BILLY CONTRERAS - TEXAS IN MY SOUL

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Billy Contreras "Texas In My Soul" SM 229 CD

Compact Disc $12.00 plus S/H

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1. SONGS OF THE WANDERER 2. SUGAR FOOT RAG 3. LA GOLEN DREENA 4. BLUEBONNET 5. MY WINDOW FACES THE SOUTH 6. FAT BOY RAG 7. COLUMBUS STOCKADE BLUES 8. WEST TEXAS WALTZ 9. 12th STREET RAG 10. TEXAS IN MY SOUL (Vocals by Leon Rausch. Leon appears courtesy of SOUTHLAND RECORDS ®

Produced by: Tommy Allsup

Recorded and Mixed at: Sumet Studio, Dallas, TX

Engineered and Mixed by: Pam Irwin

Mastered at: Venus Productions, Nashville, TN

Mastered by: Jim Falzone

Billy Contreras

"Texas In My Soul" SM 229 CD

Buddy Spicher had told me about a new student he had that was nine-years-old. Buddy said he's going to be a great fiddle player, and he'd like for me to hear him. A couple of years passed and we were fixing to record a western swing CD with Billy Parker, a well know veteran singer and DJ at radio station KVOO, Tulsa, OK.

I told Buddy to call another fiddle player to play twin fiddles on the project. We ended up using Billy Contreras. Billy joined the A.F. of M., becoming the youngest professional musician in Local 257 Nashville Association of Musicians. We recorded the CD, and Billy played all the harmony fiddle with Buddy Spicher.

For several years Billy Contreras has been playing Tuesday nights at Wolfy's Lounge, here in Nashville, which is swing night. I was pleased when his parents decided to let him do a western swing project.

So in December, 1997 Billy Contreras and I headed to Big D, and the Sumet Recording Studio. Joining us were Tommy Morrell - steel guitar, Rich O'Brien - lead guitar, Curley Hollingsworth - piano, Tommy Perkins - drums, Mark Abbott - upright bass, and yours truly on rhythm guitar. We recorded at the newly remodeled Sumet Studio where I had recorded Bob Wills' "For The Last Time" double LP, two Asleep At The Wheel LP's, Billy Mize double LP and Leon Rausch's projects for SOUTHLAND RECORDS ® . I think it is a great feeling studio in which to record western swing music.

Billy turned thirteen- years-old, the next week after we recorded, so he was still twelve when this project was recorded. I've played in bands all my life with all the great fiddlers - Cecil Browyer, Keith Coleman, Bob White, Johnny Gimble, Bobby Boatright, Merle David, Tommy Camfield, Curley Lewis, Jimmy Hall... too many to name... BUT none has impressed me any more than Billy Contreras!! When you listen to his CD you're going to hear some fiddle licks you haven't heard before.

The boy is "13" now, and armed with a fiddle and bow, and he's dangerous. If you like swing Billy Contreras will have an effect on you. So set back, listen, and I think you'll be impressed with what you hear.

Billy Contreras

Billy Contreras took up fiddle and bow at age six, because he wanted to "make sparks fly" from the instrument as he had once seen Charlie Daniels do on television. Since then Billy has recorded two albums, traveled extensively, and performed with numerous artists and musicians.

In August of 1997 Billy opened for Lionel Hampton at the famed Blue Note in Manhattan. Most recently Hamp invited Billy to perform at the 1998 Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival at the University of Idaho. The festival offered Billy the opportunity to showcase his talents alongside other noted musicians such as Diana Krall, Russel Malone, Christian McBride, Kenny Barron and the Ray Brown Trio. Billy performed in Wednesday night's opening concert and closed out on Sunday as a featured Soloist with Lionel's Big Band.

In addition, Billy has performed as a special guest with the Nashville Symphony in 1996 and 1998. In 1996 he capped his contesting career by winning the prestigious Old Time National Junior Fiddle Championship. Prior to that, he appeared in an ensemble of fiddling legends in a special tribute to Bill Monroe on the CBS televised Grand Ole Opry 70th Anniversary celebration. Billy has also performed at the Nashville Summer Lights Festival, Chet Atkins Musician Days, The Tennessee Center for the Performing Arts, the Tennessee Fall Homecoming at the Museum of Appalachia, Dollywood Sundown Hoedown (featured with Jack Greene, Connie Smith, and Jeanne Pruett), Vanderbilt University's Blair School of Music, and the Opryland Hotel.

In 1995 Billy made his national television debut on TNN's Music City Tonight, trading quips with host Charlie Chase, and even--at Charlie's request--giving him a few quick fiddling tips. Another appearance on TNN featured Billy playing fiddle for Hank Thompson on Prime Time Country. Billy has also appeared twice on WSM Radio's Ernest Tubb Midnight Jamboree.

Informally and formally, Billy has played with numerous noted musicians; some of them include David "Dawg" Grisman, legendary session fiddler Buddy Spicher, Country Music Hall of Famer Merle Haggard, Bluegrass great Chubby Weiss, virtuoso Mark O'Connor, Berklee's String chair Matt Glaser, Turtle Island's Daryl Anger, and The Bob Wills' Texas Playboys under the direction of Leon Rausch and Tommy Allsup.

Notable jazz greats include John Blake Jr., Al Grey, Frank Foster, Russel Malone, and of course, Lionel Hampton. Billy has done sessions with members of the original Texas Playboys and Hank Thompson, among others.

Mark O'Connor, who wrote the liner notes for Billy's debut album, describes the youngster as "a natural musician, playing with ease the ideas he collects as he encounters new musical influences..." Billy loves to improvise and is currently most interested in swing and jazz stylings. He has also begun composing his own music. At a September 1995 Nashville concert Billy was introduced backstage by Mark O'Connor to the late Stephanie Grapelli, the world's most renowned jazz violinist. Upon Mark's urging, Billy played a tune for the great maestro, using O'Connor's own fiddle.

Wishing to broaden his musical skills, Billy is currently studying piano. He also studies classical violin with Mary Kathryn Vanosdale, concert mistress of the Nashville Symphony. Fiddling is a major focus in Billy's life, but he still finds time for his studies, maintaining good grades in school. He also pursues other loves -- reading (especially history), soccer, hiking, traveling and meeting people from all walks of life. And, like any other typical teenager, Billy likes being outside, spending time with his dog Secesh and "just having fun." The youngest of four children, he enjoys jamming with his older brother Cruz, a talented musician in his own right, and a jazz studies major at the University of Tennessee.

With so many accomplishments already under his belt at age thirteen, Billy appears to have a bright and sparkling future in store for him; and who knows, perhaps one day the growing number of fans he is amassing will actually behold sparks flying from his fiddle as he continues to set the music world on fire.

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