Billy Keane and the Misdemeanor Outlaws

By Abby Wood
Nov. 3, 2010

Billy Keane has been taking the Berkshires by storm since his arrival in the summer of 2009, and with a debut solo album, The Pine Street Sessions, under his belt, and the recent release of an EP with his band, Billy Keane & The Misdemeanor Outlaws, it doesn’t look like he’ll be letting up any time soon.

This month Keane plays two major: one at the Unicorn Stage at the Berkshire Theatre Festival in Stockbridge, Mass., with the Misdemeanor Outlaws—the first concert ever to be performed at the space—on November 5; and one at the Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield, Mass., opening up for the internet-born stars Barefoot Truth, on November 26.

Keane took a break from setting up sound equipment at the Unicorn Stage Tuesday afternoon to sit and talk with me about the shows, his band, and everyday influences.

BL: What drew you to the Berkshires?

BK: Well, Noah [Weiss, saxophone player as well as producer for both Keane and the band] and I planned on recording an album, and the question was obviously where and when...But then some job opportunities presented themselves in the Berkshires area, so we figured well, we’ll move up to Pittsfield, because it was cheaper than Lenox [laughs], and start working on this album, which became The Pine Street Sessions.

BL: How did you and Weiss meet?

BK: We grew up together…throughout middle school, junior high, and then high school. But then Noah went to Oberlin [College] in Ohio, and I went to Brooklyn, and then left and did other things. So we kind of separated for about four years there through the college years—which for Noah was the college years, for me it was a mixture of dropping out of college and doing random things. He continued to follow the musical education while I continued to play music, so it worked out.

BL: How have you liked it here so far?

BK: I think it’s great! It’s beautiful, for one. We grew up in Connecticut, so as far as the New England persona goes, it’s kind of the vibe that I always end up defaulting to. It’s a wonderful place to be, and the people and the artistic communities are overwhelming almost, it’s wonderful.

BL: You definitely stumbled upon a great time to be making music in the Berkshires.

BK: It seems to be! I had no idea there was such an artistic influence in the area, especially in the Pittsfield area. I’ve made so many friends—people who have different talents, and they’re working on these talents, and they’re honing their skills in different areas: music, art, photography, graphic design, and all these things that help us do what we want to do.


BL: How do you feel about being the first concert on the Unicorn stage?

BK: I’m excited; we were actually just talking about it a couple minutes ago. When we say that we’re playing at the Unicorn, people seem like they’re not sure if it’s the same Unicorn they’re thinking of. But everybody’s been talking about how beautiful a venue it is and how excited they are to be able to see some live music here. It’s exciting, it’s neat, obviously there’s some issues we’ve got to work out first [Keane motions to the setting up of speakers and other sound equipment happening on the stage].

BL: The acoustics in here are outstanding.

BK: Yeah, especially when you’ve got these big old subwoofers and speakers blasting at you!

BL: This is a very intimate space, but I know from seeing you perform at Mission Bar & Tapas in Pittsfield that you’re used to intimate spaces—there’s nothing more intimate than that.

BK: Very true.

BL: Do you have a plan of how you’re going to go about the show in this particular space?

BK: We do. We want to go for that very straightforward show, mostly because when we’re playing a place like Mission, we don’t get that kind of a vibe. It’s wonderful to play there, and that’s kind of our home turf, but it’s a bar in essence, so there are certain aspects of that that are different. For instance, here we can really focus on individual songs, play a tune as a whole entity and then move on to the next; as opposed to in a bar setting, where you have to keep people going, you have to make sure that they’re always having fun, and that they’re always in tune [to the band]. But in a place like this [he gestures around to the theatre], they’re going to be in tune no matter what. I think it’s going to work out real well and people are going to enjoy it.

BL: Tell me about recording the band’s new EP.

BK: That came about almost out of necessity. The band only formed last January with all four members—Jay Schultheis, our drummer, was the last to join. We ended up getting to play these shows that we needed to be able to sell EP’s at. For instance, the Nateva Festival this summer up in Maine—and you can’t very well play at a festival and not have any product to sell. So through various link-ups we met a guy who was working out of a studio in Saratoga Springs…we didn’t have much money to rent out the studio and pay for his services, so we recorded four tracks in two days. He mixed them for us throughout the next week, and then there was the EP.

BL: You’re also doing a show at the Colonial on the 26th, opening up for Barefoot Truth.

BK: Yes, that’s a solo show, so it’s just as exciting but a lot different.

BL: You could say you’re taking over Berkshire County this month.

