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Rock Band Interview with Billy Johnson

Billy Johnson's Roadshow is a CD and a band with plenty of soul to make you move!! In this intimate interview, get to the bottom of BIlly's folk, soul, funk, and rock roots.

Whether fronting The Hillcats, Billy Johnson's Roadshow, or performing solo with just his acoustic guitar, Billy Johnson shines. In 2000 and 2001, Billy was nominated for best male vocalist by the Minnesota Music Academy, losing out both years to Jonny Lang. 2002 could be his year!

Access Rock: You grew up in Burnsville, Minneapolis?

Billy: Yah, I'm grew up a suburban boy.

Access Rock: Do you live there still?

Billy: No, I live in South Minneapolis.

Access Rock: What was the music scene like in Minneapolis 15 years ago up to present?

Billy: We'll you know, I'd like to think the hey day is now (laughs), but when I was in high school there were The Replacements and later on Soul Asylum. That's kinda what I grew up on. It's a pretty cool city for me. A lot of places to play, a lot of bands playin'. It's also a really friendly and supportive place to play.

Access Rock: I didn't know Soul Asylum was from Minneapolis.

Billy: Yah, occasionally you will see them down at this bar, the 400 bar, where they will bartend for the night (laughs).

Access Rock: Tell me how your band Roadshow got started?

Billy: I was playing in town here for a good six or seven years with a band called The Hillcats. They were more roots-rock or alt-country. We split and as that was happening, I had gone in and started recording some songs with a buddy of mine, David Russ, a drummer here in Minneapolis. He plays with just about everybody in town. I didn't have any sort of plan...I was just spending money (laughs), having friends come in and play and put down parts. Eventually about a year later, we had an album and enough people who wanted to play live. It's sort of like an all-star band (laughs).

Access Rock: Do you plan on keeping it like that?

Billy: You know, there is a solid group of six of us that are pretty serious about the music, so.... we're playing a lot around here now, but hopefully we'll get out of the state soon.

Access Rock: I saw on your web site that you were playing recently in Nashville, or was it New York?

Billy: I haven't played out of town with Roadshow, but I have played a couple of solo shows in New York City. Roadshow hasn't played more than five hours out of Minneapolis (laughs). We're in the middle of America!

Access Rock: We'll hey, you can start anywhere. Freedom song I really like - it has some funky rhythm guitar on it. Are you playing that part?

Billy: Yah - I really have never played anything but rhythm guitar. Occasionally I'll dabble with some lead stuff. I like that song too. It's got some very cool drum loops and the female vocals on it are really good.

Access Rock: Yah, I really like her. So you said you don't have any formal training, right?

Billy: No, I pretty much taught myself how to play guitar. I grew up singing - my Mom, Dad, and Sister are pretty musical. We grew up singing in church together. Singing is just something I've done and I love since I can really remember. Yah, and I wish I knew what I was doing on the guitar (laughs)!

Access Rock: The drum loops on the album, did the producer help you with those?

Billy: Yah - actually about halfway through when we really needed it, he (David Russ)got Pro Tools. A lot of it is me trying to explain what I want, and him being able to produce it and come up with the rhythm I'm describing. Dave also has a funky little studio in town where everybody likes to record (cheaply). We could take our time which was great because about half of it got written as we were going along. It was a really laid back atmosphere, which I love because I don't necessarily love recording. I'd prefer to be playing for twenty people in a room. Recording is more like work.

Access Rock: It is, no doubt. You listen back to what you did and it doesn't sound anything like what you thought it sounded like!

Billy: There are some things I enjoy about it. I like the camaraderie of it, just kind of hangin' out. And I think you get better as a musician putting all of that time in.

Access Rock: Yah - you come out of recording for a couple weeks and feel like you can take on the world! Did you have just parts of songs written before you recorded?

Billy: I guess on a couple. I probably went in with about seven complete songs. Some got written on the way.

Access Rock: You had some co-writers on it?

Billy: Not much, I don't do a lot of that. I've got a buddy who lives in New York who writes stuff for me. He'll mail me something from wherever he's living. There is a song on the album which he wrote most of. It seems like it would be hard to write together with somebody.

