Billy Wallace is on his way to being an americana, folk, indie legend in these parts. Billy Wallace spent six years playing in indie / folk band The Wading Girl, in Virginia. After the breakup in 2009, Wallace decided to head back home to Cincinnati. Boy, are we lucky he did. Wallace will be playing Bunbury Music Festival Friday on the Cincinnatus Stage!
How did you get involved in the Cincinnati Music Scene?
I was born and raised here, but I left when I was 18. I was living in Virginia when I started recording and touring with bands. I played in a band called The Wading Girl for a lot of years, and when we broke up early in '09, I decided to come finally come back home. It was kind of strange, because I even though I grew up here, most of the people I knew in the scene, I knew from touring; I had hooked up their bands in Roanoke and they'd done the same for me here, so I just kind of naturally fell in with some of the guys and girls I had already become friends with. I also worked as a bouncer at the Southgate House, and I met a lot of people there. We have a versatile and welcoming scene here, I think. It's easy to get to know people, and that's really valuable. I think we're luckier here than a lot of folks realize.
What's your favorite venue to play? To see a show?
Southgate House Revival. Upstairs (The Revival Room) is my favorite place to play. We like it so much, we did our album release for Tucumcari, New Mexico and Other Songs there. I also love seeing shows in the Sanctuary; it really is one of the most beautiful rooms you'll ever experience live music in. We've got so many good venues in town, though. I really enjoy MOTR, the Northside Tavern, the Comet, and a bunch of other spots, too.
Are you working on your next project? When do you expect that to be released?
I'm kind of taking a break right now. The new album is still only about six months old, and I've been doing shorter tours to continue to promote that. But I've got some new ideas and I'm sure I'll start laying down demos soon.
What's one thing our audience can do this week to engage in and help build up the Cincinnati Music Scene?
GO OUT! There are a ton of bands and awesome bars doing cool things in town every night of the week. Show them some love.
Win passes to Bunbury Music Festival HERE!
Billy Wallace
Bunbury Music Festival
Friday July 12th
Cincinnatus Stage