BILLY PRICE—PERSON OF INTEREST (LITTLE VILLAGE)
CD Party June 7th at at the Pittsburgh Shrine Center, a great open-air venue in Cheswick, Pa. Billy the Kid & the Regulators will open the show, and we'll be augmenting the Billy Price Band that night with background vocalists Anne Celedonia and Addi Twigg, and a three-piece horn section. Also on hand for the celebration will be my friends Norman Nardini and Gabe Stillman. Tickets are now on sale for what promises to be a great night; please consider joining us!
Little Village Foundation releases Person of Interest by award-winning...
read more
BILLY PRICE—PERSON OF INTEREST (LITTLE VILLAGE)
CD Party June 7th at at the Pittsburgh Shrine Center, a great open-air venue in Cheswick, Pa. Billy the Kid & the Regulators will open the show, and we'll be augmenting the Billy Price Band that night with background vocalists Anne Celedonia and Addi Twigg, and a three-piece horn section. Also on hand for the celebration will be my friends Norman Nardini and Gabe Stillman. Tickets are now on sale for what promises to be a great night; please consider joining us!
Little Village Foundation releases Person of Interest by award-winning
soul-blues vocalist Billy Price. The new recording, produced by Grammy award-winning
producer and drummer Tony Braunagel, contains 13 new songs co-written by Price. Braunagel
oversaw recording of the tracks at Ultratone Studios in Studio City, California, in October 2023.
“During the pandemic,” says Price, “I passed the time writing songs with the keyboard player in
my band, Jim Britton. I also wrote with my friend Fred Chapellier, a great guitar player from
France, and with the team of Jon Tiven and Sally Young from Nashville. Tony worked with me to
bring the best of these songs to life.”
“I grew up with soul music,” says Braunagel. “I had heard about Billy, on the scene and from his
recordings. Then I got to see him perform, and we were drawn to sit and talk. He’s smart and
talented. We knew that this had to happen at some point, and this was the time. I’m excited
about these great new songs, and I’m sure they will move a lot of people.”
Price dedicates one song on Person of Interest to the memory of guitarist Roy Buchanan, with
whom Price sang and recorded in the early-to-mid 1970s. “After Jim Britton and I wrote
‘Change Your Mind,’” says Price, “I found that it reminded me of some of the songs I had sung
and recorded with Roy. So I suggested to Tony that we get someone to play some Buchananstyle
lead guitar on this song.” Braunagel recruited his friend Joe Bonamassa, a lifelong fan and
admirer of Buchanan’s, who readily agreed to record the track.
Another highlight of the new album is the gospel-soul ballad “Mercy.” Price says that in the late
1980s while recording Free at Last, his final album with Billy Price and the Keystone Rhythm
Band, “Mercy” was an original song that the band never finished in the studio. “A couple of
years ago, one of my fans in the Philadelphia area brought a recording to one of my shows that
she had made from the audience back then, and offered to give me a copy,” says Price. “I had
forgotten all about ‘Mercy,’ but when I heard it for the first time in many years, I decided to
resurrect it. And after we laid it down in the studio, I’m glad that I did.”
In addition to these songs, listeners of Person of Interest will enjoy performances in a variety of
related musical styles—soul, R&B, blues-rock, and soul-blues—anchored by Price’s distinctive
vocal style and the stellar musicians and vocalists assembled by Braunagel for the sessions.
About Billy Price:
2016 Blues Music Award (BMA) winner and frequent BMA nominee, Billy Price, first attracted national attention during his three-year association with guitarist Roy Buchanan. Price is the vocalist on two of Buchanan's LP's for Polydor Records, That's What I'm Here For and Live Stock. Price's album, This Time for Real, with Chicago soul singer, Otis Clay, received a 2016 BMA for best soul blues album.
show less