Access Rock: Tell me about the big influences on your songwriting?

Billy: This is always the hardest question for me.

Access Rock: I mean... do you start out at a certain point as far as a rhythm or a groove, putting something on top of that?

Billy: I don't know if I have a method, time, or a place where I write.. sometimes I wish I would but it's in the car, in the bathroom, as I'm about to fall asleep. I'll sit and play guitar every day, but the ideas for the substance just kind of come to me all day. I have teeny little pieces of paper laying around everywhere. It's kind of like that. I think the best ones are the songs that come all at once. Someone was talking about writing and they said, 'Right when you are feeling really hungry and feel like writing more, stop and get up from it and try to get that hungry again.

Access Rock: As far as the influence question, did you grow up listening to everything?

Billy: You know what, I still do. I manic that way, I think. The last couple of CD's I bought were this Nora Jones CD (female singer) and ZZ Top's Greatest Hits! Growing up... high school in the late 80's, I listened to a lot of Van Halen, Bon Jovi, and stuff like that (laughs).

Access Rock: Especially Van Halen, they are one of the greatest rock bands of all time, if you ask me!

Billy: I didn't like Van Hagar or the other Van groups, but when David Lee Roth was in the group, they were pretty damn cool. I really listen to everything. I don't know if I really try to emulate anything so much. You probably are constantly stealing things from people. I feel like I more influenced by people who are close to me than anyone famous. I wanted to sing 'cause my sister sang, I had a few friends who were older who played and I thought it was cool. I notice my mannerisms on stage will sometimes throw me into a flashback of who they were at 18(laughs).

Access Rock: How is the distribution of the CD going?

Billy: It's mainly local here. It's a cool place[distributor] run by a friend of mine. The CD is in a lot of local stores in Minneapolis and some stores outside the city. Let it Be, Electric Fetus, Cheapo, and a bunch of other places. I'm happy to give them business if I can.

Access Rock: You bought a lot of records there, right?

Billy: Yah. The distribution is not on a grand scale yet. But, It always amazes me when I get my little my sheets back from the distribution company...'Steve Andersen in Santa Monica' [bought a CD] and like I never played there.

Access Rock: Where do you see the band in five years?

Billy: I'd love to record again soon...I'd like to get rid of some of these albums that are shoved in my closet, here! I would love to be a little more ambitious than we are now... traveling, playing. I like the idea of being in control of the creative aspect and the business aspect of things. You know, everybody wants to get signed and everybody wants to be famous. Maybe it's because I'm a little older and I've done it for awhile.. tried some of that stuff. There are enough people in town here who are making a good living, traveling nationally and regionally playing their music. They're in complete control - have their own label. That seems a little more feasible. I don't really need to be making much more money than I'm making right now...it would be nice, but it's kind of the secondary part of it for me.

Access Rock: Yah, that's the way it's gotta be in this business.

Billy: There are people that are goin' that route, dying to me on some major label.[ In five years], I'd love to be playin' with the same people. We get along really well. I really respect them as musicians and people.

Access Rock: What other artists are you listening to now?

Billy: I like this guy Jack Johnson. The music is in the same vein as mine. I've always been a huge Prince fan. I was a tad disappointed with his last couple of things, but his newest one, The Rainbow Children is pretty cool despite all of the confused religious stuff in it(laughs)! He's amazing to me as an entertainer, musician, and he plays everything.

Access Rock: What advice would you give young artists who are starting out?

Billy: This might be like 'la, la Disney World advice', but just play a ton. Play as much as you can, write as much as you can. Like I was saying, I think it's worth while to be in control of your songs at least for a while. Some of the younger people here in town have signed deals, pissed everything away to somebody who was blowing them off three months later.

Access Rock: Yah, a lot of the other bands I talk to say the same thing. You have to retain control of your own music.

Billy: I try to go out and check out what's goin' on in town, just because I like music(laughs). There can get to be little, weird kind of exclusive scenes in a town. I like that about where I am because I feel like the genres cross over here and there and people are pretty open to different styles of music. I think that's always good to keep an open mind. Writing for me, it's like I have to slow down. Life's happening around me and if I don't take time to sit and kind of observe it, I can't write worth a damn.