Billy Conway

Billy Conway is one of the great drummers in American music: a relentlessly inventive, eerily intuitive player whose particular combination of spiritual authority and delicate restraint make him at once versatile and easily recognizable. He’s appeared on scores of albums across multiple genres in the last four decades, and influenced generations of players, becoming one of the most widely respected and beloved musicians in the country. 

From his early years with the major label bands Treat Her Right and the iconoclastic low-rockers Morphine, to backing Country & Western legend Dick Curless on his last album, or creating improvisational music set against Beat poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s 30-poem song cycle A Coney Island of the Mind, Billy Conway has chased the freedom that only simplicity will buy, along the way honing a deceptively loose, fluidly improvisational style rooted in the blues, and focussed on low-end, accent, and open voice.

From the largest stadiums to the smallest clubs, whether playing a single drum for five years - a cocktail drum with a cheap 15" cymbal, a cowbell, wood block, and some frying pans - or touring a suitcase kit behind songwriters like Jeffrey Foucault or Chris Smither, his mastery of his instrument, native balance of power and grace, and his willingness to serve the song has made him the indispensable voice in any ensemble.

John Coltrane said, ‘You can improve as a player by improving as a human being,’ and Billy Conway is testament to that idea: his greatness of spirit, fearless exploration and improvisation, and his willingness to give the best of himself to music are proof that mastery is a form of readiness, and readiness a kind of love.

Click here to read the Arts Fuse Review of "Further On: The Songs Of Billy Conway"

Laurie Sargent

Laurie Sargent has worn many hats in her life. She was lead singer of the Boston based band Face-to-Face in the 80’s, (garnering a Top 40 single), then worked with producer Russ Titelman on a solo album in 1996. From 2000-2003 she sang with the band Orchestra Morphine, then formed the critically acclaimed Twinemen with Morphine members Billy Conway and Dana Colley. She moved to Montana in 2008 to raise organic produce, keep a farm filled with horses, dogs and ducks, leaving the touring life behind. She now finds herself cutting back on the garden to release her new album, “Smiley Face”. 

Laurie speaks of this shift, “I have been making music for lifetimes, but walked away from the business of music several years ago. Songs kept threading through my heart and head however, bubbling up at every opportunity as I plied my new chosen trade as a farmer- the rhythm of the hoe, the counting of the fresh, vibrant fruits of labor, the steady footfalls of my horse as I rode in the vast openness of my new western home. These things became the new record, “Smiley Face.”

Recorded in Boston and featuring long time musical partners Billy Conway, Jeremy Moses Curtis, Ian Kennedy, Evan Harriman, and David Westner, this collection of songs has already garnered critical praise. Ted Drozdowski, Senior editor of Premier Guitar says of Smiley Face, “Shimmering guitars turn rural America into a study in light and shadow. Tales caught in memory become multi-faceted reflections of truth in the retelling. And the joy of life remains a wide open channel, even in death. Her ear for texture creates a vivid sonic panorama. And through every song, Sargent’s bold, rich voice frames each detail. It’s the album’s soaring or subtle psyche. She wields it like a perfectly hued brush in the hands of an absolute master. The emoji title is smartly deceptive. What’s behind that smile are deep, beautiful secrets—wonderfully revealed.“