Billy Price & Fred Chapellier Live On Stage - CD + DVD Now Available

I'm excited to announce the arrival of this new CD and DVD package from DixieFrog Records. It documents two great nights at Espace Manureva in Charleville-Mezieres, France in May 2009 during our Night Work tour. Musicians are me and Fred Chapellier along with Fred's great rhythm section, Abder Benachour (bass) and Pat Machenaud (drums), and Billy Price Band keyboard player Jimmy Britton. For these two nights, we augmented the band with two fine sax players, Drew Davies and JF Adamo.

The package contains both a CD and a DVD. Here are the titles:

CD

1. Keep It to Yourself
2. She Left Me With These Blues
3. Don't Let My Baby Ride
4. Night Work
5. When the Lights Came On
6. I'll Take Care of You
7. A Nickel and a Nail
8. Under the Influence
9. Last Two Dollars
10. Love and Happiness
11. Good Time Charlie

DVD

1. Early in the Morning
   
2. She Left Me With These Blues
3. Don't Let My Baby Ride
4. Night Work
5. I'll Take Care of You
6. Last Two Dollars
7. Good Time Charlie
8. Blues for Roy
   
9. Keep It to Yourself
10. A Nickel and a Nail
11. The Great Mistake
12. When the Lights Came On
13. My Love Will Never Die
    
14. Under the Influence
15. Love and Happiness
16. Further On Up the Road

A word of warning about the DVD. (I now know a lot more about DVD formats than I did yesterday). This DVD is in PAL format (as opposed to NTSD) and may not play on some DVD players and home theater systems that were purchased in the U.S. It plays fine on all computers, and I'm able to watch it on my Mac, which is where I would have watched it anyway. But it didn't play on my Panasonic DVD/home theater system. So if you are thinking about buying this, which I hope you will, and are planning to watch it on a DVD player or home theater, check to see if your system will play PAL disks first.

It is really a beautifully done video, with great sound, editing, and picture quality, and the CD also sounds tremendous for a live recording. So I hope you'll consider buying one at our website.

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Billy Price CDs and DVDs Make Great Holiday Gifts

When you think about gifts this holiday season, we hope that you will consider our CDs and DVDs for the music lovers in your life. In particular, our latest CD with French guitarist Fred Chapellier, Night Work, continues to get great reviews like this one in Blues Revue.

And when you order your disc from our website, just include a note with your order, and I'll be glad to sign it for you.

Have a great holiday season!

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Upcoming Holiday Shows

We have some exciting shows that we have coming up during the next couple of months, and I hope that you will consider attending at least one of them if you're nearby--or even if you're not.

This coming Wednesday night, the night before Thanksgiving, we will be playing the annual Johnstown Free Medical Clinic benefit concert at the Ace's Lounge in Johnstown, PA, where I have been playing for my friend Fred Babich for...well, for a damn long time. We are proud to be sharing the stage with Glenn Pavone and the Cyclones, with my former Billy Price & the Keystone Rhythm Band bandmates Glenn and bass player Tom Valentine. It should be a great time and a great night of music for a good cause.

Our one and only Pittsburgh area show during the holiday season will be at the Palisades Ballroom in McKeesport, PA on Sunday, December 20 at 8:00 pm--a great, spacious venue with a big dance floor. The last time we were at the Palisades, in September, we played with Washington D.C.'s Nighthawks, alternating songs throughout the night for two full sets, all on the same stage. Read what Jim White of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wrote about that great evening.

In fact, that evening was so much fun that we will be playing with the Hawks in the same format on January 1, 2010, New Year's Day, at the Birchmere in Alexandria, VA at 7:30 pm. And the night before, on New Year's Eve, we'll be traveling to one of my favorite clubs, the Cat's Cradle in Carrboro, NC, where I haven't performed for far too long.

Watch the schedule page on our website for more information about these shows as it becomes available.

Review of Night Work in Blues Revue

Check out this review in Blues Revue of Night Work.

Blues Revue, Issue 120 (Oct/Nov 2009)
BILLY PRICE & FRED CHAPELLIER
Night Work
DixieFrog Records

They call it "Champagne Blues and Pittsburgh Soul." This unlikely but fruitful pairing between Pennsylvania veteran R&B vocalist Billy Price and French blues guitarist Fred Chapellier was sparked when the latter invited the former to guest on a 2007 tribute to Roy Buchanan. Price has been a roots journeyman for three decades, consistently releasing excellent if obscure albums, and his high-profile work with Buchanan in the Seventies remains his most visible accomplishment.

The duo reconvened at a studio in Price's home state to continue the partnership, inviting a horn section and working up a batch of songs that combine Price's love of soul with Chapellier's scorching, classy guitar. The story is detailed in the track whose title opens this review--just one of the baker's dozen of tunes here. Price is a terrific vocalist who deserves to be a bigger star. His love of O.V Wright. along with his clean enunciation and ability to shift from smooth to raunchy, is perfectly captured on this album of contemporary blue-eyed soul. Like his fellow Pennsylvanian Daryl Hall, Price possesses an instantly recognizable, supple set of pipes that drive smooth sizzlers such as Wright's grinding "Don't Let My Baby Ride" and midtempo scorchers such as "Under the Influence."

