Billie Stevens – American Youxia

I want to introduce our readers to the American singer/songwriter known as Billie Stevens. He may not be a household name yet, but we see a bright future for this multitalented artist who is best known as guitarist and singer in the Southern California bands WANK (Maverick Records) and Handsome Devil (RCA Records), and now on his first solo effort “American Youxia” (pronounced Yoo-sha). Along with radio and MTV airplay, Billie has put in his time on the road with several tours of the US and Canada, including multiple Warped Tours and an AFE tour of Europe, which had the added advantage of earning him thousands of fans across the globe. We are eagerly awaiting his regional support tour of “American Youxia” later this year.

This album is a straight forward guitar-driven rock album with great energy spanning a range of moods. Punchy riffs underscore the creative lyrics sprinkled throughout the entire album which takes you from punk to rock anthems to a much softer acoustic side, all of which support an underlying story that ties the entire album together. If you have the album on repeat you don’t notice when it ends and starts because you get something new from every listen; which is pretty rare. Billie’s lyrics are clever and original, and his vocals range from punk rage, to heartfelt longing, to contemplative wonder with beautiful tone and control. Billie handled vocals, guitars, bass and produced the album. He had a little help from his friends in the way of drums by Tom Varga and Preston Nash and while Billie played bass on half the songs the other half were covered by Howard Ulyate. The albums themes and vocal styles are similar throughout but each song brings its own uniqueness to the mix. Each song has a distinct character and Mood that contributes to the work as a whole. If you listen to the album in track order you will get the full story that the album protrudes. I normally break down the songs one at a time, but in this instance I will just say that the album has a story to tell and you need to experience it. You get great guitar work, catchy choruses and Billie’s brilliant ability to pull you into his story using music and his mesmerizing voice. Listen to our interview of Billie to get insight into the man and his music and don’t forget to check out his website at www.BillieStevens.com . There is much more to this very talented individual and I believe that we have just scratched the surface. I wonder how many of you reading this will catch the surprise that awaits you in the song “Back to the Grind”. Message me when you figure it out. The album is available everywhere and you can find the links at www.BillieStevens.com .