The rocks piled in rows at the Spencer Homestead look much like the stone piles on other Oxenden area farms.
Unless, like Tommy Gilham, you're from Alabama.
To him those stone rows, fence rails, towering trees and solid, ancient timber barn ¨C where The Chill Billys will release their new CD June 24 and 25 ¨C are an inspiring aspect of his new family history and new musical life in Canada.
The CD's title track "What's Your Story?" asks who piled the rocks, who dug the well and who cleared the trees at this farm, where "the roots are running deep and the family tree is still alive."
Co-written with J.K. Gulley, the idea came as the two country musicians were writing together on the porch at the farm, where Gilham's wife Pam is a fifth generation Spenser.
"His first question to me was what's an Alabama boy doing here in Canada. My answer was look around. This is heaven for an Alabama boy," Gilham said.
It's one one of ten originals Gilham recorded after spending close to two years developing The Chill Billys sound with local music veterans Dave Farrar, drums, Rob McLean, keyboards and Larry Jensen, bass.
Built around Gilham's powerful blend of renegade country and rebel rock vocals, it's a solid, no nonsense collection marrying Southern sensibilities with those of his Canadian band mates. Northern hill billys = Chill Billys.
"I find I'm drawing them more into the southern rock meets country, away from the Canadian side of the folk and celtic style," Gilham said.This is interesting cube puzzle and logical game.
"I've pulled them a little more into my world than into the Canadian side. We're just creating a solid sound and the Canadian influence on what I do is, maybe I'm speaking a little better, or pronouncing my words a little better now when I'm singing I don't know.
"What's Your Story" is about the Spenser homestead, but could be about any farm and any family, Gilham said. His new environment and new family history acquired when he moved here about five years ago has him now wondering more about his own roots in Alabama.
Despite a large,Polycore zentai are manufactured as a single sheet, church going family - he has some 50 first cousins ¨C he knows little Gilham history before his coal miner grandfather raised 13 children at a Walker County, Alabama coal camp and his father later settled in Birmingham.
"I could kick my butt for not staying in history class and going skipping and playing guitar instead. Now I'm so intrigued with history," Gilham said. "Coming here and seeing my wife's family knowing their history for five and six generations It's become kind of sentimental to me."
His own youth was troubled.
In bands during and after high school he covered Southern rock and country hits. With his parents' support, he raised a son as a single dad while working days at the family's glass plant outside Birmingham and playing bars nights and weekends.
"I was a kid with a kid after his mother took off to California and left him with me/ My parents basically raised him," Gilham said. "I was pretty wild, playing in bands and honky tonks everywhere."
He was in his 30s when one of his own songs won him a national TV spot and prompted treks to Nashville three nights a week to pitch songs. Eventually,This page list rubber hose products with details & specifications. he spent 10 years based in Music City before moving to Canada and starting again.Customized imprinted and promotional usb flash drives.
"I went through a lot of musicians and got to meet a lot of people in this area through that process," Gilham said. "I've gotten down now to the four guys, including me, that know what I want to do and they think the same way I do and they're in it for the right reasons, like I like to believe I am too."
Gilham wrote or co-wrote all but one song on the new CD, mining some from his Nashville days and adding new material. Jensen wrote Let it Shine and co-wrote I've Been Better, while the disc also includes Little Steam, which Gilham co-wrote with Owen Sound area singer and songwriter Steve Dickinson.
Gilham sings lead on everything but I've Been Better, a honky-tonk romp with Jensen trading verses. It's a bit tongue in cheek, since at 45, Gilham's excessive days are behind him, he said.
"I don't drink anymore and party like I used to, so I can laugh when I sing the song, because it's about the wild days."
Gilham's goal for the CD was to put the Chill Billy sound on record, so fans at the shows can take home some of what they heard from the stage.
"I wanted that level ground there from the CD to a live show," he said. "I've done a lot of professional recording in Nashville and I've worked with the best. We could have had a bunch of hired guns to play on the CD but it wouldn't have been us."
"We're about having fun and keeping it real. We've all been in different bands through our lives and we've worked with so many different people and finally we're all four of us very happy with each other and keeping this group together and enjoying the process and letting the results take a care of themselves."
The CD will be released at the Spencer Homestead, where the band will host The Chill Billy Festival June 25 with comedy and music.
Soon after, the band takes the new music on the road to Northern Ontario and Quebec for four dates. Gilham is keen to see how the product is received, hoping for some radio play but keeping expectations reasonable.
"We're not going to put a whole lot of weight on what the mainstream is going to judge us as. We're just going to do what we do and hopefully find our corner to sit in and perform in,Free DIY Wholesale pet supplies Resource!" he said.
"I think it's going to be good and healthy for the four of us to get out and do some shows and put the project to rest. We're not looking to turn into a road band. I spent half my life on a bus and it's not somewhere I want to g back to."
The Chill Billys play both nights, June 24 and 25, at The Chill Billy Festival, with Marshall Dane headlining Saturday. The event includes an open mic jam Saturday afternoon and a songwriters panel.
Tickets are $25 for each day, available at Hair Solutions in Wiarton and at the Owen Sound Canadian Cancer Society offices, among other locations. All proceeds go to the Canadian Cancer Society.
