The Blue Plate Special -live from Knoxville, Tennessee…

by Billy Kemp on March 4, 2023March 4, 2023

On Monday, March 6, I’ll be performing live in Knoxville, Tennessee for WDVX’s Blue Plate Special, a regular show hosted by Red Hickey, at Visit Knoxville in the Knoxville Visitors Center from 12 to 1pm Eastern Standard Time. Hope you can be there or listen to the live stream…

Huntsville Gig, it ain’t rocket science…

by Billy Kemp on February 22, 2023February 22, 2023

It’s February 21, and I have a gig in Huntsville, Alabama this Saturday, February 25 at the chapel of the First Presbyterian Church at 2pm to benefit Haitian Relief. My friends, Glen, Barbara, Larry and Margaret, who live in Huntsville, are responsible.

The Hootenanny Cafe Sunday, January 15

by Billy Kemp on January 14, 2023February 19, 2023

Greetings everyone. Word just came down that a song I wrote and recorded about my great Aunt Lil’ is gonna make it to the air waves and streams this Sunday night, January 15, 2023 at 9 pm eastern when Jon Stein hosts, The Hootenanny Cafe. The song is, “Lillian & the Blue Car.”

A Visit to Bill’s Music House

by Billy Kemp on January 12, 2023January 12, 2023

In the past I have done some in-store short performances at record stores for concert promotion. I thought it would be fun to do an in-store event at Bill’s Music House, also in Catonsville. Thanks to Jamie at Bill’s it’s going to happen from 2-3 pm on the same day as the concert, again Saturday, January 21.

Touring and a new record that may bring you to tears if you can listen to its entirety in a quiet place at a reasonable volume…

by Billy Kemp on December 14, 2022February 20, 2023

After reading a Willie Dixon biography, I Am The Blues, I was off imagining a blues infused project. The first song I co-wrote for the record, “Take ‘Em Away,” was inspired by something Willie Dixon said in the beginning of his book. He said that, “when God made man, man was lonesome and blue,” suggesting that the blues began when man came into the world.

The Smithville Fiddlers’ Jamboree

by Billy Kemp on July 26, 2022February 20, 2023

Later that evening they gave out the awards for that days competitions on the stage, bringing all three finalists up. They called the third place winners, not us, they called the second place winners, not us, and then they called the first place winners and we finally heard our names. What a hoot…

Music in The Land of Pleasant Living

by Billy Kemp on April 18, 2022February 20, 2023

This weekend, April 23-25, I’m performing two concerts in the Land of Pleasant Living, in Colonial Beach, Virginia and Baltimore, Maryland.

Janesville 2022

by Billy Kemp on February 1, 2022February 20, 2023

This Saturday, February 5, I’ll be performing at Grinder House in Crossville, Tennessee. It will be for the 4th annual Tennessee Songwriters Week, a celebration of song, one of Tennessee’s greatest exports to the world. The performances of songwriters across the state will be judged with winners from six showcase events heading to The Bluebird Cafe on March 20.

Willbilly Black Walnut Ink

by Billy Kemp on December 8, 2021February 20, 2023

Greetings from Liberty, on the edge of the Cumberland Plateau, where the ridge runner meets the flatlander. This post could get messy because we’re learning how to make black walnut ink, homemade ink from a single black walnut tree here on the top of the ridge where Sue and I live.