interviews & articles

Anywhere but Nashville

By twangthang ⋅ July 5, 2008 ⋅ Email this post ⋅  Print this post ⋅ Post a comment

Anywhere in Nashville you’ll find them – wide-eyed, talented artists, their pockets filled with dreams and lint. They’re working for tips and praying for that big break.

I was walking through the Nashville airport recently when an alluring voice spilled out of Tootsie’s airport bar. I didn’t recognize the smooth vocals, but the song was a standard, Joe Diffie’s “Home.” Anyone who knows this ol’ writer knows at that point I was already pointed toward the entrance and looking ahead for a seat.

On a small stage in the front corner, a clean-cut young man was seated on the stool with a guitar on his lap. In front of him, a large jar was inviting folks to pony up for their entertainment. His job was simple: keep these travelers here while they wait for their planes to board. Keep them happy, keep them ordering, and keep them tipping.

Billy Arnold is good at it.

Arnold came to Nashville from Tampa, FL, by way of Georgiana, AL. He taught himself to play guitar and harmonica, and he’s won a few singing contests. He’s been in a few bands and just keeps missing that one thing a budding artists needs – the one chance meeting that makes the difference between landing a lucrative contract and playing for tips at the airport. He’s still waiting to be discovered.

In the meantime, Billy has mastered stage banter. He tells stories and jokes, encourages audience members to join him on stage, and mixes up a blend of crowd-pleasing country and cross-over standards.

But pay attention. He’ll throw in a penned original from time to time, too – heartfelt, soulful songs steeped in tradition, but with enough Nashville sound to call out for anyone who may be looking for the next label signee.

I sipped my rum and coke and fiddled with the fries I felt compelled to order after Billy’s announcement: “Remember to treat our wait staff right today; order up and tip often.” And I pondered… how many of these young dreamers get their shot, and how many are destined to play in places like this? How many give up? And how many are forced to reinvent themselves to become more attractive to today’s Nashville sound and the business of making money in this industry?

Then a glimmer of hope walked in – a familiar famous face to our friendly picker. Billy pointed out Steve Holy in the crowd. He knows Steve paid some dues before winning a talent contest in Dallas to earn his shot in Nashville. Holy caught the attention of LeeAnn Rimes’ daddy and record producer, Wilbur Rimes, not long after, and has recorded two urban country pop albums in Nashville since. Holy is on the road touring a good bit of the time, playing for folks who’ve heard of him and who buy his music.

Arnold tried to coax Holy to the stage with him, but the road-weary star was between planes and still recovering from the previous night’s show. He nodded respectfully and indicated to his brother artist that the stage would remain his own.

The brief interaction seemed to energize the promising singer. A bit of encouragement… proof IT can happen.

It’s hard to say what will happen to Billy Arnold. We’ve all come to know that having the talent isn’t enough… not in Nashville. You have to become who the decision-makers want you to be. They have to be confident they can package you up and sell the hell out of you. Billy is certainly attractive enough. He can sing the heck out of anything. He picks and he writes. There was a day when that was enough. It’s a lot more than many of today’s successful performers possess… artists who are playing for thousands and lining store CD shelves all over the country.

I wish you the best of luck, Billy. You deserve a shot as much as anyone, and I hope you can keep your country heart and soul in the process. In the meantime, I hope you’ll remember there’s a network of folks like us, here at RCR. We love our indie artists and will do what we can to support ‘em.

Catch a bit of Billy singing Joe Diffie’s, “Home.”

With 2 years of rejection
He says this business ain’t fair
Well they say you ain’t got what it takes
You won’t make it anywhere

Anywhere but Nashville
I’d need to change myself
They say some people go in
Come out somebody else

Anywhere but Nashville
But that’s where it’s at
They celebrate gold
And I’m alright with that

Anywhere but Nashville
What the heck, here I come, Music City USA
Billy Yates

Billy Arnold on Myspace
BillyArnold.net