Blues Rock Songwriter and guitarist with an original sound

Billy D's Guitar

My main Electric Axe is a Suhr - custom made by a guy named John  Suhr who was out of California when I got the guitar about 8 years ago.

 

It's a Telecaster style body - both body and neck are made of mahogany -  with a rosewood fingerboard with simple dot inlay. I love Humbuckers -  the neck pickup is a Rio Grande "Texas Humbucker" and the bridge pickup is a  Seymour Duncan "Hotrail", which is a squished double-coil that fits  perfectly into a cutout originally designed for a single-coil. I use  the Rio Grande most of the time 'cuz I love that fat mellow singing tone. I use the Seymour for those biting bright leads - and usually if  there's not a lead in the tune I'll chunk rhythm in the middle  position! Use D'addario 11's and Cool Heavy picks.

Love this guitar - plays like a dream!!!

Billy D and the Hoodoos

Here's The Latest: Billy's newest CD/DVD Somethin's Wrong has really taken off. The 12 videos from the DVD are combining for over 2,000 views per day on YouTube and online sales and downloads in the US and Europe have increased dramatically as a result. Soon after moving to Portland,OR, a city with a true "Blues Community" in 2010 (just after the release of Somethin's Wrong) Billy D and the Hoodoos were awarded "Best New Act" by the Cascade Blues Association and that same weekend opened for the great Robert Cray at The University of Missouri. In October 2011, one of Billy's tunes Bye Now from his new acoustic CD was licensed by the new hit TV series Hart of Dixie. More as it happens...

Billy D's life experience has given him the strength to write the Blues with a passion that only comes from living it. He is heavily influenced by Chicago's blues, but Billy isn't just a typical blues man. His writing and musical talents create a "Backbeat Roots" style that goes way past traditional blues music. His songs reflect the tough lessons of his past and show his love for Mother Blues and her first-born, Rock & Roll.

Born on the south side of Chicago, Billy grew up surrounded by the Blues and early Rock & Roll — a powerful attraction. He started playing professionally at teen dances and parties at the age of fourteen, and by eighteen he was sneaking into the blues clubs of Chicago to hear greats like Muddy Waters, Junior Wells, Buddy Guy, and James Cotton. Over the next ten years, Billy played for Junior Wells, Big Time Sarah, and Detroit Junior.

By the mid '70s he had formed his first band, Skid City Blues Band, as singer, guitarist, and songwriter. After years of touring, Billy moved to Los Angeles in 1988, studying with Blues great Tony Matthews, guitarist for Little Richard and Ray Charles, and spending half of the next year playing behind Don "Sugar Cane" Harris, perhaps the worlds greatest blues violinist.

In the mid '90s Billy moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico and began playing his original songs at local clubs and concerts. Within the year, Billy D and the Hoodoos were formed. In 2003, KTAO voted She's The One the number one song by a regional artist. KTAO hosts the Annual Solar Fest in New Mexico where that year Billy and the band opened for Los Lonely Boys and Robert Cray.

After releasing his second CD, Rokdablu!, and several more successful years in New Mexico, Billy left the Southwest for Oregon in early 2010. His newest CD, Somethin's Wrong , has been embraced by the Portland music community and received outstanding reviews.

Keep Rockin'!

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