Unless, like Tommy Gilham, you're from Alabama.
To him those stone rows, fence rails, towering trees and solid, ancient timber barn ¨C where The Chill Billys will release their new CD June 24 and 25 ¨C are an inspiring aspect of his new family history and new musical life in Canada.
The CD's title track "What's Your Story?" asks who piled the rocks, who dug the well and who cleared the trees at this farm, where "the roots are running deep and the family tree is still alive."
Co-written with J.K. Gulley, the idea came as the two country musicians were writing together on the porch at the farm, where Gilham's wife Pam is a fifth generation Spenser.
"His first question to me was what's an Alabama boy doing here in Canada. My answer was look around. This is heaven for an Alabama boy," Gilham said.
It's one one of ten originals Gilham recorded after spending close to two years developing The Chill Billys sound with local music veterans Dave Farrar, drums, Rob McLean, keyboards and Larry Jensen, bass.
Built around Gilham's powerful blend of renegade country and rebel rock vocals, it's a solid, no nonsense collection marrying Southern sensibilities with those of his Canadian band mates. Northern hill billys = Chill Billys.
"I find I'm drawing them more into the southern rock meets country, away from the Canadian side of the folk and celtic style," Gilham said.This is interesting cube puzzle and logical game.
"I've pulled them a little more into my world than into the Canadian side. We're just creating a solid sound and the Canadian influence on what I do is, maybe I'm speaking a little better, or pronouncing my words a little better now when I'm singing I don't know.
"What's Your Story" is about the Spenser homestead, but could be about any farm and any family, Gilham said. His new environment and new family history acquired when he moved here about five years ago has him now wondering more about his own roots in Alabama.
Despite a large,Polycore zentai are manufactured as a single sheet, church going family - he has some 50 first cousins ¨C he knows little Gilham history before his coal miner grandfather raised 13 children at a Walker County, Alabama coal camp and his father later settled in Birmingham.
"I could kick my butt for not staying in history class and going skipping and playing guitar instead. Now I'm so intrigued with history," Gilham said. "Coming here and seeing my wife's family knowing their history for five and six generations It's become kind of sentimental to me."
His own youth was troubled.
In bands during and after high school he covered Southern rock and country hits. With his parents' support, he raised a son as a single dad while working days at the family's glass plant outside Birmingham and playing bars nights and weekends.
"I was a kid with a kid after his mother took off to California and left him with me/ My parents basically raised him," Gilham said. "I was pretty wild, playing in bands and honky tonks everywhere."
He was in his 30s when one of his own songs won him a national TV spot and prompted treks to Nashville three nights a week to pitch songs. Eventually,This page list rubber hose products with details & specifications. he spent 10 years based in Music City before moving to Canada and starting again.Customized imprinted and promotional usb flash drives.
"I went through a lot of musicians and got to meet a lot of people in this area through that process," Gilham said. "I've gotten down now to the four guys, including me, that know what I want to do and they think the same way I do and they're in it for the right reasons, like I like to believe I am too."
Gilham wrote or co-wrote all but one song on the new CD, mining some from his Nashville days and adding new material. Jensen wrote Let it Shine and co-wrote I've Been Better, while the disc also includes Little Steam, which Gilham co-wrote with Owen Sound area singer and songwriter Steve Dickinson.
Gilham sings lead on everything but I've Been Better, a honky-tonk romp with Jensen trading verses. It's a bit tongue in cheek, since at 45, Gilham's excessive days are behind him, he said.
"I don't drink anymore and party like I used to, so I can laugh when I sing the song, because it's about the wild days."
Gilham's goal for the CD was to put the Chill Billy sound on record, so fans at the shows can take home some of what they heard from the stage.
"I wanted that level ground there from the CD to a live show," he said. "I've done a lot of professional recording in Nashville and I've worked with the best. We could have had a bunch of hired guns to play on the CD but it wouldn't have been us."
"We're about having fun and keeping it real. We've all been in different bands through our lives and we've worked with so many different people and finally we're all four of us very happy with each other and keeping this group together and enjoying the process and letting the results take a care of themselves."
The CD will be released at the Spencer Homestead, where the band will host The Chill Billy Festival June 25 with comedy and music.
Soon after, the band takes the new music on the road to Northern Ontario and Quebec for four dates. Gilham is keen to see how the product is received, hoping for some radio play but keeping expectations reasonable.
"We're not going to put a whole lot of weight on what the mainstream is going to judge us as. We're just going to do what we do and hopefully find our corner to sit in and perform in,Free DIY Wholesale pet supplies Resource!" he said.
"I think it's going to be good and healthy for the four of us to get out and do some shows and put the project to rest. We're not looking to turn into a road band. I spent half my life on a bus and it's not somewhere I want to g back to."
The Chill Billys play both nights, June 24 and 25, at The Chill Billy Festival, with Marshall Dane headlining Saturday. The event includes an open mic jam Saturday afternoon and a songwriters panel.
Tickets are $25 for each day, available at Hair Solutions in Wiarton and at the Owen Sound Canadian Cancer Society offices, among other locations. All proceeds go to the Canadian Cancer Society.
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