"I Want To Sing Cowboy Songs" ...Billy Joe Conor, age 5
The dreams of a child are now the reality of a man. Billy Joe Conor is revolutionizing America's love affair with its preeminent style of down home entertainment, Country Music. A native of Italy's romantic southern island, Sicily, Billy Joe's focus on this uniquely American form of music represents a lifelong passion. His innovative singing style, combined with his unforgettable melodies, ensures that just as Clint Eastwood's Spaghetti Westerns established a new genre in movies, Billy Joe is creating a renaissance within the country music field.
"When I was five years old and still living in the suburbs of Messina, Sicily," he states, "My dad's cousin sat me on his knee one day and asked what I wanted to do when I grew up. Without hesitating I told him, 'Voglio cantare canzoni cowboy.' In English that means 'I want to sing cowboy songs'. At that time, as well as up to the present day, American TV westerns and music were and are wildly popular in Italy. My dad had already started teaching me guitar chords, and often he would stand me up on the kitchen table and ask me to sing for his friends."
After immigrating to New York City at the age of eight, Billy Joe quickly developed a fluent command of English, one with a decidedly "southern drawl," according to his Brooklyn schoolmates of the time. With his new language, unshakable optimism and a battered guitar, he began making the rounds of music publishers at the age of 13.
Midtown Manhattan may seem an unlikely place to begin a career in an entertainment field traditionally associated with rural America, but Billy Joe's upbeat enthusiasm, talent and good looks eventually attracted the attention of music publishers and record producers. "After school," Billy recalls, "I use to go into Manhattan to the music buildings at 1619 and 1650 Broadway, the home base for American music publishers and record companies. Starting on the top floor I'd work my way down one floor at a time, knocking on every door until someone would listen to the songs I wrote and the ones I wanted to sing." After several months of rejection, his persistence paid off in ways which are still affecting his life today.
One day when Billy entered the offices of a music publishing company, songwriter Rose Marie McCoy recalls, "The receptionist came in my office and said, 'I don't know what it is about this kid out there, but I think you should listen to him sing." Billy was invited into Rose's office, where he began singing one of his favorite songs, Tryin' To Get To You; a Rock classic originally recorded by Elvis Presley, and later by Faith Hill. "As I was giving the song my best shot," recalls Billy, "Rose looked at me with a startled expression on her face. I didn't know if she liked or didn't like my voice, my interpretation of the song or what. When I finished it she smiled broadly and extended her hand to me. 'I'm Rose McCoy,' she said, 'I wrote Tryin' To Get To You. Would you like to write a song with me and my partner, George Goehring?"
George was also a successful songwriter with a long history of hits dating back to Lipstick On Your Collar by Connie Francis. That same day Billy Joe began writing songs with Rose and George. With their professional guidance, Billy soon found himself in demand as a studio demo singer. "It was pretty exciting," he recalls, "but I wanted to do more. Rose and George helped me hone my skills as a songwriter, singer, and eventually Rose and I wrote all the songs we just recorded on my debut CD."
As an adult, Billy Joe's meeting with country music producer Danny Bailey proved to be another step in realizing his childhood dream of singing "cowboy songs." Currently co-owner, chief engineer, and executive producer of Krystal Recording Studio in Campbellsville, Kentucky, Danny Bailey brings a lifetime of experience with him in regard to Country Music. Singing professionally at the age of five, he toured this country in road shows and won high praise from his audiences. He appeared as a vocalist on numerous TV shows, including the network television hit, Hee Haw, where he was a regular. For years Bailey engineered recording sessions for Nashville's major publishers, labels such as Sony, and heavy hitter producers, including Keith Olsin, Kyle Leighing, and Dave Burgess, with whom he earned a reputation for being able to single out the hits in their CDs.
Bailey's move into the business side of music as an independent now offers him the opportunity to spot and develop talented singers and songwriters. According to Bailey, "Billy Joe Conor is a star-ascendant; he is melodic and has a unique style. The fact that he's from Italy, lives in New York, and writes and sings country music, makes him a breakout entertainer."
Billy Joe's memorable ballads and toe-tapping melodies in his debut CD address the human issues of love and all of its intricate nuances. The sincerity of his words, and the intensity of his voice make this CD a sit up and cheer hit for New Country buffs, and all other music fans who still believe in love and melody.
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Rhythm 'n' Boots Music, LLC 