BK: [Laughs] I guess—I’ve been invited to do a lot of stuff, so that’s cool.

BL: There’s a big difference between the sound of your solo music and that of the band. How do you differentiate between the two?

BK: It’s really by necessity. I can’t really control what exactly my writing style is going to be on any particular day…some tunes I hear as being performed with a band, whereas other tunes, whether it’s the intimacy of them or just the style of the melody or the guitar, just need to be performed solo. But some tunes go back and forth: we perform a few songs with the band that are on my solo album, because there are some that can transcend that boundary. A lot of it comes down to the performance as a whole. At the Colonial, for instance, it’s just a great opportunity to be able to do a solo thing—the acoustics, the vibe that’s going to happen, the fact that I’m opening…I mean, that’s kind of the differentiation. My band is so open-minded, it’s wonderful. They’re not going to get upset if I happen to be writing a solo tune, they’re gracious and they’re always there to listen, and it’s wonderful.

BL: Do you write all your own songs as well as the band’s songs?

BK: Yes. I write them, but the whole point of having a band is that everyone has their own personalities coming through. Our method has become I’ll play the song for them once, and then we’ll all just start working on it. And a lot of times I’ll have their parts in my head but only generalized…and what typically ends up happening is that they’ll catch the vibe that I’m going for and then they compose their own lines to that. That’s what makes it so exciting, really—it’s a song but it turns into almost more of a canvas. And on that they can put their own unique touch.

BL: Time for a cliché songwriter question: Who or what inspires you?

BK: Oh man, everything. There are so many factors involved…I don’t actually listen to all that much music, to be honest, because when I get into something I end up listening to it for months straight. But anything that I’m listening to I find has an influence. Even if I don’t like the music, it always has an influence on what happens—just like anything does. You might see somebody get onto a bus and it influences something that you do the next day.
When I was younger I was huge James Taylor fan, and still am, but I think a little bit more influenced by it as I was coming into writing styles, and Bob Dylan has always been huge in my mind. Singers really influenced me a lot, their vocal qualities—Eddie Vedder, Dave Matthews—just the way that people sing influences me a bit more than most other things, I’d say, because it’s so unique.

BL: So I hear there’s a big party after the Colonial show?

BK: Well, I get to go is what I’m excited about! It’s a VIP ticket package, which includes CD’s from both Barefoot Truth and I, tickets to the show, and you get to go to the after-party, which will have food and drink, and the price is $50. And it’s just going to be a blast—I mean, I love partying, who doesn’t? Especially after a show. So I would encourage people to get those VIP tickets, because they’re going to sell out quick. It’s going to be a blast.


Billy Keane & The Misdemeanor Outlaws with Modest Me
November 5 at 8pm
Unicorn Theatre; Berkshire Theatre Festival
6 East St.
Stockbridge, Mass.
413.298.5576
www.berkshiretheatre.org

Barefoot Truth with special guest Billy Keane
The Colonial Theatre
111 South St.
Pittsfield, Mass.
413.997.4444
www.thecolonialtheatre.org - Berkshire Living Magazine

By Abby Wood
Nov. 29, 2010

While most of us gorged ourselves on turkey and stuffing this past weekend, the city of Pittsfield offered me something a little different to get stuffed on.

After many hours and miles spent commuting south down Route 7 (or sometimes 8, depending on my mood), the time has finally come for this North County girl to make the move to the big city—of the Berkshires, that is. Yes, I am now an official habitant of Pittsfield, Mass. In the midst of a crazy whirlwind of holiday feasting, family reunions, packing, and moving furniture, this burgeoning city didn’t waste any time making me feel right at home with a weekend’s-worth of awesome local music.

My musical feast began with a night’s-worth of entertainment from New Leaf Productions, a local start up whose mission is “to create a sustainable music scene in Pittsfield, Mass…In essence, turn over a new leaf and establish Pittsfield as a musical destination.” It is businesses like New Leaf that make me feel like I am definitely in the right place at the right time.

Kicking off the night with a pre-party, New Leaf utilized the spacious lobby of the Colonial Theatre with music by DJ Ryan Brown and live art displays, including artisan Warren Barber of Roots and Rust fabricating his signature pounded-metal earrings on an anvil right in front of the bar. Behind him, local artists created vivid paintings and drawings on wide canvases to be displayed during and after the show.

