Best of Billy Joe Green

A lifetime of music is the inspiration for bluesman Billy Joe Green?s newest project The Best of Billy Joe Green, which is being released during a great evening of entertainment:

Saturday, September 22 @ 8:00pm
Pyramid Cabaret (176 Fort Street)
Featured performance by Billy Joe Green
Special guests Don Burnstick, Gord Kidder, Percy Tuesday, X-Status
Tickets $10

Compiled and re-mastered by producer Paul James, The Best of Billy Joe Green contains ten original songs culled from Green's previously released recordings: Juno-nominated and Aboriginal Peoples Choice Music Awards multiple winner Muskrat Blues and Rock and Roll (2006); and My Ojibway Experience: Strength and Hope (2001), which was also nominated for a Juno Award.

After more than three decades of songwriting, recording, and performing, Green decided to put together the "best of" to make available a selection of past music from previous albums that are no longer manufactured. In addition to his most popular tracks, The Best of Billy Joe Green also contains a remake of the Jagger/Richards classic "Far Away Eyes" chosen to appeal to Green's country fans, while paying homage to his experience as sideman for country-blues artists like Percy Tuesday and the late Robbie Brass.

The Best of Billy Joe Green is being released by Strongfront Records out of Winnipeg, a rapidly rising label and distributor owned and operated by his son Jesse Green.

ABOUT BILLY JOE GREEN

Billy Joe Green is one of Canadas premiere blues guitar slingers. He gets his inspiration and drive from having lived a pretty tough life, after being snatched away from home and family at the age of six and forcefully placed in residential school for ten years. This caused much spiritual displacement and emotional dysfunction in Billy Joe?s life, including many years of active alcohol addiction.

But it was the love he received from his family that stayed with him all through those hopeless times. Equally important was the country-blues guitar playing and singing of his dad, David Green, which created in him a lonely longing, everlasting wish and powerful thirst to play music that would ease and comfort him. Even to this day.

As years passed by, other Indian people dealing with their own residual effects of residential schools began to find hope in Billy Joe?s performances. More and more, requests came in for Billy Joe to play, and he found himself thrust, sometimes shyly and unsurely, into the limelight.

A recently deceased drummer friend of Billy Joe?s once said: "If you believe that the blues is therapeutic on an experiential level, then Billy Joe is a blues shaman of his time. A guitarist full of expression, he is capable of conveying the rawest of human emotions and transferring them to his listeners. Somehow the vibration from artist to audience offers up the blues to the higher spirits, allowing emotions to arise and pass away and lighten the burden of anyone listening as intently as Billy Joe is playing. Play on my brother, play on" -- Jimmy Payne, Calgary

With the power of pure love from the Creator, and unending support of family and friends, Billy Joe survived his addiction and has been in recovery for 16 years. He has received much spiritual guidance in his journey from elders such as Peter Ochiese (who gave Billy Joe and his children their spiritual names) and Wapo Pi-ishew. Along the way, Billy Joe has come to know who he really is Osawi Kinew, and tribal member of the Bear Clan from Anishinabe Ah-keeng.

Today, Billy Joe Green is rough and ready to rock the blues anywhere, anytime. He continues to feed his insatiable fire by writing and recording new songs and always trying to improve his guitar abilities.