Hey Bills friends, fans and funky fiends,
That band will finally play a few 2018 shows, starting at Butchart Gardens, August 29, then continuing with NW Djangofest and a short hop through California in September. Watch for show announcements and some fun live videos coming up soon!
Come one, come all. This is it: Vancouver, Courtenay, Chemanius, Victoria, then, right before the end of the year, we slip out to Chicago, Lansing, MI, Toronto, Kingston and Ottawa (at least!), to really rock some 20th anniversary acoustic roots party music! See the Shows page, tell your friends and family, and please come join us! Let’s hear it for decade #3!
Do any of you recall the first summertime experience you had with The Bills, or The Bill Hilly Band for that matter?
Jasper Folk Fest, 2001? Pagliacci’s 1998? The Charles Bridge, Prague, 1997? Mariposa Folk Fest, 2007? Perhaps the Tonder Folk Fest in Denmark, 2004, or Cambridge Festival, UK, 2005? Vancouver in 2003, 2004 or 2016?
So many great memories, and just more to be made. We hope we’ll see some of you out there between now and September 22nd, at the official tail end of summer, when we’ll be playing a very special show that we’ll be announcing soon through various social media channels. Until then, we’re at the fabled Islands Folk Fest for their 33rd offering, and way up at the Bear Creek Festival in Grande Prairie, a fairly new event that’s just picking up wonderful summer steam. Then look out September, when we really get rocking.
Come join us for the celebrations, folks. We’re launching our third decade and celebrating the first two in full force!
Hey friends and fans,
We’re gearing up for some great Spring and early Summer shows on our year-long 20th anniversary escapade! See you soon on wee Piers Island, in Bragg Creek, AB, and then down in rocking California, from Santa Cruz to Ojai, and even a dip into Nevada, to have some fun with the fine folks at the Carson Valley Arts Council!
Lots more to come this year, as we roll out the hits, new and old. Watch for more special announcements of extraordinary shows – we feel the building buzz of our folkharmonic 20 years, launching us into the next two decades! Hope to see you at the shows!
Happy New Year, from The Bills!
Yep, you got it folks – 2017 marks 20 years since The Bills became a touring act. Hard to believe that in 1997 the band struck out across Europe for 9 weeks of formative, high-energy performing, creating the foundation of our unique approach to seeking folk/roots magic in everything we do.
We start the year’s celebrations with our friends to the south in January, hitting Washington, Oregon and Wyoming (yes, Wyoming in January!), then zooming a wee bit north and east to Prince George for the Coldsnap festival and to Alberta to get reacquainted with some of the towns that have been so good to us since the start: Canmore, Calgary and Edmonton (St Albert). Lots more to come as this year of celebration rolls on. Check out the “Shows” page and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to keep up with all the gigs and shenanigans. Hope to see you out there!
As autumn transitions to winter (yes, even here on the temperate coast), we present you with our new video for “When The Last Leaf Falls” from the new album “Trail of Tales”. This week also marks our final performance of 2016 with a return visit to Denman Island’s amazing community hall. December 11, join us if you can!
Good times, the Canadian way! So great to roll through Ontario, hit Montreal, then bop around Southern BC for a handful of delightful shows with friends and fans in our home province. Thanks to everyone for coming out and celebrating music, life and the West Coast autumnal climate!
Now to hunker down, maybe write some tunes, and get ready for a massive 2017, during which we’ll be officially celebrating our 20th year as a touring band. We’ll be zooming around North America and maybe beyond. Watch for all kinds of special events and perhaps some recorded musical treats.
And why not find your way to our last 2016 show, on cozy Denman Island, BC, December 11th. You may hear some seasonal favourites (or not!).
Cheers, everyone.
Thank you Vancouver and Hornby Festivals! Look out Butchart Gardens, Alaska and Ontario/Quebec. We’re having a great time seeing you all and laying down all the new tunes and past hits.
In other happy news, Trail of Tales has been hovering in the top ten of the Roots Music Report for the past few weeks, and the album is also now being released in the UK (August 29 is the official release date!) with the help of Borealis Records and fabulous UK publicist Pat Tynan.
Check out the “Shows” page over the coming weeks as the Fall, Winter and Spring seasons get filled in with North American dates. Then we’ll hope to swing over to the UK and Europe a little later in 2017. Stay tuned!
Look out, Cali! Four main dates and a couple of secret shows coming right up. Hope to see some of you out there. And listen in for radio appearances and support from the likes of KHUM, KSCO, KPIG and others.
Check out the “Shows” page for info on the dates, June 28 – July 3, with a special Canada Day rocker (July 1) in Santa Cruz and a triumphant return to the fabled Castoro Cellars the following day (photo below from last year’s Beaverstock show). And of course, don’t forget the Freight and Salvage in Berkeley and a swing all the way to our funky brothers and sisters in Humboldt County – Arcata, baby!
Lotsa love,
The Bills