The show started off with local singer-songwriter Billy Keane, who wooed the audience with his easy confidence, personal stories, and sentimental lyrics. Keane has the crooning, lovesick voice of Amos Lee with a hint of Southern twang, and the sincere lyrical gift of Martin Sexton. During his last song, “Bartender Girl,” I swear I could hear a collective “Awwwwww!” from every female in the audience during the line, “Baby if I’m whiskey, I think you’re wine…”

The main course of the weekend was Barefoot Truth, a self-labeled “roots-rock-funky-folk-groove machine” who has gained independent fame through over 7 million plays on Pandora, a free internet radio site, and whose very own bassist Andy Wrba is a Pittsfield native.

As I entered the theater, I was immediately greeted by an out-of-control solo by keyboardist John “Wayno” Waynelovich, who continued to impress throughout the night with his bursts of wild energy on the keys, covering reggae to jazz to classical techniques and everything in between. In fact, every member of the band was impressive. Lead singer/drummer Will Evans completely obliterated any previous concept of lead singers I had; Wrba brought the funk with the electric bass and romantic vibes with his stand-up; Jay Driscoll managed to bring a country elegance to certain tracks instead of hillbilly folk with his Weissenborn lap guitar (he was also on acoustic and electric); and Garrett Duffy proved that the harmonica isn’t just something that a folksinger might play in between verses, but a legitimate instrument that deserves its own rocking solos. There were even several moments throughout the show when band members switched instruments, demonstrating their musical prowess.

Coldplay, Vertical Horizon, Eve 6, U2, Rob Thomas, Dave Matthews Band…amazingly, these are all bands that popped into my head while listening to Barefoot Truth. The more I heard, the more “roots-rock-funky-folk-groove machine” made sense to me, although I might add reggae, blues, and jazz into the equation just to flesh things out a little bit. Each song is orchestrated so intricately, that it is no wonder that the band is adamant about not being called a jam band—they’re doing much more than mere jamming on that stage. However, I could not help but notice the pockets of intense dancing and twirling throughout the theatre—a definite sign of jam-band fans afoot. With each song the dancing crowd increased until, by the end of the night, the whole theater was on their feet—the first time this blogger has seen such a happening at the Colonial. - Berkshire Living Magazine

Jenn Smith

Berkshire Eagle Staff

PITTSFIELD - Billy Keane's new album makes you feel like he's singing right in your living room, it's probably because it was recorded in his.

The singer/songwriter/musician's debut album "The Pine Street Sessions" was released earlier this spring. It was produced and recorded by Keane's longtime friend Noah Weiss, in the living room of their Pittsfield apartment.

Though the session may have taken place from the comfort of their couch, the recording, melodies, and deliberate lyrics are no less polished or professional.

Both Mansfield, Conn. natives and grade school friends, Keane 23, and Weiss, 22, came to the Berkshires almost a year ago to become musicians.

Since then, in addition to being able to put out an album, it was here that they shared a stage with friends James and Kim Taylor at The Red Lion Inn in Stockbridge, and met Berkshire-based guitarist/bass player Dave Brown and drummer Jay Schultheis to form rock-reggae-folk quartet Billy Keane and the Misdemeanor Outlaws. The band plays the Third Thursdays event tonight at 8, at Mission Bar & Tapas on North Street.

With the band booked through the fall in venues from Massachusetts to Maine, and the album keeping a steady pace, Keane and Weiss say they are content to go along for the ride.

But here, they pull over to talk with The Eagle about open mics, writing songs, and how scuba diving almost put the album on hold for good.

Eagle: You two and your band the Misdemeanor Outlaws have been playing all over the place this year, it seems. What do you do by day?

Weiss: I'm a personal assistant for James Taylor.

Keane: I did diving for a while before coming here.

Now I do some handyman work.

Eagle: Ah, the lives of starving artists. So when did music make its way into your lives?

Keane: For me I suppose it's been life-long. It's

always been there.

My father is a minister, and like a lot of people in music, I started off singing in church.

I played cello for a few years, but I was never one for really reading music. My sister played, and I would kind of follow along and play by ear whatever she had learn to play, until my music teacher realized I wasn't playing what was on the page.

So I did drums and percussion through the years. Piano always flows in and out. Guitar was really the last instrument I picked up.

Weiss: I was kind of forced to play as a kid. I moved away from it for a while, but then I began studying the jazz saxophone as a performance major at Oberlin College. Go figure.

So clearly we've got very different backgrounds in music and very different ways of thinking.

But it's worked.

Eagle: So when did you guys start playing music together? Tell me about your first gig.

Weiss: We were sophomores or juniors in high school at the E.O.

Smith-UConn campus.

Keane: It was one of those background-music dinner-venue type things. We were only supposed to play about two hours and we would get $50. We ended up playing like three hours.

