This post is a contribution from Brad Davis. Brad is a guitarist, singer, songwriter, and recording engineer who has worked with a literal who’s-who of bluegrass music. Visit Brad online at braddavismusic.com.
Billy Bob Thornton the actor for Armageddon, Sling Blade, Bad News Bears and many others [filmography], is currently tracking his second rock record. I met Billy Bob through my eleven years as lead guitarist for music legend Marty Stuart. I recorded and performed with Billy Bob on many projects and have maintained a strong friendship through the years. He asked if I would fly to California to record and write for his new record. Being that Billy Bob is originally from Benton Arkansas, it’s no doubt that deep down inside he is still a hillbilly and this flavor comes out through in his voice and songs that he writes. I have the wonderful opportunity to co-write and co-produce on this new project. Yeah, It’s a folk/rock record with a whole lot of funky bluegrass in the mix. Working with someone as creative as Billy is quite a treat because when we get together we open the creative gate and work without stopping for two or three days straight. I normally don’t work this long without sleep, but being at Billy’s state-of-the-art cave studio is what I would have imagined it would have been like to be at The Band’s house Big Pink, the original creative rock and roll laboratory. Once the creative gate is open there’s no stopping until mother nature says to get some shut eye. This is another fine example that bluegrass is making musical friends with different genres of music everyday.
