Billy's Bio
Billy grew up the son of Redd Stewart, lead vocalist, guitar player, and fiddle player with Pee Wee King & His Golden West Cowboys. Together, Redd and Pee Wee penned some of traditional Country music's greatest hits like, " Tennessee Waltz", "You Belong To Me", "Soldiers Last Letter", and "Bonaparte's Retreat", just to name a few. Because of his father, Billy was greatly influenced by traditional Country music, western swing, and bluegrass music.
As Billy grew up and began to hon his skills on guitar, it was the late sixties and early seventies when he was influenced by the new music of the rock scene. He was drawn to the sounds of the new guitar guru's like Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Frank Marino, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Steve Vai, and Joe Satriani. It's with these two totally different influences that he approaches his music today. "My hope is to create a sound that is my own. I want people to hear my music and instantly know it's me"!
Originally from Louisville, Kentucky, I was born into a musical family. My father was a musician with the talent to play just about any instrument you placed in his hands. His love for music was so strong he never made it past the seventh grade. Once free from school he began a journey that took him all the way to Nashville, where he earned the right to be inducted into the Country Music Songwriters Hall Of Fame.
I must have inherited his passion for music because my life started out much the same way. At age nine I began playing drums. By age eleven I was playing at small teen dance clubs. At age thirteen my focus changed to guitar. By age sixteen I had been in several garage bands and was ready to get serious about my career, but life had plans of its own! Just prior to leaving school something happened that I did not anticipate, I met my wife. Before I knew it my focus had turned to marriage & kids , so I laid down my guitar and picked up my tools and built a career in floorcovering. Not very glamorous, but it paid the bills! Music became a dream, but the desire to play never faded away. For the next 30 years I was without any gear so I listened and I learned. Now at age 56, with kids grown and my wife by my side, it's my turn to fly! So begins my journey in hopes of leaving behind some small contribution to the world of music!
Listen Now!
Billy's Influences
Because I have been exposed to so many styles of music and enjoy most of them equally, my influences are very broad sweeping. About the only style of music I don't like is opera. I love Jazz, Fusion, Rock , Metal, Bluegrass, new Country, traditional Country, Hip Hop, some Rap, Blues, and the list goes on. I also don't like Pop music or what I call bubble gum music. Out of all these different styles of music the following is at the top of my list: Country, both old and new, Bluegrass, Instrumental Rock and Blues. The following are my favorite artists in each of these styles: New Country - without a doubt my favorite New Country artist is Travis Tritt. Old Country: this is simple, my dad, Redd Stewart. Instrumental Rock: this is a tough one, but the winner is still Steve Vai. Blues: the one and only mighty Joe Bonamassa. There are so many artists that have influenced me over the years, that it would take an entire website just to name them all, so I won't even begin to try and go there.our