About
The Billy Riggs Band was established by singer/songwriter Billy Riggs upon moving to San Francisco in 2003. A native of Louisville, KY metro. Billy’s early experience stemmed from involvement in musical theater, leading church music and from his father’s eclectic record collection – consisting mainly of experimental folk and classic rock. The first piece he ever heard was Icarus by Paul Winter Consort. His first vocal solo came at age of 8 after which he was continually given lead musical roles. He began playing guitar at the age of 13 and before the end of high school had formed two bands The Hermits and Next Exit.
In 1997 he briefly joined The Elms at the Dove Awards, National Spotlight Competition for emerging artists where they finished third. He left the band to attend college at Ball State University where he studied history (art / architecture) and conducting an undergraduate thesis that involved writing and recording classical church hymns in a contemporary style. He went on to do Master’s and PhD work in urban planning and design and moved to San Francisco in 2003.
At the same time he began to work on new music heavily influenced by his move to California with help from his younger brother Gabe Riggs and close friend Nick Fiorentinos. After his debut release in 2003 Billy began to work more with Dan Feeney on bass and Carlos Villarreal on drums (whom he met through respective athletic and urban planning endeavors). With each of the band members leaving their unique thumbprint on Billy’s original songs the BRB sound began to expand into it’s current form.
FORMATION DATE
July 01, 2003
RECORD LABEL
Independent
BAND MEMBERS
Billy Riggs, Dan Feeney, Carlos Villarreal
INFLUENCES
U2; Bob Dylan; Sting; Paul Simon; Eric Clapton / Cream; Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young; 80’s pop and early 90’s alternative rock; a multitude of others, including P. Winter, M. Davis, L.V. Bethoven, G. Holst and H. Mancini. Production influences include: David Rawlings; Martin Smith; and Daniel Lanois.
SOUNDS LIKE
Dylan channeling STP while covering the Wallflowers, the Byrds or Buffalo Springfield doing David Gray… like coke-infused molasses.
