoustic guitar
as its base.  From the soaring rock guitar of Good Riddance, the good
time honkytonk blues rock of Toss One Back, the road weary
storytelling of Long Road, to the sultry, slow-burning sound of
forbidden love in the ballad Written in the Stars, Billy Lord is the
kind of crossover star the music scene has been waiting to receive.
Touching on the simple emotional experiences of freedom and loss, and
the timeless connection between the two, the music is earnest,
universal, and an essential roadside companion that is always, at
its core, American Music.

Billy Lord was born in Oregon and spent most of his life in his hometown
of Bristol, Rhode Island. He has lived in New York City for the past
six years.