Chapellier holds up his end of the bargain, ripping off razor-pricked solos that are indebted to Buchanan but don't slavishly ape him. Chapellier's brittle tone jabs like a hot poker into songs such as "When the Lights Came On." The Philly-style horns and occasional female background vocals are bonuses. Still, all the talent here wouldn't amount to much without comparable material, which might be the project's most impressive feat. Price co-wrote eight tracks; Chapellier contributed one (a closing instrumental); and they all comfortably nestle into a rugged soul-blues groove without tipping into either camp. The production, mixing, and sound follow suit, yielding a thrilling collaboration that, though not yet available in America, should delight lovers of soul or blues.

- Hal Horowitz

He gets a couple of facts wrong: Fred and I wrote a lot of the songs on Night Work together, but the reviewer gives him credit for only one song; he neglects to mention Otis Clay's lead vocal on Love & Happiness; I didn't just "invite" some horn players, those guys are in my band; and I'm not sure what he means when he says that the album is not yet available in America--true, we don't have any real distribution, but what about iTunes, Amazon, and my website?

But still--that's a pretty damn good review!

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The Nighthawks and the Billy Price Band, together on stage all night!

How many shows have the Nighthawks played since they started in the early 1970s? How many shows have I played since I met the Hawks as a member of the Rhythm Kings around the same time?

A lot.

When two bands play on the same bill together, here's what always happens: One band plays the first show, the other band plays the second show, maybe they jam a little on the encore, and then everyone goes home.

We and the Nighthawks have decided to try something different on Friday, September 11 at 9:00 for our show at the Palisades Ballroom in McKeesport. We're all going to set up on stage and then play two sets together, alternating between a Nighthawks song and a Billy Price Band song. So instead of seeing a Nighthawks show and a Billy Price Band show, the audience is going to see one long Nighthawks/Billy Price Band show.

We're not sure what will happen, but we think it will be fun, we know it will be different, and it may just be fantastic.

We hope you'll join us on Friday, September 11 to find out.

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Blues Extravaganza III: The Billy Price Band and the Nighthawks

I have known Washington D.C.'s great blues band, The Nighthawks, since the early 1970s, and have been proud to call them my friends ever since.

Blues Extravaganza I was sometime around 1978 or 1979: on the show were the 'Hawks, the newly formed Billy Price and the Keystone Rhythm Band, and my former band, the Rhythm Kings. It was organized and promoted by the owners of a bar in Swissvale, PA called Fat City and held at the Leona Theater in Homestead, PA.

Blues Extravaganza II was...well, to be honest, I can't remember what Blues Extravaganza II was. But I know there was one.

Which brings us to Blues Extravaganza III, which will be held at the Palisades Ballroom, 501 Water St., in McKeesport, PA on Friday, September 11. Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door. You can call 412-678-3955 for tickets.

We are planning to have a lot of fun that night, which will include sets from both bands and a jam session at the end of the night. We hope you will make plans to be with us.

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Coming in August

Things are great with the Billy Price Band. We have some great shows coming up that we want to tell you about, but first, let me catch you up with news.

Jimmy Britton and I had a great tour in France with our buddy Fred Chapellier and his fine band in May. Our latest CD with Fred on Bonedog Records, Night Work, continues to sell briskly and receive great reviews throughout the civilized world. And the Billy Price Band has been staying busy, playing lots of great shows including a recent concert for a big crowd at Hartwood Acres in Pittsburgh.

This coming Friday, August 7, the Billy Price Band will help to welcome back the Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers with a concert at Latrobe Municipal Football Stadium in Latrobe, PA, where the Steelers train every year before the season begins.

We'll be performing at 6:30.

The following night, August 8, we'll be playing in Oakdale, PA at North Fayette Township Community Days at N. Fayette Municipal Park. That show starts at 8:00.

As a Penn State graduate and State College, PA inhabitant during my formative years, I will always retain a special love for the lush valleys, cool springs, and rolling hills of Central Pennsylvania.

We'll be playing three consecutive nights in Central PA in mid-August: August 14 at the Tussey Mountain Ski Area in Boalsburg, August 15 at the Terrace Room of the Genetti Hotel in Williamsport, and August 16 for our annual outdoor concert on the banks of the mighty Susquehanna in Lock Haven.

Details for all of these events, including ticket information, are on our schedule page.

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Winter Hibernation Ends Soon

Friends,

We're going to be playing--yes, an actual live performance--at Jeffries Landing in Bridgewater, PA, which is close to Beaver, PA. The show is on March 21 and will start at 9:30.

Then on April 3 and April 5, Fred Chapellier is coming to the U.S. to play shows with us at the Berks Jazz Fest in Reading, PA on Friday, April 3 and in McKeesport, PA, near Pittsburgh, at the Palisades Ballroom on Sunday, April 5.

The show at the Palisades is our official release party for our CD, Night Work. My old pal Robert Peckman, a great Bonedog Records recording artist, will also be performing. Tickets are $12 in advance--call Bonedog Records at 412-678-3955--or $15 at the door. Doors open at 7:00, and the show is at 8:00. Be there!

We're working on more dates for the coming year, so please check in every now and then to the schedule page on our website.

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Night Work Is Here!

Available on our website now!