Weiss: They pretty much just gave us meals. And we didn't really have enough songs to play, so we kind of would play the same thing in a different key and time. [Laughs] Keane: But I remember being extremely comfortable with it. We just BS'd and were having fun with it.

Weiss: I remember thinking we were super cool. We went to a party later where all our friends were and were like, 'Sorry we're late guys. We had a gig.'" Eagle: So what happened after that?

Keane: I had a duo in high school when the band Dispatch was kind of big, and we played along those lines until the end of my senior year. I tried college for a while, but that really didn't fit me.

After that, I just kind of stopped playing until I moved to Seattle. This guy I met asked me to play at a beer-tasting. A couple hundred of dollars in tips later, my confidence was back up.

Weiss: They pretty much force you to gig in school. So I had a band in Cleveland (Ohio) and did a lot of jazz things. I got used to playing gigs that were supplemental to the background of whatever event was going on.

Looking back, I remember how [Billy] had this thing, this presence that was very natural on stage. And I remember in high school having the most fun playing gigs with him. He's always been about making an expression through music. So we kept in touch and talked about making an album. When I found out where I was going to be working, well, that's kind of how we ended up coming here.

Eagle: When did you start working on the album in the Berkshires?

Weiss: Well, it got put off for a little while with the whole thumb thing.

Eagle: Thumb thing? Do tell.

Keane: Well, diving is not the safest thing in the world. I was on a dive and I cut my thumb and some tendons on some gear. So, at first, the second track on the album, the song "Baby Blue" was the only song we could record at the time, because I didn't have to use my thumb to play the guitar part.

Eagle: Where did your live music make its Berkshire debut?

Keane: We played an open mic at Mission Bar [and Tapas], and it was good, and we got a good reaction playing in front of people. Open mics are a wonderful thing. This one here has really nice people who actually want to hear what you're doing.

Weiss: That's kind of been our experience here in the Berkshires in general. We've met a lot of people who are welcoming and interested in music being played locally.

[Dave Brown, bass/guitar player walks in. The three are roommates.] Dave Brown: That's how we all kind of met. We heard you playing at Mission.

Eagle: When you play open mics, do you do original stuff or cover tunes?

Keane: We do our own. Even to this day, we only have like three covers that we do. Also, there's an extreme difference in what I write for my solo music and for the band.

Eagle: How so?

Keane: If I had to give it a label, the solo stuff is acoustic folk music. The band stuff is meant to be more tangible.

Weiss: The band's more upbeat.

Brown: With the band, we hope people associate us with good times.

Keane: With the band, I don't mind if people focus on whatever else is going on at the time in the venue.

But with the solo music, I'd like to have people really listen and focus on it, like they're reading a book. It's like poetry: You don't want to skip stanzas or you'll miss the meaning.

Eagle: How would you describe the content of "The Pine Street Sessions"?

Keane: I've had a lot of people in my life say I don't talk enough, but over songs, I have a lot of things to say. It's very personal.

Weiss: It's kind of ironic that of all the songs we had originally thought of, only two or three ended up on the album. A lot of it is about the personal experiences we had since we moved here. It's very much a Berkshire album. We recorded it here, actually right where you're sitting on the couch, which is why we called it The Pine Street Sessions.

Eagle: With this new album, who do you hope listens to it?

Who's your target audience?

Weiss: Senior citizens. [Laughs]

Keane: [Laughs] Definitely, senior citizens. But really, anyone who wants to listen to it we'd be glad to have them do so. Though if you know of an audience that only listens to solo acoustic folk music, I'd love to meet them.

[Laughs] Eagle: So how did you guys get into developing a band?

Weiss: I guess, in some ways, we always wanted to put a band together. We were at a time when we had this solo album of his music going, but then we had this success with open mic, so it was like, 'Let's just play music and see what happens.' Eagle: And how did the band name "Misdemeanor Outlaws" come up?

Weiss: We're outlaws.

Keane: But we're not quite felonious. Is that a word?

[Laughs] Actually, it's a Bob Dylan reference from a song he sang called "Chimes of Freedom." I think only one guy in all of our audiences actually got the reference.

Eagle: Well, outlaws or not, both the solo music and the band seem to be doing quite well.

What's up next for you guys?

Keane: We'll just continue to do what we do. We're recording an EP now with the band. I'd like to tour with the solo album in the fall.

People should come to our shows if they want to see music because we genuinely enjoy playing for people.

To reach Jenn Smith: smith@berkshireeagle.com - The Berkshire Eagle

(see url - Week of Aug. 30th - Thursday taping) - PCTV