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Price formed The Billy Price Band in 1990. In addition to performing
popular songs from Price's years with
Buchanan and the Keystone Rhythm Band,
the Billy Price Band features new interpretations
of blues, R & B, and soul classics. Members
of the Billy Price Band are Steve Delach
(guitar), Paul Thompson (bass), Dave Dodd
(drums), Jimmy Britton (keyboards), Joe
Herndon (trumpet), Eric DeFade (tenor
sax) and Rick Matt (baritone and tenor
sax).
Billy
Price first attracted national attention during his three-year
association
with guitarist Roy Buchanan. Price is the vocalist on two of
Buchanan's
LPs, That's What I'm Here For and Livestock.
With Buchanan,
Price toured the U.S. and Canada, playing such venues as
Carnegie Hall
in New York, the Newport Jazz Festival, the Roxy and the
Troubadour in
Los Angeles, and the Spectrum in Philadelphia. Price assembled
Billy Price
and the Keystone Rhythm Band in 1977. Before their breakup in
1990, the
band recorded four critically acclaimed LPs and developed a
reputation
as one of the most exciting touring bands in the U.S.
In
April 1997, Billy Price released The Soul Collection,
which featured a duet by Price and his friend and mentor Otis
Clay on
Clay's "That's How It Is," as well as background vocals by
veteran Chicago
vocalists Theresa Davis (former member of the Emotions), Robin
Robinson,
and Dianne Madison.
In
Living Blues
(September/October 1997), Bill
Dahl called The Soul Collection "an inspired stroll
through the
glorious history of soul music [invested with] uncommon
passion and authenticity."
In the April 25, 1997 edition of the Washington
Post, Mike Joyce called The Soul Collection "an
R & B homage
full of revealing and compelling performances...Price is a
terrifically
expressive soul singer," says Joyce, "one who conveys both the
pain and
the pleasure in these choice songs."
Can
I Change My Mind on Green Dolphin Records was produced in
Los Angeles
by Jerry "Swamp Dogg" Williams, who has also produced artists
such as
Z.Z. Hill, Doris Duke, Irma Thomas, Solomon Burke, Patti
LaBelle, Lionel
Ritchie, and others. Since its release in December 1999,
Can I Change
My Mind has received critical acclaim from publications
throughout
the world: A sure-fire winner! (Ray Ellis,
Juke Blues) ...will please all fans of modern soul and
soul blues
(Peter R. Aschoff, Living
Blues) ...the most
imaginative and entertaining record in Billy Price's 30-year
musical career
(Pittsburgh
Post-Gazette) Price's expressive abilities define the
term "deep
soul" (Pittsburgh City Paper).Here
is more information
about Can I Change My
Mind. For articles about Billy Price and more reviews, see
our articles
and reviews page.
Billy
Price released a double CD, Sworn Testimony:
The Billy Price Band Live, in July 2002.
In
July 2003, the Billy Price Band gave a critically acclaimed
performance
at the Belgium
Rhythm & Blues Festival in Billy Price's first-ever
appearance
in Europe. A DVD of the concert, entitled Funky...Funky
Soul!!! was released in late 2003.
Billy Price's latest recording (June 2006) is East End Avenue
on Bonedog Records, featuring the Billy
Price Band on a set of 13 original new
songs, including five songs co-written
by Price with Jon Tiven. Tiven was the winner of four 2006 Blues
Music Awards: Song of the Year for "Think
of Me" by Little Milton, and Album
of the Year and Soul/Blues Album of the
Year for the album of the same name, which
Tiven produced. Little Milton also won
Soul/Blues Male Artist of the Year. In
addition to the Tiven compositions, East
End Avenue also includes six songs written
by Pittsburgh songwriter Mike Sweeney,
a song written by Billy Price Band keyboard
player Jimmy Britton, and a cover of Dan
Penn's "Faithful and True."
In November 2007, Billy toured France
with Fred
Chapellier (MySpace).
Billy sings "A Nickel and a Nail"
on Fred's new CD, A
Tribute to Roy Buchanan.
Billy Price, whose real name is Bill
Pollak, lives in Pittsburgh with his wife
Rebecca.
Their children are Valerie Pollak, Leland
Scruby, Jon Scruby, and Calvin Pollak
(aka C-Money).
See Bill Pollak's archived page of soul
articles.
For
more--much more--information, see this in-depth
interview with Billy Price.
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