Billy in the Lowground profile picture

Billy in the Lowground

"An arrangement with myself" - New album out now!

About Me

Billy In The Lowground (initially called the Brew Band) were formed in 1991, since when we’ve played literally hundreds of gigs all over the country as well as a handful in Europe.
Over the years, we’ve played festivals as diverse as: Glastonbury, Ashton Court, Trowbridge Pump, Bath festival, Respect in the West, Pontardawe International Folk, Larmer Tree and Off the Tracks; as well as supporting acts such as John Otway, the Popes, Rock Salt & Nails, Norma Waterson & Martin Carthy, Oysterband, the Wurzels and Fairport Convention.
OUR LATEST RECORDING!
Yes, the new album, "An Arrangement with Myself"is finally finished, and very pleased with it we are too... 11 tracks in all, and available via our main website - see the address over there on the left. There’s a couple of tracks on the player above - give ’em a listen and tell us what you think.
Or, if you prefer, listen to a selection from the album on the Last.fm playlist just under this bit of blurb...
Here’s a short video, courtesy of the lovely folks at animoto.com
...and here’s another, this is a seriously old one - In Hell they give you Rum!

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 3/26/2006
Band Website: billyinthelowground.com
Band Members: Guitar & Vocal - Chris Hibberd, Fiddle - Ruth Behan, Mandolin - Nigel Lloyd, Drums - Nick Wood, Bass - Ian Simpson.
Influences: Playing what could loosely be termed Folk-Rock (think ‘Weapon called the Word’ era Levellers rather than ‘All around my Hat’ era Steeleye Span!), with an Irish influence courtesy of fiddle player Ruth Behan, the sound is continuously evolving, veering into alt.country territory and even out-and-out Rock.
We don’t play covers, on the basis that nobody else plays our stuff, so why should we play theirs?!
Influences? A long list - start with the Waterboys, Levellers and the Pogues, and go spiralling merrily out from there... you'll have to make up your own minds on that one.
Sounds Like: Well, if your sound's turned on. you're hearing it! There's some more of our songs on the Last.fm player over on your right, and sample clips from our last 3 recordings over on our main website - see link above.
Type of Label: None

My Blog

Rode Festival

Aaaand another festival! ...I love playing festivals, it's a big part of what made me want to be in a band in the first place, way back in the mists of time when I was about 15 and had just come home ...
Posted by Billy in the Lowground on Mon, 28 Jul 2008 04:50:00 PST

Gillingham Festival & Woolley St Festival

No festivals for ages, then two come along at once! This was a bit of a logistical nightmare, but fun in a hectic kind of way. First up was Gillingham Festival in Dorset, a very slickly run operation ...
Posted by Billy in the Lowground on Tue, 22 Jul 2008 09:57:00 PST

Two Rivers Folk Festival

...And it came to pass that Billy in the Lowground travelled far to the West, yea even over the Great Bridge to the Land of the Welshmen. The omens were good, & it seemed that the Gods smiled upon...
Posted by Billy in the Lowground on Tue, 08 Jul 2008 03:01:00 PST

Mr Wolfs again

A benefit this one, for the Rainbow Centre for children - nice to feel that a night of loud music & vile debauchery is actually doing someone good for a change. Nearly didn't get off the ground th...
Posted by Billy in the Lowground on Fri, 27 Jun 2008 02:21:00 PST

The Chough, Salisbury

Just to clear this up, a chough (pronounced chuff) is a crow-like bird that loves fishing grubs out of cowpats. Oh yes it is. A completely foul night weatherwise last Thursday - flashfloods all over S...
Posted by Billy in the Lowground on Mon, 02 Jun 2008 08:46:00 PST

Salisbury Arms, Christchurch

First time at this place, so we have the obligatory detour to fully explore all the backstreets of Christchurch before we stumble across it. One of these days we'll get a SatNav. There's a bus stop ri...
Posted by Billy in the Lowground on Mon, 12 May 2008 08:07:00 PST

Midsomer Norton Cricket Club

I've just noticed I haven't mentioned our gig at the Prom a couple of weeks ago - not a deliberate omission, I was away for a week or so & forgot all about it. As far as I can remember it was a pe...
Posted by Billy in the Lowground on Tue, 06 May 2008 09:25:00 PST

The Plough, Manston

A welcome return to this little gem of a pub last Friday, and amazingly we even managed to find it with no bother. After the last time Nige had wisely left early, and was just tucking into a big plate...
Posted by Billy in the Lowground on Wed, 09 Apr 2008 08:42:00 PST

Jagerbar, Melksham

Actually part of the Bear in Melksham, this new venue was only finished the day before, and we played the opening night on Good Friday. The landlord and his family had obviously worked like troja...
Posted by Billy in the Lowground on Tue, 25 Mar 2008 03:41:00 PST

A very quiet St Patricks night

Last time we played the Bayshill Tavern in Cheltenham was pretty lively,  so we had high hopes for this Saturday the 15th, especially as the Cheltenham Gold Cup had just finished and the town sho...
Posted by Billy in the Lowground on Tue, 18 Mar 2008 09:36:00 PST