Take a dash of traditional country, stir in some R&B flavorings, add a pinch of old rock n' roll and you have the album "Country Soul". Try it, you'll like it. It's better if you don't add too many saltine crackers though.

10 MP3 Songs
COUNTRY: Country Rock, COUNTRY: Country Pop



Details:
BIO


The Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Mo is supposed to be "the gateway to the west". Billy Gee took a sharp left turn southward after passing through it and set his sights for Nashville. Being a performer, arranger, songwriter and producer himself, he thought there'd be more opportunities for music there. Back in the 1970s Billy traveled around the country doing road gigs with a few different show bands for about seven years. During that time, he learned how to put together shows and work out vocal parts. They were doing cover songs from groups like the 4 Seasons, Beachboys, and Doobie Brothers. He used to go out front and do an Elvis segment which went over exceptionally well. Performances consisted of 2 shows a night & 3 shows on weekend nights.
In 1980, being somewhat road weary, he decided to find musical employment in his hometown of St. Louis. Local bandleader Bob Kuban of the 60's Bob Kuban & the Inmen fame had known of Billy's vocal and guitar talents. Bob Kuban had a hit in 1966 called "The Cheater". Walter Scott was the original vocalist on the record and had long since left the band, but Kuban knew Billy could mimic Walter's voice to a tee. Once he heard Billy was looking for a steady local gig, he hired him over the phone w/o any kind of audition whatsoever. After acing that gig, Billy played many functions for large corporations with only a few yearly out of town jobs. Billy was in that band for about 10 years and finally left the St. Louis area for largely personal reasons. He felt, also, that his talents could be furthered in a place where music industry people gather. He visited Nashville about 2 or 3 years prior and fell in love with the town mostly because of the friendliness of its people. He, then, moved to Nashville in 1990 where he worked a regular job for several years and tried to promote his writing on the side. Years passed very quickly. Longing to perform again, the time just never seemed to be right to return to live performances until lately.
I've recently learned that Billy Gee is now appearing at the "Inn Place Lounge" in the Guest House Inn on Music Valley Drive, around the Gaylord Opryland Hotel end of greater Nashville. In his current program he does oldies music and country. He has the ability to do vocal impressions of some of the great singers of our time. Some of the vocalists he can mimic are Dean Martin, Nat King Cole, Jerry Butler, Elvis Presley, Johnny Mathis, and R&B singer Al Green. His vocal versatility allows him to go from such country hits as "All My Ex's Live In Texas" by George Strait to "How Sweet It Is" by Marvin Gaye. He sometimes jokes with the audience about going from strait to gay. All in all, if you are traveling to, or live in and around Nashville, TN, you would be very well entertained indeed if you'd drop by the Inn Place Lounge and hear Billy Gee sing and perform.

Robyn Grimes
West County Journal