Villebillies
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Bio
Arising from Louisville, Kentucky’s underground scene, The Villebillies have worked hard over the years to achieve recognition in the music industry and earn the admiration and respect of fans and fellow musicians alike. With their down home attitude and an eclectic, crossgenre musical style, The Villebillies display a realness and originality that is all too rare in the world of popular music.
It’s difficult to pin The Villebillies musical style to any one genre. Rap and rock elements are most prominent but the band goes far beyond with their skillful incorporation of a wide variety of sounds. The band doesn’t follow a specific songwriting formula or focus on one particular message or vibe. Instead, each song reflects a different experience within the greater context of the Villebillies’ story.
The bands signature is a well choreographed vocal style that features hard hitting rap verses, infectious melodic hooks and intricate soulful harmonies. Each of the three frontmen brings their own technique and personality to the stage with lyrics that touch on a wide variety of subjects that listeners can relate to. The backbone of the Villebillie multigenre instrumental style is a rock band type lineup. Drums, bass, acoustic, and electric guitar form the foundation with additional accompaniment that can include anything from hiphop style samples to hillbilly banjo licks to classical strings. It’s this nolimit approach that has given The Villebillies an uncanny ability to reach across cultural boundaries in a way that few other bands can.
On stage, The Villebillies present an exciting performance that can be enjoyed by music lovers from all walks of life. The band has played hundreds of shows across the United States, sharing the stage with independent and major acts, from Hed PE to Hank Junior, to Nelly. The Villebillies’ originality and authenticity has turned the heads of even the most skeptical audiences, earning the band a large and diverse fan base.
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BAND HISTORY:
Originally, the Villebillies were a crew of MC’s who all grew up together, or ran in the same circles. Though they toyed with elements of rock and bluegrass in those days, they performed over canned beats with little live instrumentation. The original lineup was Dustin “Tuck” Tucker, Derek “Child” Monyhan, Dylan O’Daniel, David “2B” Mouser, and Demi Demaree on vocals, with production help from B.J. Young. After recording a number of tracks infusing ear-catching beats with energetic rhymes, they started performing and selling burnt CD’s at their shows. Their fresh new sound drew in listeners and they enjoyed early success in the local scene.
Vocalist Demi Demaree had already been fronting a rock group called “Plan of Man”, so naturally Plan of Man and the Billies were always around each other. In those early years, the VB’s were collaborating with the Plan of Man instrumentalists : Ron Ping (bass), Tim Bernauer (drums), Justin Reid (guitar), and mutual friend Adam Goff (acoustic guitar and banjo.) After a couple of years of working along side one another and sharing the stage, it only made sense that the groups should merge. In 2003 the Villebillies took the stage for the first time as a live, ten piece band.
The VB’s quickly became one of the most popular groups in the region and began creating a buzz around the music industry. Soon the labels were beating down the door. After turning down several record deals and a reality TV show on MTV, the Billies signed with Universal/Motown in 2006. Though they had a vault of more than 200 songs, many of which had been circulating on burnt discs, it was now time to pick out a handful and record their first album.
They headed to Sound Kitchen Studios in Nashville and after nearly two months of fourteen hour sessions they had cut a record. Half of the tracks which made the final album were demo versions they had produced themselves. Also lending a hand on several songs was producer Toby Wright (Alice in Chains, Korn, Metallica) and the last track “Greatest Moment” was recorded with legendary producer Bob Ezrin (Kiss, Pink Floyd, Lou Reed.) On September 26th, 2006 the Villebillies self-titled debut album hit the shelves.
The boys hit the road, playing shows from coast to coast and opening for several major acts. During the next year and a half, the Billies amassed a large underground following and had songs featured on ESPN, and MTV programs such as “Next”. However the road can be stressful and along the way, David Mouser, Dylan O’Daniel, and BJ Young left the group to pursue other interests.
Although the public was very responsive to the Villebillies sound, the expense of touring with such a large group became a strain on Universal. Ultimately the album never got the push it needed. Eventually, label politics and file-sharing made being a new band on a major label a major disadvantage. In June of 2007 the Billies parted ways with Universal in search of a better situation.
It took the group a few months to recover from all of the changes. After a couple shows in late 2007 and early 2008, the Billies withdrew from the public eye and started working on a new album. This time around the band was on its own. With a shoestring budget and some help from a couple friends, the Villebillies released their second album, “From the Belly of the Beast”, on September 30th 2008. A month later the band released a music video for the first new single, “Stranger”.
Their sophomore effort is a testament to their ability to grow and overcome adversity. In the grand tradition of Villebillie music, tracks from “From the Belly of The Beast” hit all over the spectrum. Songs range from the eerie and angry, to the satirical and self-deprecating, to the fun party tracks the Villebillies are known for.
With less members and more experience, the Villebillies are more capable than ever. Now that “Beast” is gaining the Villebillies the attention of the industry, as well as the public, not to mention a music video and a string of shows nationwide, it is time for the boys from Kentucky to show the world what they can do.
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