Review: Billy Price – Person Of Interest
Billy Price – Person of Interest
Format: CD – Vinyl LP – Digital / Label: Little Village Foundation
Release: 2024
Text: Pascal Wilhelm
At age 74, Billy Price is still doing it. Well, making music I mean (don’t know about any other thing). Thirteen songs on this record all (co-) written by Price and recorded in three days in October at the Ultratone Studios in California.
A big band, with James “Hutch” Hutchinson on bass featuring on two tracks and Joe Bonamassa on one. Billy Price received attention in the United States and Canada through his collaboration with Roy Buchanan in the mid-70’s. After leaving Buchanan, he formed his own bands and has been performing and recording ever since, while also working in corporate communications along the way.
He has several Blues Music Awards nominations to his name and won an award once (for a soul blues album This Time for Real, a collaboration with Otis Clay in 2016).
The production of this record is impeccable, songs are all OK with no exceptions and Billy still has a powerful, soulful voice.
Billy asked Joe Bonamassa to feature on a song (Change Your Mind) in memory of Roy Buchanan. Joe manages to emulate a bit of Buchanan’s style in the outro solo.
“OK” is the expression that keeps popping up when I listen to Person of Interest. It’s all OK, nothing less, but also nothing more.
Lyrically, the songs tell stories to which it is easy to relate, but no tension is created anywhere. And that is my minor point of critique. But for the rest: OK.
Tracks:
01. Inside That Box
02. Song I Never Heard Before
03. She Checks All the Boxes
04. Mercy
05. Person of Interest
06. Can’t Get Enough
07. Change Your Mind (in memory of Roy Buchanan) featuring Joe Bonamassa
08. They Knew
09. A Certain Something
10. The Gift
11.Crying at the Stoplight
12.I Lose It
13.Damage Control
Website: https://www.billyprice.com/