Wiliam Paris (The Billy Walton Band)
Barry Middleton (BM) Interview with William Paris (William) - June 2010
BM: Aims for the future and what do you hope to achieve within the Blues?
William: I need to go see more blues shows, I want to support the artist.
BM: Why do you feel that young people are not as attracted to the Blues as other Genres?
William: Too many factors contribute to this, the music biz is not driving young people in that direction, kids have too short an attention span, to see the masters it aint cheap.
BM: What other styles of music have you drawn inspiration from?
William: I love the beautiful melodies of power pop, i’ve invested a lot of time into the Grateful Dead, Springstien, and Southside.
BM: What were your first experiences of the Blues?
William: I discovered the blues thru’ guitar players, I used to watch the show “Austin City Limits” on TV, I remember seeing Stevie Ray Vaughan on that show.
BM: Who were the influences on your musical career?
William: Paul McCartney, As a bassist and songwriter, I had Beatles posters on my walls, read books and listened to their music.
BM: Does singing the Blues come from experience?
William: I haven’t sung the blues, I’ll give it a try and get back to you.
BM: What was the first gig that you played?
William: My High School Battle Of The Bands.
BM: Do you think that Blues needs to evolve to stay relevant?
William: I don’t see any dramatic change coming, there could be someone who does it better than everyone else that comes along. The supply will always be there, the question is demand.
BM: If you had the opportunity to play with any blues artist dead or alive live on stage who would it be?
William: Guitarists get too much attention as it is...I’ll go with a bluesy keyboard player, Greg Allman, Dr John, Bill Payne from Little Feat, etc...
BM: What do you do to relax when you have some spare time away from music?
William: Wife & kids, my boys have just started playing sports.
Thank you William for completing my questions
Barry Middleton
Nottingham Blues Society
BM: When did you start playing (guitar)?
William: Bass, 1982
BM: How would you like to see music change over the next 10 years?
William: We need to get the word out that it’s fun to go out and discover live music to younger people, thats been diminishing over the last 10 years.
BM: If you wasn’t a musician (in a band) what would you be doing?
William: Some sort of sales, Not music related.
BM: What sort of music did you listen to growing up?
William: Beatles, The Who, Classic Rock.
BM: You are a singer/songwriter. What drives your song-writing?
William: I like to write music that grooves, that I can tap my feet to.
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