Artist description Billy Price formed The Billy Price Band in 1990. In addition to performing popular songs from Price's years with Roy Buchanan and with Billy Price and the Keystone Rhythm Band, the Billy Price Band features new interpretations of blues, R & B, and soul classics.

Music Style Soul, blue-eyed soul, rhythm and blues, blues

Musical Influences Al Green, Bobby Bland, Otis Clay, O.V. Wright, Otis Redding, James Carr, Tyrone Davis

Similar Artists Robert Cray, Van Morrison, Delbert McClinton

Artist History Billy Price has been thrilling east coast audiences with his brand of rhythm and blues for the past two decades. In his hometown of Pittsburgh, Pa., he is an institution. Price's popularity isn't hard to explain. As Geoffrey Himes of the Washington Post has said, "Unlike so many blues revivalists, Price is not an imitation of older, better singers--he's the real thing."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." Price's latest release is Can I Change My Mind on Green Dolphin Records, produced in Los Angeles by Jerry "Swamp Dogg" Williams. More information about Can I Change My Mind can be found at http://www.billyprice.com/Swamp.html.

Group Members Lenny Smith (guitar), Willie Franklin (bass), H.B. Bennett (drums), John Burgh (keyboards), Ralph Guzzi (trumpet), Eric DeFade (tenor sax) and Curtis Johnson (baritone and tenor sax)

Instruments guitar, bass, drums, keyboards, tenor sax, baritone sax, trumpet

Albums Is It Over (1979); They Found Me Guilty (1981); Billy Price and the Keystone Rhythm Band Live (1984); Free at Last (1988); Danger Zone (1993); The Soul Collection (1997); Can I Change My Mind (1999)

Press Reviews REVIEWS OF "CAN I CHANGE MY MIND": Today's premier blue-eyed soul man out of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Mr. Billy Price, has released his ninth album, Can I Change My Mind, and it's produced by none other than Mr. Jerry Williams, Jr., our very own "eccentric" Swamp Dogg. It's an ambitious ten-tracker with hooky melodies--eight written by Swamp Dogg--inspiring singing, and real instruments...pass the word about this "priceless" collection. (HEIKKI SUOSALO, SOUL EXPRESS, DECEMBER 1999) The tight arrangements of the horn-band R&B Price favors are best suited for a vocalist of his caliber. To hear the singer's powerful, clear tenor rise above a surging reed-and-brass section is to experience the human voice in its most heart-rending incarnation...Price is unquestionably at his peak as a singer, with his timbre and intonation remarkably free of grain; his phrasing is exceptionally well developed and his expressive abilities define the term "deep soul." "Can I Change My Mind" remains true to soul music's essence and confirms its relevance in contemporary music. (FRANK JOSEPH, PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER, JANUARY 19, 2000) "Can I Change My Mind" sees Billy Price maintaining the excellent form he showed on 1997's highly acclaimed "The Soul Collection."...This is intensely powerful soul music, that packs a punch...The inspired production of Swamp Dogg seems to have brought out the best in Price. Although several different soul styles are tackled, the results are never less than interesting...Billy Price is a great singer, and "Can I Change My Mind" shows him at his peak. Fans of real soul music are in for a real treat. It has all the ingredients you would expect on a classic soul album from the likes of Otis Redding, or O.V. Wright..."Can I Change My Mind" deserves to be right at the head of that list. (GORDON BAXTER, BLUES ON STAGE, JANUARY 2000) REVIEWS OF 'THE SOUL COLLECTION: Just when you began to cringe at the thought of another tribute album, along comes Billy Price's "The Soul Collection," an R & B homage full of revealing and compelling performances. Revealing because Price doesn't round up the usual suspects. Instead of saluting Sam Cooke, Aretha Franklin, Al Green, or Otis Redding, he focuses on less familiar names, giving each their due...Compelling because Price is a terrifically expressive soul singer in his own right, one who conveys both the pain and the pleasure implicit in these choice songs. Because there's nothing forced or affected about his delivery, he's able to convince you that every song on this album bears repeating, which is saying a lot, given the emotional power of the original recordings. Even so, some of Price's interpretations stand out...it's also clear that Price's tight, horn-powered band shares his keen soul sensibilities. (MIKE JOYCE, WASHINGTON POST, APRIL 25, 1997) The former Roy Buchanan Band frontman takes an inspired stroll through the glorious history of soul music, investing his loving remakes of 16 lesser-known 1960s-'70s gems from the likes of O.V. Wright, James Carr, Syl Johnson, Joe Simon, and Don Covay with uncommon passion and authenticity. Price's gritty vocals and the horn-leavened backing are delightful, and the estimable presence of Otis Clay on a sizzling duet revival of That's How It Is doesn't hurt either. (BILL DAHL, LIVING BLUES, SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 1997)

Location Pittsburgh, PA - USA

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