“This is the best ever job that doesn’t make any money” – Q&A with bluegrass country rockers Kingbilly
B. Dutch Seyfarth
Posted On August 28, 2009
“This is the best ever job that doesn’t make any money” said Donny Fallgatter, frontman for Nashville’s young country rockers Kingbilly. It’s unlikely that KingBilly will be broke for much longer though. Riding high with the popularity of their latest genre bending music video on the popular country music channel GAC and a prominent spotlight in Country Weekly magazine, Kingbilly might just be on the cusp of being the next big thing outta Nashville. We had a chance to get a glimpse of life on the road with KingBilly through a chat with guitarist John Osborne. Electric fences, farm animal fun, and rocking out with the Wolverine are just the tip of the iceberg. Read the full interview after the jump.
How did your band came to be called KingBilly?
John Osborne: We wish we could say that there was an over the top, interesting story about how we got our name. But we simply wrote a bunch of words down on a piece of paper that we thought sounded cool, connected the dots, and we got KingBilly. All one word. Capital K. Capital B.
Your band claims Nashville as it’s hometown. Is that where the band originated from?
JO: We all live in Nasvhille now. 5 out of the 6 of us actually live within a few houses on the same street. The house where Matt, Charlie, and Josh lives got the nickname Hotel Villa since the street we all live on is Villa Place. It’s where we hang, rehearse, write, party, etc. It’s the central headquarters for the band in a way. But originally we’re all from different parts of the country. I’m (John) from Deale MD, Kevin is from Bradenton FL, Josh is from Magnolia AR, Donny is from Steel ND, Charlie is from Grenada MS, and Matt is from Atlanta GA. We all come from different walks of life which helps make us unique in style.
When and how did all of you come together to form KingBilly?
JO: Josh and I met at Belmont University back in 2001. Charlie and Matt went to Berklee together. So there was a connection before the band even existed. We actually found out later that Josh and Charlie actually jammed once at a bluegrass festival when they we’re kids. But the band formed in 2004 after we all met through friends and other
musicians. We all had such a great time playing and writing together that we decided to see what would happen if we made it a full time thing. It’s been a blast ever since. In the words of Donny Fallgatter “this is the best ever job that doesn’t make any money”.
Has the sound of Kingbilly changed at all during the band’s existence?
JO: Funny you ask. We we’re driving back to Nashville in the van last night talking about our first show ever. It was awful. There’s actually a video floating around that needs to burned, shot, covered in battery acid, and flushed down the toilet. Since then we have evolved tremendously. In the past 5 years we learned to sing better, write better, play better, and perform better. The last few years have been a huge time for us to learn and grow as people as well as musicians. In my opinion we’ve only scratched the surface.
Your band describes it’s sound as country, rock, and bluegrass. Is there more of one ingredient compared to the others in your new album?
JO: It depends on which track you listen to. If you listen to Make Her Bad you’ll hear a lot of Aerosmith. If you listen to “When She Breaks Down” you’ll hear the side of us that’s inspired by Bluegrass. The track “Who I Love” lyrically and harmonically is derived from our more traditional roots with and edgier side to it. You’ll hear a lot of different influences throughout the record but as songwriters we play according to the lyric. That’s how it should always be.
Your band is now more or less on constant tour across the USA, does the band have any great tour stories?
JO: Where to start! (shameless plug in 3….2….1…) You can actually check out our website, www.kingbilly.com, and our YouTube site for blogs and videos we post. We recently saw a guy driving a convertible naked! And yes, we posted a video of it. Also a video of farm animals and fun with an electric fence. Most recently at Joe’s Bar in Chicago Hugh Jackman got on stage, along with Richard Marx, and jammed with us. Freakin Wolverine man!!!
Get to know Kingbilly a little more by checking ’em out below:
