DAVE'S DIARY - 10 JANUARY 2004 - BILLY BRIDGE
BILLY BRIDGE NEW TALENT FINALIST
Victorian Star Maker finalist Billy Bridge's musical career is definitely not a bridge over troubled water.
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Billy
had a dream childhood with his musical family on their farm near Moe
in the heart of the rich dairying and coal belt of Gippsland. Now, after releasing debut album, Post-It Note Proposal, the latter day Werribee warrior could embroider that dream. The singer-songwriter has made the Top 5 for the prestige new Talent Gold Guitar in the 32nd Australian Country Music Awards in Tamworth. |
Bridge's
12-track album, produced by Roger Corbett of Bushwackers fame, features
five Bridge originals including a co-write with elder brother Steve on
Coleraine.
Other originals include his singles Mallee Dust and the title track,
One More Chance One More Time and Lonely, Lonely Town.
There's also a duet on Forever Has Come To An End with Karen O'Shea
who appeared in the first series of Nu Country TV.
And Bridge also covered Honeymoon Wine - penned and recorded by
Kieran Kane who returns to Australia in March for the Port Fairy folk
festival and east coast tour with Dead Reckoning Records partner Kevin
Welch.
BRIDGE GENES GROW IN GIPPSLAND
The youngest
of four children, Billy, and brother Steve learned the ropes from their
dad who had a love for traditional country.
The brothers were fed a staple diet of Hank Williams, Charley Pride, Kenny
Rogers, Jim Reeves, Johnny Cash and other legends.
Folks would come from far and wide to join Bridge family musical soirees
after the sun went down and the lights went on.
So it was no surprise young Billy, just 8 when he first sang along with
dad, learned to play guitar from big brother Steve and joined his first
band at 14.
But it wasn't until Billy left the farm and moved to Melbourne that he
reached a larger audience and developed his penchant for writing.
He won acclaim for his work with Andrew Hosking and Coupe De Ville on
the local roots music circuit.
TEX AND HILLBILLY HEAT
And it escalated
when he and Steve recruited veteran bassist Michael Crawford and drummer
Nic Pitman for their band Tex.
Crawford and Pitman had done their time in seminal Melbourne country bands
One Armed Bandit, Chicken De Ville, Hillbilly Deluxe, Spot The Aussie
and backed acts diverse as Johnny Chester and P.C. Caulton.
With that street credibility Billy bridged a gap between the city's cutting
edge and crossover country and worked the state and beyond.
He had a brief stint as a DJ on aspirant Melbourne radio station Nu Country
FM after being trained by Mid Pacific Bob Olson.
It's his original songs that have borne fruit, enabling him to reach the
Top 20 of the 2003 Tamworth Star Maker quest.
Bridge's first EP CD, Lonely, Lonely Town, was launched at the
Long Yard Hotel, Tamworth, during the 2002 festival.
And he also graduated from CMAA Australian College of Country Music in
January 2002 and performed with 21 peers on the opening night of 30th
Tamworth festival.
Billy was one of three Victorians performing in the prestige Toyota Star
Maker finals at Tamworth Town Hall.
Billy's band Hillbilly Heat features brother Steve on lead guitar,
drummer Pitman, Hamish Davidson fiddle/banjo/vocals and multi-instrumentalist
Alex Masseni on bass.
CONTACT www.billybridge.com or 0417
- 361399