Sons of Bill

Charlottesville, Virginia's young country rockers, Sons of Bill, began making music together in the fall of 2005. During the previous year, the three Wilson brothers were at very different stages in their lives: One a grad student in Maryland, one attending college on a cattle ranch in Nevada, and one a free-lance musician in NYC, it seemed as though their musical ventures together would be limited to the Wilson family room during Holidays. But while away, they all felt the need to get back to their roots, get back home to Virginia, and get back to the music they grew up with.

"I guess you could say it all began when I visited Sam in Brooklyn just before Christmas time," says, James Wilson. "I was getting ready to graduate from school out west, and Sam was ready to get out of the city. Though Sam and I took our musical abilities in very different directions, all three brothers have the common musical roots of the folk and country our Dad played growing up as kids. We sang some Gram Parsons and some Hank Williams, had a little too much bourbon and decided to start a band."

With middle brother Abe on keys and banjo, the addition of Seth Green on bass, and a rotating cast of top notch drummers, Sons of Bill was set. What developed was a sound that is distinctly country, and yet blended with the guitar rock sensibility of the early 90's. Needless to say, the band speaks to a wide demographic. At any given Sons of Bill show you will find 50-somethin's of the Haggard generation, frat boys, even indie rockers all singing along to the same songs.

"We really just wanted to capture the timeless spirit of country music without denying the rock influences we've all accumulated in various bands over the years," adds Sam Wilson. "We're not trying to jump on the 'alt-country' bandwagon, but we certainly don't have our eyes set on Nashville. There is no concept here, or artificially constructed aesthetic--We're just 5 young guys who focus on writing good songs and playing our asses off every time we set foot on stage."

With some free recording time won at a battle of the bands, a budget of less than 1000 dollars, and only 3 gigs under their belt, Sons of Bill immediately entered Crystalphonic Studio in March of 2006 and cut their debut album "A Far Cry From Freedom." No one could have anticipated how fast Sons of Bill would grow--selling out shows at home, playing nearly 100 shows from New York to Georgia, and pressing several thousand copies of "A Far Cry From Freedom" all within their first year and a half as a band. As the hard-touring Sons of Bill continue to take their show on the road, they plan on entering the Studio in the summer of 2007 to begin recording their much anticipated follow up release.