Billy West Guitarist Maggie Valley Acoustic Guitarist from Maggie Valley, NC

Billy West began the musical odyssey in the Tampa Bay area at sixteen, singing and strumming folk, country and bluegrass on acoustic guitars. In his eighteenth year he began to dabble in electric guitar, and was forever changed! Billy headed North to the Berklee College of Music, got baptised in mainstream jazz, and survived to tell the tales. He spent the next sixteen years based in Boston, MA playing in numerous bands (so many at the same time!); performing general business music as well as original rock; occasional session work as a singer, guitarist and bassist; one particular sideline was a serious bluegrass band, where Bill developed some flatpickin' technique on the mandolin. West returned to the Tampa Bay area in 1997, and was a “weekend-warrior” rocker for the next ten years--again spicing the sounds of occasional recording projects. The most recent years have seen Billy return to performing acoustic guitar music full-time as a soloist here in Western North Carolina--during the day for seniors at assisted-living, rehab, etc.; evenings at intimate acoustic-oriented venues. The two different markets require different music, and Billy has developed a vast repertoire spanning centuries rather than decades! Billy says, “I've developed a 'Night and Day' personality(great Cole Porter song, btw!): the 'Day' me covers vocal and instrumental music from 1960's Sinatra-style back to eighteenth century Baroque pieces. The 'Night' me covers popular vocal and fingerstyle music from the 60's to now that inspires me, along with some of my own compositions.” Billy's numerous inspirations include Tommy Emmanuel, Chet Atkins, Richard Smith, Pat Donohue, Tony Rice, Steve Howe, traditional Delta and Piedmont blues, Stephen Stills, CSN, Hot Tuna, Grateful Dead, Little Feat, Bob Dylan, Dave Matthews, NRBQ, The Band, Beatles, Stones, The Who, Yes, Joe Jackson, Jethro Tull, Queen, ahhh too many more to list! He boils all those tunes into a spicy-singing-fingerpicking-flatpicking-gumbo that displays an original take on these time-honored artists, and reinforces his motto: Vocals & Guitar, Any Style, Any Occasion!